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Kamala Harris practically dares Trump to debate her 2024-07-31 19:56:52+00:00 - Kamala Harris, the de facto Democratic presidential nominee, once again challenged Donald Trump to debate her, telling a roaring crowd in Atlanta on Tuesday night that he was feeling the pressure of running against her in November. "So the momentum in this race is shifting, and there are signs that Donald Trump is feeling it — you may have noticed," the vice president said at a campaign rally, as she pointed to Trump's refusal to commit to a debate in September. “He won’t debate, but he and his running mate sure seem to have a lot to say about me.” “Well, Donald, I do hope you’ll reconsider to meet me on the debate stage,” Harris said. “Because as the saying goes, 'if you’ve got something to say, say it to my face.'” Harris' remarks seem designed to taunt Trump into debating her. The vice president has been engaged in a back-and-forth with the Trump campaign as it dithers the GOP nominee's participation in a previously agreed-upon Sept. 10 debate, which it arranged with Joe Biden's re-election campaign before he withdrew from the race. On Thursday, Harris accused the Trump campaign of “backpedaling” on the scheduled debate, saying, “I think that the voters deserve to see the split screen that exists in this race on a debate stage.” Trump's campaign spokesperson, Steven Cheung, later said it “would be inappropriate to schedule things with Harris because Democrats very well could still change their minds.” The calculations for the Trump campaign have shifted dramatically since Biden dropped out of the race and endorsed Harris. Trump had previously challenged Biden to debate “anytime, anywhere, any place,” and the fallout of Biden’s disastrous showing at the June 27 debate also overshadowed his own blathering performance. Now, as his campaign tries to reorient its strategy for Harris, Trump, whose debate style is rich on insults and poor on substance, now faces the daunting prospect of taking on a former prosecutor known for her debate punches on live television. In an interview with Fox News this week, Trump himself waffled on the subject. He suggested there was no point debating Harris because “everybody knows who I am, and now people know who she is.” He then said he would “probably” debate Harris, but added that he “can also make a case for not doing it.”

Pfizer's Diverse Portfolio And Strong Execution Earn Analyst Praise Despite Patent Concerns - Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) 2024-07-31 19:52:00+00:00 - On Tuesday, Pfizer Inc. PFE reported second-quarter adjusted EPS of $0.60, down 11% year over year, beating the consensus of $0.46. The U.S. drugmaker reported sales of $13.28 billion, up 2% year-over-year (up 3% operationally), beating the consensus of $13.02 billion. Truist Securities sees the strong demand growth as highly encouraging and, at current levels, Pfizer shares are very attractive given the company’s diverse portfolio that is gaining momentum, effective cost-cutting initiatives, and a commitment to maintaining or growing an attractive dividend. The analyst maintains the Buy rating, with a price target of $36. Goldman Sachs notes that Pfizer’s performance included noteworthy standouts (Vyndaqel, Nurtec) and evidence that integration of the Seagen acquisition is progressing well. Goldman Sachs analyst writes, “We were struck by the raised COVID-19 guidance, as we interpret the decision as being underpinned by confidence. Gross margin gains provide reassurance relative to concerns earlier in the year, as gains from cost realignment initiatives are materializing.” The analyst keeps the Buy rating and raises the price target from $31 to $34. BMO Capital Markets writes Pfizer’s (Outperform, $36 target) second-quarter earnings highlight the direction of the business as it moves out of the shadow of COVID. With COVID revenue stabilizing, base revenue expanding, and clinical development focused on accelerating danuglipron in any way possible, BMO Capital analyst writes that the business’s priorities are aligned with shareholders. Cantor Fitzgerald notes that concerns about Pfizer’s patent cliff and downside risk to COVID-19 sales will be offset by Seagen, new product launches, and M&A expected to resume beyond 2025. Also, along with the strong execution of its cost reduction programs, the updates could drive EPS to $3+ in 2025+ and the stock toward its price target of $45. Maintains the Overweight rating. Price Action: PFE stock is down 1.85% at $30.81 at last check Wednesday. Photo via Shutterstock Read Next:

Should You Invest in the Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF? - Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), iShares Global Healthcare ETF (ARCA:IXJ) 2024-07-31 19:44:00+00:00 - Looking for broad exposure to the Healthcare - Broad segment of the equity market? You should consider the Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF XLV, a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on 12/16/1998. Passively managed ETFs are becoming increasingly popular with institutional as well as retail investors due to their low cost, transparency, flexibility and tax efficiency. They are excellent vehicles for long term investors. Additionally, sector ETFs offer convenient ways to gain low risk and diversified exposure to a broad group of companies in particular sectors. Healthcare - Broad is one of the 16 broad Zacks sectors within the Zacks Industry classification. It is currently ranked 4, placing it in top 25%. Index Details The fund is sponsored by State Street Global Advisors. It has amassed assets over $40.97 billion, making it the largest ETF attempting to match the performance of the Healthcare - Broad segment of the equity market. XLV seeks to match the performance of the Health Care Select Sector Index before fees and expenses. The Health Care Select Sector Index includes companies from the following industries: pharmaceuticals; health care providers & services; health care equipment & supplies; biotechnology; life sciences tools & services; and health care technology. Costs When considering an ETF's total return, expense ratios are an important factor, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts in the long term if all other factors remain equal. Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.09%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space. It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.49%. Sector Exposure and Top Holdings It is important to delve into an ETF's holdings before investing despite the many upsides to these kinds of funds like diversified exposure, which minimizes single stock risk. And, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis. This ETF has heaviest allocation in the Healthcare sector--about 100% of the portfolio. Looking at individual holdings, Eli Lilly & Co LLY accounts for about 13.14% of total assets, followed by Unitedhealth Group Inc UNH and Johnson & Johnson JNJ. The top 10 holdings account for about 55.87% of total assets under management. Performance and Risk So far this year, XLV has added about 10.92%, and is up roughly 12.74% in the last one year (as of 07/31/2024). During this past 52-week period, the fund has traded between $123.14 and $150.54. The ETF has a beta of 0.67 and standard deviation of 14.18% for the trailing three-year period, making it a medium risk choice in the space. With about 66 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk. Alternatives Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 1 (Strong Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, XLV is a great option for investors seeking exposure to the Health Care ETFs segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well. IShares Global Healthcare ETF IXJ tracks S&P Global 1200 Healthcare Sector Index and the Vanguard Health Care ETF VHT tracks MSCI US Investable Market Health Care 25/50 Index. IShares Global Healthcare ETF has $4.14 billion in assets, Vanguard Health Care ETF has $18.31 billion. IXJ has an expense ratio of 0.42% and VHT charges 0.10%. To read this article on Zacks.com click here.

CarShield ordered to pay $10 million federal settlement over deceptive repair coverage ads 2024-07-31 19:40:00+00:00 - CarShield, a company that sells vehicle service contracts to automobile owners that it claims will cover the cost of certain repairs, has agreed to pay $10 million in a settlement with federal regulators over charges that its marketing tactics were deceptive and misleading. In a statement Wednesday, the Federal Trade Commission said CarShield, which employs celebrity endorsers including rapper and actor Ice-T and sports commentator Chris Berman, had falsely lured customers with the promise of “peace of mind” and “protection” from the cost and inconvenience of vehicle breakdowns through its contracts. The FTC also charged American Auto Shield, LLC (AAS), the administrator of CarShield's vehicle service contracts, in the scheme. The agency said that at least one ad, which ran 18,000 times on television, stated, “With CarShield’s administrators, they make sure you don’t get stuck with expensive car repair bills like this.” It also touted CarShield contracts as “your best line of defense against expensive breakdowns.” Yet many purchasers discovered that their repairs were not covered, despite making payments of up to $120 per month for CarShield's product, the FTC said. "Instead of delivering the ‘peace of mind’ promised by its advertisements, CarShield left many consumers with a financial headache," Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, in a statement. "Worse still, CarShield used trusted personalities to deliver its empty promises," Levine said. "The FTC will hold advertisers accountable for using false or deceptive claims to exploit consumers’ financial anxieties.” Representatives for CarShield and AAS did not immediately respond to a request for comment. CarShield, based in Missouri, has an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau — but the company's BBB listing features more than 300 pages of complaints and a 1.6 out of 5 customer rating. A recent report from a Missouri-based news station said CarShield had sued the BBB, with the case being settled out of court. American Auto Shield, based in Colorado, likewise has a 2.9 customer rating despite an official A+ rating from the BBB.

EA's Strong FY25 Start: Analysts Optimistic on Sports Titles but Cautious on Non-Sports Growth - Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA) 2024-07-31 19:38:00+00:00 - Electronic Arts Inc. EA shares are trading higher on Wednesday. Yesterday, the company reported first-quarter net bookings of $1.26 billion, down from $1.58 billion in last year’s first quarter total of $1.58 billion. However, the net bookings came in ahead of company guidance of $1.25 billion. The results came amid an exciting earnings season. Here are some key analyst takeaways. Check out other analyst stock ratings. Goldman Sachs analyst Eric Sheridan reiterated a Neutral rating, raising the price forecast from $139 to $150. In the medium term, the analyst sees adding to the sports franchise strength across other titles in the coming quarters/years is likely key to returning to medium-term topline growth in a sustained manner in FY25-FY27. The analyst raised FY25 adjusted EPS guidance to $7.80 (from prior $7.55), and sees second-quarter adjusted EPS of $2.04 (from prior $2.00). Looking beyond FY25 & its catalysts, the analyst projects EA as a company with growth mostly driven by its core portfolio, mobile strategy, international expansion, M&A opportunities and organic investments, and long-term EBITDA margin expansion to be realized. JP Morgan analyst Cory A Carpenter maintained a Neutral rating, with a price forecast of $155. Per Carpenter, the FY25 guide is likely to prove conservative, and the analyst projects bookings of $7.6 billion in FY26. Overall, EA is off to a strong start in FY25, driven by its sports franchises. Still, the analyst’s lower conviction around non-sports titles (Apex, Sims) keeps on the sidelines given that much of the College Football upside is priced into shares trading at 17.5x FY26 adjusted EPS, Carpenter adds. Also Read: Asia Markets Up, Europe Opens Higher, Crude Advances 2.6% – Global Markets Today While US Slept Benchmark analyst Mike Hickey reiterated the Buy rating, raising the forecast to $163. Hickey remains optimistic about the growth potential of EA SPORTS franchise portfolio, which will be a key driver in the second quarter. However, the analyst remains cautious about potential delays with Dragon Age and are concerned that Apex Legends may continue to suffer growth declines. Wedbush analyst Nick McKay maintained the Outperform rating, raising the forecast to $170 from $162. The analyst maintained the FY25 estimate for net bookings of $7.600 billion, raising the EPS estimate to $7.70 from $7.60. Oppenheimer analyst Martin Yang reiterated the Outperform rating, with a forecast of $170. Aside from a stronger-than-expected CFB debut, Yang sees uncertainties on Madden cannibalization, FC 25 sales, Apex Legends. BMO Capital Markets analyst Brian J. Pitz maintained the Outperform rating with a forecast of $154. Per the analyst, investors will now focus on the potential cannibalization of the core Madden franchise. Pitz highlighted Madden’s record FY24 bookings and key contributions to F1Q live services outperformance. Additionally, the strong adoption of the CF 25 MVP Edition, which includes a deluxe version of CF 25 and Madden 25, beat management expectations, signaling that the two franchises could coexist, the analyst adds. Stifel analyst Drew E. Crum reiterated a Buy rating, raising the forecast to $167 from $165. Crum also sees potential cannibalization on Madden NFL 25 as a swing factor that may be difficult to measure prior to the game’s release date (August 16th). Plus EA rarely makes revisions to its annual outlook with the first quarter, the analyst added. Price Action: EA Shares are trading higher by 2.02% to $152.13 at last check Wednesday. Photo via Shutterstock Read Next:

Katie Ledecky wins 1,500 free, tying three other all-time U.S. greats with 12 medals 2024-07-31 19:36:00+00:00 - NANTERRE, France — Katie Ledecky won gold in the 1,500-meter freestyle on Wednesday, securing her 12th career medal to tie Jenny Thompson, Dara Torres and Natalie Coughlin for the most ever by an American female swimmer. The runaway win also brought Ledecky her eighth career gold medal, tying Thompson's record for the most by a U.S. woman in Olympic history. Contemporary Australian great Emma McKeon also has 12 medals — six gold, two silvers and four bronze — as all five now sit atop the list for most podium appearances by a female swimmer. Thompson picked up her hardware in Athens (2004), Sydney (2000), Atlanta (1996) and Barcelona (1992) while the 27-year-old Ledecky is here in France following medals in Tokyo, Rio (2016) and London (2012). Coughlin's three golds, four silvers and five bronzes were won in Athens, Beijing (2008) and London (2012). Torres has four of each medal, winning them in Los Angeles (1984), Seoul (1988), Barcelona, Sydney and Beijing. The Bethesda, Maryland native Ledecky could still have medal hopes in 4x200 free relay on Thursday and the 800m freestyle on Friday at Paris La Défense Arena. Ledecky won the first bronze of her career on Saturday, finishing third in the 400m freestyle to gold medalist Ariarne Titmus of Australia and runner-up Summer McIntosh of Canada. McKeon got her 12th overall medal on Saturday as a member of Australia’s golden 4x100 free relay team. This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Rare Disease-Focused Applied Therapeutics' Lead Candidate Govorestat Has Blockbuster Potential, Analyst Sees 140% Stock Upside - Applied Therapeutics (NASDAQ:APLT) 2024-07-31 19:33:00+00:00 - William Blair initiated coverage on Applied Therapeutics Inc. APLT, a late-stage development company focused on rare diseases such as galactosemia, SORD deficiency, and diabetic cardiomyopathy. The analyst says, “Applied Therapeutics is an under-the-radar company developing a nice mix of therapeutics targeting rare diseases and some larger indications with potential for several major value inflections over the next 12 months.” In April, the FDA extended the review period for Applied Therapeutics’ marketing application, seeking approval for its potentially first marketed drug govorestat (AT-007) for Classic Galactosemia, by three months. William Blair anticipates that Applied Therapeutics will launch govorestat in the galactosemia market in 2025, predicting a successful rollout due to the high unmet medical need, absence of other approved therapies, well-identified patient population, and the strong performance of first-in-class rare disease products. The analyst estimates 2030 sales of govorestat to exceed $1 billion with 70% peak penetration in the galactosemia market. The analyst initiates with an Outperform rating and estimates a fair value for shares of $14. Beyond govorestat, Applied Therapeutics is developing AT-001 (caficrestat) for diabetic cardiomyopathy. Diabetic cardiomyopathy affects about 20% of diabetics and, accordingly, has blockbuster potential. In February, Applied Therapeutics released interim 12-month results from the ongoing Phase 3 INSPIRE trial of oral govorestat in SORD deficiency patients, in which the primary and several key secondary endpoints were achieved. The Company expects that its cash and cash equivalents of $146.5 million as of March 31, 2024, will fund the business into 2026. Price Action: APLT stock is up 18.70% at $5.91 at the last check on Wednesday. Read Next:

I've gone on cruises for as little as $60 a day. Here are my 6 secrets to finding last-minute travel deals. 2024-07-31 19:26:02+00:00 - By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . You can opt-out at any time by visiting our Preferences page or by clicking "unsubscribe" at the bottom of the email. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. download the app Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read preview Last-minute cruises can be an excellent way to save money. Holland America Line has its standby program, where travelers can sign up for last-minute cruises for as little as $99 a day. But the catch is you won't know if you're cruising until about seven days before departure, and options can be pretty limited. Although standby deals can be tough to navigate, I do still book almost all of my cruises a few days or weeks before they set sail. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Advertisement Doing so helps me get great deals — I've gone on new ships for cheap and cruises that cost as little as $60 a day. Here are my secrets to finding great last-minute prices on cruises. Check the Vacations To Go 90-Day Ticker Travel agency Vacations To Go has a 90-Day Ticker tool that I use to find cruises that are coming soon and available at a steep discount. The first deal I got through it was a discounted sailing on a new Disney ship that came with a bunch of onboard credits. I've sometimes seen sailings listed for up to 90% off. Advertisement I also like to use Vacations To Go to research different ships — the deals usually have info about when they were built and last refurbished. I never want to sail on a tired, outdated ship. Although I've had good experiences with the site, be sure to do your own research and look through the deals carefully. Select a departure port within driving distance The Port of Seattle has multiple cruise lines with Alaska itineraries, increasing your odds of scoring a great last-minute deal. Peggy Cleveland Last-minute cruise deals can often lose their value when you factor in the cost of last-minute airfare. So, save money by driving to a departure port whenever possible. There are more than a dozen in the US alone. Advertisement When I lived on the East Coast, I booked cruises out of Port Canaveral in Florida. Now, I live near a port in Seattle and have found great deals on Alaskan cruises. To avoid potentially missing your ship, I recommend you drive to the departure port the day before your cruise and stay at a hotel. Related stories Some offer park-and-cruise options, which allow guests to keep their cars at the hotel during their trip. This can help you save on the price of parking at the cruise terminal. Sign up for a cruise line's loyalty program The more you sail, the more perks you get. But you can join most cruise lines' loyalty programs before you even sail with them. Advertisement By signing up online, you get access to special promotions and pricing. This is also a good way to start educating yourself on a cruise line's offerings and prices so you recognize a good deal when it comes up. Join Facebook groups for your cruise line of choice I saw the Hubbard Glacier while on a Holland America cruise to Alaska that I booked using a loyalty deal. Peggy Cleveland In my experience, members of Facebook groups about cruises love to share advice. I've seen a lot of people share great deals they've found and tips for scoring discounts. These groups can also be an excellent resource for information about a specific ship, such as what cabin to book or which onboard premium restaurant is not to be missed. Do your research so you know what a good price looks like I tracked the cost of an Alaskan cruise I wanted to take for two years. Advertisement Eventually, I found a last-minute deal from Holland America Line's loyalty program that enabled me to take my dream cruise at a good price with three weeks' notice. To track the prices on a specific cruise, I check places I'm a member of that offer travel discounts, including Costco, AARP, Vacations to Go, and USAA. I also keep an eye out for military and cruise loyalty discounts. Be flexible My cruise to Alaska didn't always have the best weather. Peggy Cleveland This is the key to scoring last-minute deals. Advertisement If you're open to different cabins, dates, and locations, you'll find more options. For example, shoulder seasons often have the best deals but may not have the best weather — plan accordingly. I've usually found plenty of availability with mid-tier veranda cabins, but the cheaper and most expensive cabins tend to sell out first. Also keep in mind that booking last minute can limit your choices for specialty dining times, excursions, and other reservations. I recommend reserving what you can as soon as you book your cruise and checking for availability again once you're aboard, as there are often cancellations.

Trump lies to Black journalist convention crowd and says Kamala Harris 'happened to turn Black' a few years ago 2024-07-31 19:15:32+00:00 - By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . You can opt-out at any time by visiting our Preferences page or by clicking "unsubscribe" at the bottom of the email. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. download the app Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read preview Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday lashed out at Vice President Kamala Harris, falsely claiming that the first Black female vice president had just recently "turned Black." "I've known her a long time, not directly, indirectly, and she was always of Indian heritage," Trump said during a panel interview at the National Association of Black Journalists conference in Chicago. "And she was only promoting Indian heritage. I didn't know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black. And now she wants to be known as Black." This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. According to some journalists in the room, there were audible gasps when Trump made his statement. At the start of the interview, Rachel Scott, an ABC News reporter, asked the former president about his long history of dismissing Black people, including pushing the racist theory that President Barack Obama was not a US citizen. Scott asked Trump if he considered Harris to be a "DEI hire," an attack some Republicans have used against the vice president and likely Democratic presidential nominee. Advertisement Harris is the daughter of Indian and Jamaican immigrants. In 2019, she told The Washington Post that she had not thought much about her racial identity before entering politics. She said that she simply identified as "an American." Harris has also made it clear for years that she identified as an African-American. Related stories "My mother understood very well that she was raising two black daughters," Harris wrote in her autobiography, "The Truths We Hold." "She knew that her adopted homeland would see Maya and me as black girls, and she was determined to make sure we would grow into confident, proud black women." Asked about Trump's comments, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded with shock. Advertisement "What you just read out to me is repulsive," Jean-Pierre said when Trump's statement was read to her. "It's insulting. No one has any right to tell someone who they are, how they identify." Harris' campaign responded by calling out "the hostility" Trump showed during the interview. "The hostility Donald Trump showed on stage today is the same hostility he has shown throughout his life, throughout his term in office, and throughout his campaign for president as he seeks to regain power and inflict his harmful Project 2025 agenda on the American people," Michael Tyler, the Harris campaign's communications director, said in a statement. Trump has repeatedly disavowed Project 2025, though many of his former administration officials were involved in crafting the conservative agenda.

JD Vance's problem isn't weirdness. It's nastiness. 2024-07-31 19:11:44+00:00 - By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . You can opt-out at any time by visiting our Preferences page or by clicking "unsubscribe" at the bottom of the email. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. download the app Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read preview Democrats have landed on a descriptor for JD Vance: Weird. "By the way," Vice President Kamala Harris said at an Atlanta rally on Tuesday, "don't you find some of their stuff to just be plain weird?" With Democrats eagerly resurfacing the Ohio senator's years-old comments about "childless cat ladies," Republicans are suddenly on the defensive over their party's nominee for vice president. A handful have openly denounced those comments, while others have carefully put some distance between themselves and Donald Trump's new running mate. I wouldn't have put it that way, they say. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. As a political strategy, calling one's opponents "weird" is relatively novel, and it's at least been effective in triggering a reaction from the other side. In an attempted counterpunch, Vance himself posted a video of Vice President Kamala Harris stating her pronouns during a CNN town hall in 2019. Advertisement But while the "weird" critique may end up sticking, it's not exactly right. Related stories What has made Vance vulnerable to these critiques is the nastiness that he and other Republicans are incentivized to display, even when discussing something — family policy — that has the potential to bridge traditional party divides. Vance wasn't just bashing 'cat ladies' — he was trying to make a point By now, just about everyone has heard Vance's infamous "childless cat ladies" remark, a label that he ascribed to Democratic politicians including Vice President Kamala Harris, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York during a 2021 appearance on Tucker Carlson's Fox News Show. "We are effectively run in this country via the Democrats, via our corporate oligarchs, by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives," Vance said at the time. Advertisement The remarks come across as callous, displaying a contemptuousness of those who don't have families. There's also seemingly little acknowledgement of those who would like to have kids, but haven't been able to for whatever reasons. Yet when he made a similar point at a conservative conference in the Washington, DC area that same year, he sounded far more nuanced: "Now, let me do the necessary throat-clearing, because I do think it's important. Look, a lot of people are unable to have kids for very complicated and important reasons. They're, you know, good friends of mine who have struggled to find the right girl, find the right guy. There are people of course, for biological reasons, medical reasons, that can't have children. The target of these remarks is not them. It's important to point that out. There have always been people like that who — even though they would like to have kids — [are] unable to have them. Let's set them to the side." And when he was asked to defend his comments on The Megyn Kelly Show last week, he sounded similarly conciliatory at times: "First of all, Kamala Harris, you know, I don't know her family situation. I've read in the media that she's got two step-kids. I wish her stepchildren and Kamala Harris and her whole family the very best. The point is not that she's lesser. The potentially-unifying argument that underlies Vance's vitriol is that American society should encourage people to have children and build families — that it makes people happier and gives them a sense of purpose. Furthermore, he has argued at times for policies that make it easier for families to do so. Advertisement It's an argument that Democrats largely agree with, which is why they've pursued policies such as the child tax credit (despite Vance's recent claims to the contrary) and sought to implement universal childcare. But what turns off Democrats — and plenty of Republicans — is that he isn't celebrating those who are able to have families. He's bashing those that don't. Nastiness is often encouraged in Republican politics In today's GOP, combativeness and aggression can get you far. At the very least, it can get you attention, which can translate into fundraising and ultimately votes. Politicians will frequently try to mimic Trump's aggressive style, often falling flat while doing so. Even if they're not trying to be a mini-Trump, plenty of Republicans have learned that it's better to come off as tough and mean than as agreeable and nice. Advertisement Vance understands these dynamics, and during the 2021-2022 period when he was making these sorts of comments, he was just one of several candidates in a crowded GOP primary field for an Ohio Senate seat. Competing for eyeballs and ultimately votes, Vance was incentivized to be as pugilistic and outrageous as possible, often displaying a casualty cruelty on the campaign trail. Serious question: I have to go to New York soon and I'm trying to figure out where to stay. I have heard it's disgusting and violent there. But is it like Walking Dead Season 1 or Season 4? — JD Vance (@JDVance) July 11, 2021 In the context of a Republican primary campaign, or an all-Republican political event, this sort of thing is easily shrugged off, even rewarded. But in the context of a nationwide general election, where the deciding votes are often held by ideologically mixed voters who may not take well to partisan nastiness, it's susceptible to falling flat — and to some, coming across as just plain weird.

Here's what changed in the new Fed statement 2024-07-31 18:59:00+00:00 - This is a comparison of Wednesday's Federal Open Market Committee statement with the one issued after the Fed's previous policymaking meeting in June. Text removed from the June statement is in red with a horizontal line through the middle. Text appearing for the first time in the new statement is in red and underlined. Black text appears in both statements.

UAW union endorses Vice President Kamala Harris over Trump 2024-07-31 18:57:00+00:00 - The United Auto Workers has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris over Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump. The union’s endorsement shouldn’t be surprising. UAW President Shawn Fain has been outspoken against Trump. The Detroit union also has historically supported Democrats, including President Joe Biden. It comes after Biden withdrew his re-election bid and endorsed Harris to become the Democratic nominee against Trump. Fain and Trump have been at odds — publicly trading remarks — since the union leader was elected early last year. Trump called for Fain to be fired during a speech earlier this month at the Republican National Convention. The union responded with a post calling Trump a “scab and a billionaire,” continuing “that’s who he represents. We know which side we’re on. Not his.” Quickly after Biden dropped out of the election, the UAW praised him and showed support for Harris, who walked a picket line with union members during a strike in 2019. “The path forward is clear: we will defeat Donald Trump and his billionaire agenda and elect a champion for the working class to the highest office in this country,” the union said in a statement July 21 after Biden had dropped out of the 2024 race. That statement stopped short of formally endorsing Harris. The UAW’s endorsement is crucial for any candidate looking to secure the battleground state of Michigan, because of the UAW’s potential influence there. The Detroit-based union has roughly 370,000 active members and 580,000 retired members, many of which reside in the Midwest. Michigan voters helped both Biden and Trump to win the White House during the past two presidential elections.

UAW endorses Harris, giving her blue-collar firepower in industrial states 2024-07-31 18:51:03+00:00 - DETROIT (AP) — The United Auto Workers on Wednesday endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president, giving her union firepower for the likely contest this November against Republican Donald Trump. UAW President Shawn Fain said in a statement that the union’s “job” in this year’s election was to defeat Trump. The union has more than a million active and retired members with a strong base in what the Democrats call the “blue wall” states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. “We can put a billionaire back in office who stands against everything our union stands for, or we can elect Kamala Harris who will stand shoulder to shoulder with us in our war on corporate greed,” Fain said. There was never any doubt that the UAW would endorse Harris after President Joe Biden dropped out of the presidential race. Biden won the UAW’s backing in January, and accepted it with a speech at a union political convention in Washington. The AFL-CIO, the umbrella labor organization that includes the UAW, had already endorsed the vice president. Fain needed to wait for the union’s executive board to give the nod to Harris, but has repeatedly attacked Trump ahead of the endorsement. “There is only one answer to the threat we face as a nation, and it’s not another billionaire in office,” Fain wrote in a UAW post early Wednesday on the X social media site. Fain and the union also have called Trump a “scab,” a derogatory term for workers who cross union picket lines and work during a strike. They also have said he did nothing for workers in Ohio when General Motors closed a factory in 2019. The UAW endorsed Biden’s reelection bid in January, just a few months after the Democratic president joined striking General Motors workers on the picket lines near Detroit. The union won big raises last fall after limited strikes at all three Detroit automakers. Shortly after the Biden endorsement, Fain was making multiple television appearances on Biden’s behalf. But those waned as the UAW ramped up its campaign to organize nonunion auto factories and a spat with a court-appointed union monitor. The UAW says its union members and retirees typically lean toward Democrats, but a sizeable number support the GOP. That’s consistent with AP VoteCast, which found that 56% of union members and households backed Biden in 2020, while 42% backed Trump. Still, Trump has courted union members, saying when he accepted the Republican nomination that he would rescue the auto industry from what he called “complete obliteration.” What to know about the 2024 Election Democracy: American democracy has overcome big stress tests since 2020. More challenges lie ahead in 2024. American democracy has overcome big stress tests since 2020. AP’s Role: The Associated Press is the most trusted source of information on election night, with a history of accuracy dating to 1848. Learn more. The Associated Press is the most trusted source of information on election night, with a history of accuracy dating to 1848. Stay informed. Keep your pulse on the news with breaking news email alerts. Sign up here He also called for members to fire Fain, using false claims that Fain allowed Chinese automakers to build auto factories across the border in Mexico to ship electric vehicles to the U.S. without tariffs. Industry analysts know of no such factories under construction. The auto industry is currently far from obliteration. Detroit auto companies are still making billions and auto manufacturing employment is up 13.8% since Biden took office. Trump said he would put tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles. Biden earlier this year slapped tariffs on Chinese imported goods, including EVs. The 1.3 million-member Teamsters union, whose president spoke at the Republican National Convention, has yet to make an endorsement in the race. ___ Boak reported from Washington.

Autoworkers Union Endorses Kamala Harris for President 2024-07-31 18:45:55.472000+00:00 - While many unions were quick to endorse Ms. Harris after President Biden dropped out and gave her his backing, the U.A.W. held off, despite its long history of support for Democrats. The group is one of Mr. Biden’s closest allies — having endorsed him in January — but it had questioned his policies toward Israel during the war in Gaza. In July, it joined a coalition of several unions that sent a letter to Mr. Biden urging him to “immediately halt all military aid to Israel as part of the work to secure an immediate and permanent cease-fire in the war in Gaza.” A person familiar with the U.A.W. board’s discussions about endorsing Ms. Harris said the group wanted indications that she understood the importance to the union of two key issues: continuing Mr. Biden’s agenda of investing in U.S. manufacturing jobs, and being more outspoken on the need to end the war in Gaza and attach strings to U.S. aid to Israel. Both Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris have ties to organized labor. Mr. Biden became the first sitting president to join a picket line when he visited striking autoworkers in Michigan last year, and Ms. Harris also joined workers during a strike against General Motors when she served in the Senate. The U.A.W. is especially influential in Michigan, where there is a sizable Arab American presence and pro-Palestinian sentiment. A protest movement against Mr. Biden in Michigan’s Democratic primary earned significant support — a worrying sign for Democratic hopes of winning the state in November. The union also represents tens of thousands of graduate students and other academic workers, many of whom have been outspoken in their opposition to the war in Gaza. It formally called for a cease-fire in Gaza in December.

Ransomware attack disables computers at blood center serving 250 hospitals in southeast US 2024-07-31 18:41:44+00:00 - ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A not-for-profit blood center serving much of the southeastern United States is facing a ransomware attack, officials said Wednesday. OneBlood said the attack had disabled its information technology, forcing it to operate at a reduced capacity in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. To manage its blood supply, the blood center was asking more than 250 hospitals to activate their critical blood shortage protocols. The blood center also was using manual processes to maintain basic operations, officials said. OneBlood is working with cybersecurity specialists as well as federal, state and local agencies to determine the scope of the attack and how to respond, officials said. “We are working diligently to restore full functionality to our systems as expeditiously as possible,” Susan Forbes, OneBlood’s senior vice president of corporate communications and public relations, said in a statement. Blood centers across the U.S. were sending extra blood and platelets to OneBlood, which said there’s a particular need for O-positive and O-negative blood.

After private equity takes over hospitals, they are less able to care for patients, say top medical researchers 2024-07-31 18:00:00+00:00 - After private-equity firms acquire hospitals, the facilities’ assets and resources diminish significantly, leaving the facilities less equipped to care for patients, according to a new study by physician researchers at the University of California at San Francisco, Harvard Medical School and the City University of New York’s Hunter College. Published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the research highlights a pattern of asset stripping at health care facilities purchased by private-equity firms, its researchers said, and is the first study to analyze the activity nationwide. “It’s a very striking finding and should change the way people think about private equity in hospitals,” said Dr. Stephanie Woolhandler, a distinguished professor of public health at Hunter, part of CUNY, and one of seven authors of the study. “The PE firms say, ‘We bring new capital into hospitals.’ It turns out that’s not quite true.” Assets studied in the research consist of land, buildings, major hospital equipment and information technology. The study found that during the two years after a private-equity acquisition, total capital assets at private equity-acquired hospitals declined by 15% on average while assets rose by an average of 9% at other hospitals. That makes for a net difference of 24%, the researchers found, equivalent to a loss of $28 million in total assets per hospital. The research studied 156 hospitals acquired by private-equity firms from 2010 to 2019 comparing them with 1,560 hospitals of similar size in similar communities that were not bought by private equity. The pattern of diminished assets persisted and widened five years after acquisition, the study reported. Depleted assets translate to a reduced level of care, Woolhandler told NBC News, noting that equipment, buildings and technology are resources needed for patient care. “There are real dangers to the health care that people get if you deplete all the capital from a hospital,” she added. Private-equity firms borrow money to buy companies that they hope to sell in a few years at a profit. Independent academic research shows that such leveraged buyouts result in far more bankruptcies than acquisitions that do not use so much debt and the deals can result in significant job losses for rank-and-file workers. Health care has been a primary focus of private-equity purchases in recent years, with over $500 billion invested in the industry by firms such as Apollo Global Management, The Blackstone Group, The Carlyle Group and KKR. The American Investment Council, the industry lobbying group, says private equity improves health care. But increased patient falls and infections follow private-equity takeovers of hospitals, recent research shows, and residents of nursing homes owned by private-equity firms experience 10% greater mortality rates than those owned by other types of entities. “Previous studies have found that patients are endangered and costs increase in the wake of private-equity acquisitions,” said Dr. Elizabeth Schrier, a resident physician at the University of California, San Francisco, and a lead author of the new research. The report on asset-stripping in private equity-owned hospitals comes amid the collapse of Steward Health Care, a hospital chain recently owned by private equity that filed for bankruptcy in May, leaving patients and workers at 31 facilities adrift. Last week, the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee announced an investigation into the Steward crisis. Until 2020, Steward was owned by Cerberus Capital, a private-equity firm led by Steve Feinberg. In 2010, Cerberus bought a nonprofit chain known as Caritas Christi Health Care for around $250 million. The firm and its investor partners reaped an $800 million profit when it divested a decade later. Along the way, Steward sold the land under its hospitals, generating a gain for investors but increasing the company’s costs significantly. A Cerberus spokesman said in a statement that it’s unfair and incorrect to characterize the Steward land sale as “looting” the company, as Sens. Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren, both Massachusetts Democrats, have done. “During our nearly 11-year ownership of Steward, we supported the revitalization of failing community hospitals into a leading healthcare system,” the statement continued. “Cerberus’ long-term investment made it possible for Steward to continue to serve its communities, employ tens of thousands of professionals, and positively impact millions of patients’ lives.” Amid rising numbers of health care takeovers by private equity, at least 10 states are ramping up scrutiny on the transactions to prevent patient harm, such as rising health care costs or the effects of monopolization. On July 1, Indiana began requiring that private-equity partnerships proposing transactions with health care companies valued at $10 million or more to notify the state’s attorney general 90 days before the proposed deal. While approval of the transaction is not mandatory, the attorney general can analyze antitrust concerns or issue a civil investigative demand for more information. California, Connecticut, Illinois and Nevada are among the other states enacting new laws bringing scrutiny to private equity’s health care acquisitions. Health care is not the only industry in which some private-equity owners have stripped companies’ assets. The Red Lobster restaurant chain failed in part because its private-equity owner sold off the company’s prime real estate, generating gains for itself. Meanwhile, Red Lobster had to pay rent on the properties, raising its costs and ultimately hobbling its operations.

GSK’s health is improving. Shame about the legal heartburn 2024-07-31 17:56:00+00:00 - Financial forecasts raised for a second time this year; share price still becalmed. If she didn’t have last year’s bumper £12.7m pay package to cushion the blow, one could sympathise with Emma Walmsley, chief executive at GlaxoSmithKline. The multi-year overhaul of the pharmaceutical firm on her watch seems finally to be delivering the operational goods but the share price, down 2% at £15.12 after Wednesday’s half-year figures, is stuck roughly in the middle of the £13-£18 range that has been GSK’s lot for the past decade. The main explanation is that every time a break-out looks to be in prospect, something crops up. For the past two years, US litigation over Zantac, the heartburn drug that powered the rise of old Glaxo in the 1980s and 90s, has dominated the narrative. The latest setback (from GSK’s point of view) was a ruling from a Delaware judge in June that allowed plaintiffs, who claim that the drug is linked to their cancers, to take their case to jury trial. Until that point, investors had gradually been becoming more confident that GSK and the other pharma companies that sold and marketed the drug (which all dispute the links to cancer) would contain liabilities and legal costs to easily absorbed sums. But Delaware represents the vast bulk of Zantac cases; it is the biggie. The additional mini-damper last month was the decision by US health officials to narrow the age range for use of new vaccines for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) for older adults, a market where GSK has the leader, Arexvy. That unexpected move knocked a pound off the share price at the time. It also gave the market an excuse to pick holes in Wednesday’s upgrade to its sales and profit forecasts for 2024. Within the overall improvement, vaccines – the bit investors were getting excited about – were forecast to have lower growth in sales this year because of the RSV setback. But this does all feel like an overly gloomy way to view the new-style GSK. For starters, it’s still possible that US officials, who merely postponed a decision on RSV usage while they awaited more evidence, could turn more positive. As for Zantac, there is a fair argument that bad news, plus a bit, is already in the price. Citi’s analysts wrote recently that the share valuation implies an eventual settlement of £7bn, which is more than the rough market consensus of £3bn-4bn (and £2.4bn in Citi’s case). Meanwhile, an upgrade to profit forecasts is still an upgrade, with a decent chunk coming from newer medicines. GSK, after turning in an 18% rise to £2.5bn in core operating profits in the first six months, now expects a 11%-13% gain over the year. It all adds solidity to the longer-term aim of annual sales of £38bn by 2031 (versus £30.3bn last year), a target that notably does not include anything for Blenrep, a potentially important blood cancer drug that has shown encouraging results in late-stage trials. Barring a new twist in the Zantac saga, such as the Delaware supreme court revisiting the decision by a lower court, legal clarity probably will not emerge for a year or more, so it is perfectly possible that the stock market will continue to take the view that there are just too many uncertainties at GSK. But the performance on the ground and in the labs appears genuinely to have turned a corner. GSK is not alone in pharmaland in upgrading forecasts, but there is (finally) a glimpse of momentum there.

UK homeowners: tell us how you are managing your mortgage payments 2024-07-31 17:42:00+00:00 - The Bank of England is set to announce on Thursday whether it will hold the current rate of 5.25% or whether it will be cutting it. Depending on what happens, UK homeowners will be hoping for a cut to reduce their mortgage payments. If you have been struggling with your mortgage or have remortgaged and paying more than you expected, we’d like to hear from you. What has your experience been like? What do you hope will happen with interest rates? Do you have any concerns?

How the Huw Edwards scandal might affect the BBC’s reputation 2024-07-31 17:15:00+00:00 - “What you’re trying to do since the onset of that affair [with Edwards] is act proportionately, fairly and navigate this appropriately,” he said. “I think that is what we did. We wouldn’t have wasted money if we weren’t doing the right thing.” Speaking at the publication of the BBC’s annual report earlier this month, Tim Davie, the director general, said that he was always trying to be “judicious” with the spending of the publicly funded BBC licence fee. Edwards was the highest-paid BBC newsreader despite only spending three months of the corporation’s financial year to the end of March on-air. “But that would be unusual as the corporation would have to show what financial losses it suffered as a result. Its reputation maybe, but how do you demonstrate an actual monetary loss of that?” “It is typical in financial services to have malus [the opposite of ‘bonus’] and clawback provisions, but that is not typical in other industries,” said the employment lawyer, who asked not to be named. “I suspect they will not have a contractual right to recoup monies that have been paid. The BBC might consider Edwards has been in breach of contractual obligations to them, and look at a breach of contract claim. However, one employment law expert said the BBC was unlikely to be able to claw back any of the salary it had paid Edwards since the scandal broke and up until his resignation in April on medical grounds. Last year, Barclays scrapped £18m in pay and bonuses for Jes Staley , its former chief executive, after the UK’s financial watchdog ruled he had misled the bank over his relationship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein . He was also fined £1.8m by the Financial Conduct Authority. Have BBC bosses mishandled the scandal? The court heard that Edwards had been involved in an online chat with an adult man on WhatsApp between December 2020 and August 2021 who sent him a total of 377 sexual images. The pair continued to exchange legal pornographic images until April 2022. Last May, a family member of a young person attended a BBC building seeking to make a complaint about the presenter, and a day later contacted BBC Audience Services, who referred a complaint to the corporation’s investigations team. There was no action until July, when the Sun newspaper ran a report about Edwards, the source of which was the same person who had made a complaint to the BBC, which was the first time Davie or any executive directors were made aware of the case. Three days after the news report Edwards was suspended. The BBC apologised earlier this year, admitting that it should have acted more quickly. In an interview Davie subsequently said that the scandal was “clearly damaging” and that there “may well be some learnings from this case on process and protocol” – but stood by his corporate investigation team. “The BBC is often in the midst of quite painful and difficult affairs and storms, and these are clearly damaging to the BBC,” he said. Mark Borkowski, a public relations and reputation management expert, said that time and again the corporation had been caught out by an inability to act swiftly, fuelling a crisis as newspapers and social media commentary fan the flames by filling the information void. “The problem with the BBC is they are not structurally fast enough and quick enough to deal with these situations when they arrive,” he said. “A vacuum is created, they are ponderous and they struggle to pivot. When you have something as critical as their key anchor announcing the queen’s death and king’s coronation and then disappearing mysteriously off screen, this is a problem. The BBC allowed a vacuum for the story to get much bigger; it should have been dealt with.” The police confirmed on Wednesday that the indecent image charges were not connected to the original complaint raised with the BBC last summer. Edwards was arrested last November and charged in June, two months after he resigned from the BBC. “If at any point during the period Mr Edwards was employed at the BBC he had been charged, the BBC determined it would act immediately to dismiss him,” said a BBC spokesperson.

Oil prices rise amid spiraling Middle East violence 2024-07-31 17:13:00+00:00 - The price of oil jumped more than $2 a barrel on Wednesday just hours after Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an early morning air strike, as jittery investors keep an eye on spiraling violence in the Middle East. Haniyeh was assassinated in Iran's capital after he attended the inauguration of the country's new president, the militant group said. Iranian officials and Hamas have blamed Israel for the strike that killed Haniyeh. Israel has not confirmed that it killed the Hamas chief, but a U.S. official told CBS News' Margaret Brennan on that the U.S. determined that both Haniyeh and top Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr were killed in Israeli strikes. U.S. benchmark oil prices rose $2.64 to $77.38 per barrel, while Brent crude climbed $2.38 to $80.45 per barrel. Israel had vowed to kill Haniyeh and other senior Hamas figures over the group's Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel, which saw the militants kill some 1,200 people and take about 240 others hostage. The attack sparked the war in Gaza, a densely populated Palestinian territory run for almost two decades by Hamas, which has long been designated a terrorist organization by Israel and the U.S. Investors are closely watching conflicts in the Middle East for signs that escalating hostilities between Israel and Iran could threaten global oil supplies and drive up energy prices. More than half of all crude oil reserves are in the region, according to current estimates from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Neither Israel, which just two oil refineries and production capacity of just under 300,000 barrels per day, nor the Palestinian territories are key oil producers, data from the Energy Information Administration shows. But analysts fear a widening conflict risks involving other Middle East nations that are major producers. Impact on gas prices? Despite the jump in oil prices, analysts said they don't expect the latest regional hostilities to lead to higher gas prices for Americans. The national average gas price for regular unleaded as of Wednesday was $3.49 a gallon, down nearly 25 cents from the same period a year ago, according to AAA. Oil prices are one of many other factors that ultimately determine what motorists will pay at the pump. Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, noted that oil prices dropped Tuesday amid concerns that China's economic slowdown would last longer than expected. Today's oil price jumps have largely offset the dip earlier this week, he said. "We shouldn't necessarily see gas prices bounce up yet, if at all," De Haan told CBS MoneyWatch. "Oil would likely have to climb past $80-$82 to see a real impact at the pump."