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The 'lazy girl jobs' trend is being fueled by 20-somethings who haven't made hard decisions or done hard things, says an NYU business professor 2023-07-28 - NYU professor Suzy Welch told CNBC that a desire to avoid anxiety was behind the viral "lazy girl jobs" trend. Overprotective parenting made "a bunch of 20-somethings who have never really had to make hard decisions or do very hard things," she said. TikTokers have defended the viral trend as a valid demand for work-life balance. Get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in business, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley — delivered daily. Loading Something is loading. Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy Fear of anxiety and overprotective parenting are the driving the viral "lazy girl jobs" trend, according to Suzy Welch, an NYU Stern School of Business professor. On a July 26 episode of CNBC's Squawk Box, Welch said the viral trend was not about laziness but rather Gen Z's "strong desire to avoid anxiety at any cost." Welch also told the outlet that overprotective parents created "a bunch of 20-somethings who have never really had to make hard decisions or do very hard things. And when they start to feel it, they're like ow, ow, I want to run away." She clarified to CNBC that her comments were based on a prior interview with Jennifer Sotsky, a psychiatrist specializing in Gen Z anxiety. Welch's conversation with Sotsky also served as the basis for her editorial in the Wall Street Journal on "lazy girl jobs," where she said that Gen Z's "overweening parents—baby boomers like me—failed to prepare them for adulthood's challenges." Welch told Insider via email on Thursday that she was "describing an expert's take on the trend, not necessarily my own," in her Journal editorial. The "lazy girl jobs" trend has gone viral on TikTok, with videos under the #lazygirljobs hashtag racking up more than 17.9 million views since May. In these videos, users — typically women working at a desk — flaunt their low-stress, high-paying, and frequently remote gigs. TikToker Gabrielle Judge, who popularized the trend, urged her followers to seek out "lazy girl jobs." In her viral video posted on May 23, Judge said, "A lazy girl job is basically something you can quiet quit." "There's a lot of jobs out there where you could make $60,000 to $80,000, so pretty comfortable salaries, and not do that much work and be remote," she said in her video. #jobsearchhacks #remoteworking #antihustleculture #9to5 ♬ original sound - Gabrielle👸🏻 @gabrielle_judge Career advice for women who don’t know what remote job to apply to. You can bay your bills at not feel tired at the end of the day. Women are here to collect those pay checks and move on from the work day. We have so much more fun stuff happeneing in our 5-9 that is way more important than a boss that you hate. #corporatejobs Judge told Insider that she started the trend to encourage women to prioritize work-life balance, saying "I really want people to understand our time is so valuable and should be focused on efforts that are most aligned with their individual priorities, not a company." However, TikTok users — including Judge — have begun warning users to stop sharing their lazy girl jobs online to avoid becoming "socially outcasted," Insider previously reported. "Don't get on the internet and tell on yourself," warned TikToker Kevin White about the risks of oversharing. Welch's remarks are the latest in the debate over work-life balance stirred up by the lazy girl jobs trend. In response to critics, TikTok user Bonnie Dilber said in a video posted July 18, which received more than 26,000 likes: "It is not lazy to expect a job like this like it is a weird thing in the US where we have branded this as laziness." "At the end of the day, people in remote well-paying jobs that take care of them are producing good results. Otherwise, they're not going to stay in those jobs," Dilber added.
Mitch McConnell had 2 unreported falls this year, including a 'face plant' at an airport in July, reports say. That's at least 3 falls in 2023. 2023-07-28 - Sen. Mitch McConnell, 81, has had a history of falls this year, per several new reports. After falling and fracturing his rib in March, McConnell also tripped at an airport in July, per NBC. He also fell while on a February trip to Helsinki, where Sen. Ted Budd said it was "very icy." Get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in business, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley — delivered daily. Loading Something is loading. Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell suffered at least two previously undisclosed falls this year, according to multiple reports. McConnell, 81, tripped and fell while disembarking from a plane at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on July 14, NBC News reported, citing two anonymous sources familiar with the incident. One of those sources, a passenger on the flight, said the Kentucky lawmaker had a "face plant" as he tried to exit the plane, per NBC. They said they did not see the fall in person but spoke to another passenger who assisted McConnell after his fall. The senator was not seriously hurt, per NBC. ABC News also reported that McConnell fell while leaving his flight on July 14, citing unnamed sources who said he tripped on the air bridge. McConnell's other fall occurred in February as he visited Helsinki, Finland, on an official trip, CBS reported. North Carolina GOP Sen. Ted Budd told the outlet he was with McConnell during the fall, but added that it was "very icy at the time." "It could have happened to any of us," he told CBS. Budd said McConnell's fall did not disrupt any meetings or official activities, per CBS. All three outlets also reported that McConnell occasionally uses a wheelchair. Including the two previously unreported incidents, McConnell has had at least three separate falls this year. He was hospitalized in March after tripping at the Waldorf Astoria in Washington D.C., which left him with a concussion and a fractured rib. McConnell returned to the Senate floor in mid-April, six weeks after the accident. In 2019, the GOP leader also fell on the patio of his home in Kentucky and fractured his shoulder. The senator's health has come under scrutiny in the past week after he abruptly stopped speaking at a press conference on Wednesday and froze for 20 seconds, before being escorted away by other Republicans. When McConnell returned later and was pressed by reporters about his well-being, he curtly replied: "I'm fine." An aide for McConnell said he'd stepped away from the podium because he felt "light-headed," but added that the senator was "sharp." A day later, California Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein, 90, appeared confused during a Senate hearing and tried to deliver a speech during a vote, raising questions over her ability to perform her official duties. Feinstein's spokesperson later said she was "preoccupied" amid a "chaotic" hearing. A representative for McConnell did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent outside regular business hours.
A sanctioned Russian billionaire says the UK searched his multimillion-dollar London home illegally using allegations from a 15-year-old report 2023-07-28 - Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman said a UK police warrant to search his home was unlawfully obtained, per Reuters. He wants to overturn the warrant which he said was obtained based on allegations from a 2007 report. His lawyer said the allegations were "absolutely typical of classic kompromat." Get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in business, from Wall Street to Silicon Valley — delivered daily. Loading Something is loading. Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy Sanctioned Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman told London's High Court on Thursday that a UK police raid on his mansion in London was illegal and based on allegations from a 15-year-old report, according to a Reuters report. Fridman's lawyers argued that the warrant to search his home was unlawfully obtained and are now seeking to overturn it, per Reuters. Back in December, the UK National Crime Agency, or NCA, searched Fridman's multi-million dollar home over several allegations — including conspiracy to evade UK sanctions and money laundering — per Reuters. Fridman, who is worth $12.2 billion as of Thursday, has been sanctioned by the UK and the European Union after Russia invaded Ukraine. Lawyers for the 59-year-old Russian businessman, who was born in Ukraine, said the accusations of wrongdoing were "gratuitous and unjustified slurs against a businessman of good character," the news agency reported. Fridman is the founder and largest shareholder of the Alfa Group, which includes Russia's largest bank. He moved to London in 2013. Hugo Keith, the billionaire's lawyer, said in court filings that the allegations — from a 2007 report republished by WikiLeaks in 2012 — "absolutely typical of classic kompromat, damaging and untrue information assembled and used to create negative publicity and to exert influence over the subject," per Reuters. "Kompromat" refers to compromising information that is used to blackmail or discredit a person or group, typically for political purposes," according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Cathryn McGahey, the NCA's lawyer, said in court filings the UK government agency admitted its raid on Fridman's house was "unlawful," per Reuters. Keith said the NCA has already dropped its inquiry into the alleged conspiracies to defraud and commit perjury, according to the news agency. The NCA and Fridman's legal representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider sent outside regular business hours.
Meta plans retention 'hooks' for Threads as more than half of users leave app 2023-07-28 - NEW YORK, July 27 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms (META.O) executives are heavily focused on boosting retention on their new Twitter rival Threads, after the app lost more than half of its users in the weeks following its buzzy launch, CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees on Thursday. Retention of users on the text-based app was better than executives had expected, though it was "not perfect," said Zuckerberg, speaking at an internal company town hall, the audio of which was heard by Reuters. "Obviously, if you have more than 100 million people sign up, ideally it would be awesome if all of them or even half of them stuck around. We're not there yet," he said. Zuckerberg said he considered the drop-off "normal" and expected retention to grow as the company adds more features to the app, including a desktop version and search functionality. Meta is looking at adding more "retention-driving hooks" to entice users to return to the app, like "making sure people who are on the Instagram app can see important Threads," said Chief Product Officer Chris Cox. A company spokesperson declined to comment on the meeting. The executives' comments came a day after Meta wowed investors with a rosy revenue growth forecast, a sign of a comeback for a company that faced deep skepticism over its hefty spending on the metaverse last year as ad sales plummeted. The disclosure sent Meta's shares surging 8% on Thursday. Zuckerberg told employees on the call that he believed the company's work on the augmented and virtual reality technology that would power the metaverse was "not massively ahead of schedule, but on track." Meta, he added, needed to get started investing in that work ahead of rivals such as Apple (AAPL.O), Google and Microsoft (MSFT.O), given their years of experience building operating systems for existing products. "That way, we have all the tools ready for when this is ready for prime time," he said, predicting that mass adoption of metaverse technologies would take place in the 2030s. Zuckerberg and Cox also highlighted the company's release of an artificial intelligence model called Llama 2 this month, which it made freely available for commercial use to any developer whose services had fewer than 700 million users. The model has received more than 150,000 download requests in the week since its release, Cox said. Responding to a question on the proposed "cage match" against Elon Musk, Zuckerberg said he was "not sure if it's going to come together." Reporting by Katie Paul in New York and Sheila Dang in Austin; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Is Apple Headed For A Blue-Sky Run? The iStock Trades In These Bullish Patterns Following Fed Call On Rates 2023-07-28 - Apple, Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) was rising about 1.6% on Friday, continuing to trek mostly north within a rising channel pattern, which Benzinga called out on July 19. The Cupertino, California-based company’s pattern is bullish, at least for the short-term. Apple is also trading in an inside bar pattern, indicating a period of consolidation, which is usually followed by a continuation move in the direction of the current trend. An inside bar pattern has more validity on larger time frames (four-hour chart or larger). The pattern has a minimum of two candlesticks and consists of a mother bar (the first candlestick in the pattern) followed by one or more subsequent candles. The subsequent candle(s) must be completely inside the range of the mother bar and each is called an "inside bar." A double, or triple inside bar can be more powerful than a single inside bar. After the break of an inside bar pattern, traders want to watch for high volume for confirmation the pattern was recognized. Following the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates, when the central bank applied a 25 bps increase, volatility in the stock market increased. Traders looking for continuation in elevated volatility in the stock market can use MIAX’s SPIKES Volatility products. The products, which are traded on SPIKES Volatility Index (NYSE: SPIKE), track expected volatility in the SPDR S&P 500 over the next 30 days. Read Next: The Most Cutting Edge Volatility Products On The Market The Apple Chart: Apple’s inside bar pattern leans bullish for continuation because the stock has been trading higher within an uptrend. The most recent higher high within the pattern was formed on July 19 at the all-time high of $198.23 and the most recent higher low was printed at the $192.55 mark on Thursday. If Apple breaks up from the inside bar pattern, the stock may find resistance at the upper ascending trendline of the channel. If the stock breaks down from Thursday’s mother bar, Thursday’s high-of-day will serve as a lower high, which will negate the downtrend. If Apple eventually breaks up from the channel, the stock could be in for a blue-sky run with only psychological resistance levels above. If the stock breaks down from the channel, a longer-term downtrend could be on the horizon. Apple has resistance above at the all-time high and at $200 and support below at $194.48 and at $189.61. Story continues screenshot_2614.png Read More: Volatility Sharply Increases Following Fed Minutes, This ETF Offers 1.5X Leverage Don't miss real-time alerts on your stocks - join Benzinga Pro for free! Try the tool that will help you invest smarter, faster, and better. This article Is Apple Headed For A Blue-Sky Run? The iStock Trades In These Bullish Patterns Following Fed Call On Rates originally appeared on Benzinga.com . © 2023 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Ford Shares Fall on EV Warning, F-150 Recall 2023-07-28 - Key Takeaways More than 870,000 F-150 trucks were recalled because of a potential braking problem. Ford warned of slow EV adoption and delayed its estimate for hitting production targets. The carmaker's EV unit lost more than $1 billion, and the company raised its estimate of EV losses for the year. Ford Motor Company (F) shares tumbled as the carmaker warned that electric vehicle (EV) adoption is proving slower than anticipated, and hundreds of thousands of its popular F-150 trucks were recalled because of a potential problem with the emergency brake. The company now expects to build EVs at a rate of about 600,000 per year sometime in 2024, a delay from its earlier estimate that the goal would be reached at the end of this year. Ford reported that its Model e division, which makes EVs, lost $1.08 billion in the second quarter and $1.8 billion in the first half. The carmaker raised its estimate of the unit’s full-year loss to $4.5 billion. The company lost $3 billion on EVs last year. John Lawler, Ford's chief financial officer and interim chief supply chain officer, said that while the transition to EVs is happening, “it may take a little longer.” Ford Recall of More Than 870,000 F-150s Along with concerns about EVs, shares slumped on word Ford is recalling more than 870,000 F-150 pickups because the vehicle’s electronic parking brake could turn on suddenly. The company explained that a rear wiring bundle may chafe and create a short circuit, triggering the brake and potentially causing an accident. Ford indicated it had received 918 warranty claims and three field reports of the chafing condition, with the brake activated in 299 of those, including 19 while the truck was being driven. The carmaker added it had no reports of accidents or injuries caused by the problem. The recall covers certain 2021 through 2023 F-150s with single exhaust systems. Shares of Ford fell over 3% in intraday trading on Friday, and were down about 14% since hitting a 10-month high earlier in the month.
Stocks rally to end strong week as inflation keeps cooling: Stock market news today 2023-07-28 - Stocks rebounded on Friday, rallying after the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure showed a continued cooling in pricing pressures in the US economy. The Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index out Friday morning showed that on a "core" basis — which strips out food and energy — prices rose 4.1% over the prior year in June, the least since September 2021. The data followed CPI numbers earlier this month that showed core inflation rose 4.8% over the prior year. On a "headline" basis — which includes food and energy — both PCE and CPI showed prices rose 3% over last year. Earlier in the morning, a surprise Bank of Japan rate shift rattled markets. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) was up 0.5%, or more than 150 points. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) added 1%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) climbed nearly 2% after all the major gauges closed in the red on Thursday. All three averages closed in positive territory over the week. Click here for the latest stock market news and in-depth analysis, including events that move stocks Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance
3 REITs That Beat Analysts' Earnings Estimates This Week 2023-07-28 - During earnings season, some investors must decide whether to await earnings reports before purchasing shares of stocks they've been monitoring, while others contemplate whether it's better to hold or sell the stocks they already own before the reports are released. One ironic thing about Wall Street's reaction to earnings is that sometimes whether a company beats or misses estimates holds more significance than whether the actual earnings — or funds from operations (FFO) for most real estate investment trusts (REITs) — and revenue are better or worse than the same quarter year over year. There are also instances when revenue and forward guidance mean more than earnings in determining how Wall Street will react. Take a look at some of the REITs that have surpassed the analysts' estimates: Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. (NYSE:ARE) is a Pasadena, California-based REIT with a portfolio of 850 tenants in 430 properties devoted to life science, agtech and technology companies in what its website calls "top innovation clusters." These areas include cities like Boston, New York City, Seattle and San Francisco. On July 24, Alexandria Real Estate released its second-quarter operating results. FFO of $2.24 was higher than FFO of $2.10 in the second quarter of 2022 and beat the estimates by $0.04. Revenue of $713.9 million beat the estimates of $694.54 million and was 10.9% ahead of revenue of $713.9 million in the second quarter of 2022. Alexandria Real Estate also announced its full-year 2023 guidance for FFO of $2.72-$2.78. Street estimates were for $3.09. Shares are up about 5% this week. Brandywine Realty Trust (NYSE:BDN) is a Philadelphia-based REIT that as of March 31 owns, develops, leases and manages 163 diverse mixed-use commercial properties from the Northeast to Texas. It has a total of 23 million square feet of rentable space. On July 25, Brandywine Realty Trust released second-quarter operating results. FFO of $0.29 per share beat the estimates by $0.02 but was down 17.14% from FFO of $0.35 in the second quarter of 2022. Revenue of $125.88 million missed the estimate of $127.63 million but was a 1.48% increase over revenue of $124.04 million in the second quarter of 2022. Shares have risen over 10% since the report was released. Story continues Empire State Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE:ESRT) is a New York City-based diversified REIT that owns and operates a portfolio of office, retail and multifamily properties in the greater New York metro area. Empire State Realty is the owner of the Empire State Building, one of the world's most famous buildings. As of March 31, Empire's portfolio included 8.9 million square feet of office space, 718,000 square feet of retail space, and 721 residential units in three multifamily properties. On July 26, Empire State Realty Trust released its second-quarter operating results. FFO of $0.26 beat the estimates of $0.22 but was 10.34% below FFO of $0.29 in the second quarter of 2022. Revenue of $154.6 million missed the estimates by $9.6 million but was 3.52% above revenue of $149.34 million in the second quarter of 2022. Empire State Realty is a REIT that has not performed well for a long time, but it rose over 5% following the release of earnings. Empire State Investors can take hope that perhaps this is the beginning of an improvement in price performance. Weekly REIT Report: REITs are one of the most misunderstood investment options, making it difficult for investors to spot incredible opportunities until it's too late. Benzinga's in-house real estate research team has been working hard to identify the greatest opportunities in today's market, which you can gain access to for free by signing up for the Weekly REIT Report. Check out: This REIT you've probably never heard of is up 36% over the past two years. Here's how its unique model is crushing the market. This REIT just teamed up with the company that built Elon Musk's tiny house to develop affordable housing communities. Here's how you can be among the first to buy shares. Don't miss real-time alerts on your stocks - join Benzinga Pro for free! Try the tool that will help you invest smarter, faster, and better. This article 3 REITs That Beat Analysts' Earnings Estimates This Week originally appeared on Benzinga.com . © 2023 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Tupperware stock is up 165% this week for no good reason 2023-07-28 - New York CNN — The meme traders are back. Shares of Tupperware (TUP) have exploded by about 165% this week and more than 300% over the last month for no discernible reason. The Florida-based container company has been in hot water for some time. Sales are on the decline and Tupperware even warned in April that it was on the brink of bankruptcy. In early June, the New York Stock Exchange even notified Tupperware that it was in noncompliance with the exchange’s rules because its market capitalization was too low, less than $50 million, over a period of 30 trading days. Tupperware’s average closing price, the notification said, was also less than $1 for that period — below the exchange’s threshold. In early July, BlackRock stepped in as an investment partner to Tupperware, possibly to help them manage their debt load. But no new material announcements or changes have been made since then. The surge in stock price would make some sense if there were any indication that the company had begun a turnaround or found an eligible buyer. But there’s no evidence that either of those things has happened. There are, however, posts on Reddit that could offer an explanation. “YEESH,” wrote one user about the company’s outlook. “Still threw $3,000 at it. Did the same with [Bed Bath & Beyond] last summer. As long as I’m not playing with too much and have a stop loss I’m ok with losing a few hundred dollars for a chance to moon again.” “This will be the next big short squeeze, I went all in yesterday,” commented another. On Thursday, the trading volume for Tupperware was three times higher than the prior 30-day average, according to FactSet. It appears that, like GameStop and movie theater chain AMC before it, Redditors are trying to send the 77-year-old struggling business “to the moon.” Also like other meme stocks, shares of Tupperware have been highly shorted. That means a lot of traders are betting that the stock has further to fall. Before you join the “Tupperware party,” remember that meme stocks tend to be very volatile, with sweeping highs and lows. Libra Investment Services warned on Friday that investors in Tupperware face a high risk of loss. Tupperware shares are still down nearly 30% year to date. The company did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.
NatWest chairman says political fallout of Farage storm forced out CEO Rose 2023-07-28 - Summary Companies NatWest Chairman Davies intends to stay until 2024 Fallout from Nigel Farage's account closure forced out CEO Rose NatWest reports first-half pretax profit of 3.6 bln stg Shares steady in early trade LONDON, July 28 (Reuters) - NatWest (NWG.L) chairman Howard Davies said political pressure ultimately led to the shock departure of chief executive Alison Rose, as the bank battles to contain the fallout from a damaging clash with former Brexit party leader Nigel Farage. Britain's biggest business bank has faced severe criticism for mishandling the closure of Farage's accounts with its private bank Coutts, after a dossier emerged showing a bank committee had said his views did not align with the lender's own. Rose stepped down on Wednesday after admitting to a "serious error of judgment" in discussing Farage's relationship with the bank with a BBC journalist, while Coutts CEO Peter Flavel was ousted a day later. Davies said he intended to stay on at the bank for now - after also facing calls to resign - and confirmed for the first time that political pressure forced the board's hand in Rose's exit. "The political reaction to that was such... that her position was then untenable," he told reporters. "We've lost a great leader," he added. NatWest is nearly 40% taxpayer-owned following its bailout during the 2008-2009 global financial crisis. Britain's finance ministry said the decision for Rose to depart was made by her and the bank's board. "The NatWest board is responsible for the bank's strategic and operational management," a Treasury spokesperson said. While the government has long described itself as an "arms-length" investor and Davies said it had not interfered in commercial decisions during his eight-year tenure at the bank, he noted the "exceptional circumstances". He said it would "theoretically" have been possible for Alison to continue despite the government's position, but they had both concluded that "maintaining the position of the bank and her authority in the bank would just be too much of a struggle." Davies has himself come under pressure, with one top-20 investor telling Reuters on Thursday his position looked increasingly shaky after the board backed Rose on Tuesday evening, only for her to leave hours later. Government intervention appeared to seal Rose's fate, after sources at the prime minister's office and the finance ministry briefed newspapers late Tuesday evening they were not happy with her remaining in post. Davies said his plan remained for him to leave in 2024, as announced in April. "I serve at the behest of shareholders and will continue to do so, it is important there is some stability in the bank," he said on Friday. NatWest said later on Friday it had appointed the law firm Travers Smith to undertake an independent review into the account closure arrangements at private bank Coutts. ECONOMIC CRUNCH NatWest's shares were up around 3% in late-morning trading after the bank earlier on Friday beat analysts' forecasts, reporting a jump of more than a third in first-half pre-tax profit to 3.6 billion pounds ($4.6 billion). The bank made scant reference to the Farage incident in its earnings release, other than to confirm that former commercial banking boss Paul Thwaite had been promoted to interim CEO for initial 12 months. Thwaite will be tasked with trying to steady the ship after the damaging Farage episode, at a time when Britain faces an economic crunch from stubborn inflation and a cost-of-living crisis impacting many households. The lender also announced an interim dividend of 5.5 pence per share and announced a share buyback of up to 500 million pounds for the second half of the year. But it also warned that tightening mortgage margins and savers shopping around for better deals would eat into its margins this year, and set aside an additional 223 million pounds to cover potentially soured loans. ($1 = 0.7820 pounds) Reporting by Iain Withers and Lawrence White, editing by Sinead Cruise and Tomasz Janowski Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Leaked Microsoft polls show employees feel much worse about culture and leadership than at the beginning of the year 2023-07-28 - Microsoft workers feel worse about workplace culture and leader effectiveness, internal polls show. The company measures sentiment with "Daily Signals" polls, and some results show falling morale. Tensions have been high amid layoffs and paused pay raises. Angry workers recently roasted the CEO. Microsoft employees feel significantly worse about the company's workplace culture and the effectiveness of leaders than they did at the start of the year, internal polls viewed by Insider show. The company measures employee sentiment through polls called Daily Signals. Insider viewed screenshots of graphs of daily responses to each question since January. Microsoft provided monthly averages in response to a request for comment. The percentage of employees who answered favorably to whether they're "seeing evidence of a positive change in Microsoft's workplace culture" fell to a monthly average of 40% in July, compared with 62% in January. A poll asking whether employees had "confidence in the overall effectiveness of my organization's leaders" fell to an average of 59% in July from a monthly average of 75% in January. And a poll about whether employees believed Microsoft had a growth mindset — meaning that employees have "a strong desire to learn, persist in the face of setbacks, value failure as essential to learning" — fell slightly to 76% in July from 84% in January. Fewer than half of employees indicated they would stay at Microsoft if they were offered a comparable position with similar pay and benefits at another company, tracking with previous results for this question viewed by Insider last month. In July, 48% of employees who answered said they would stay at Microsoft, down from 68% in January. Morale at Microsoft appears to be falling amid layoffs and the company's recent decision to halt raises this year and cut its budget for bonuses and stock awards. Angry employees recently roasted Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella after he thanked the company's workforce for a "landmark" fiscal year. "Here employees take pay cuts as our company and leadership make record profits," one employee wrote in response to Nadella. "It's not right, no other way to look at it." Are you a Microsoft employee, or do you have insight to share? Contact reporter Ashley Stewart via the encrypted messaging app Signal (+1-425-344-8242) or email (astewart@insider.com).
Judge refuses to dismiss lawsuit against Disney’s efforts to neutralize governing district takeover 2023-07-28 - ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A judge in Florida on Friday refused to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Gov. Ron DeSantis appointees against Disney’s efforts to neutralize the governor’s takeover of Disney World’s governing district. The judge in state court in Orlando denied Disney’s motion in the lawsuit that says the company wrongly stripped appointees of powers over design and construction at Disney World when it made agreements with predecessors, who were supporters. The case is one of two lawsuits stemming from the takeover, which was retaliation for the company’s public opposition to the so-called Don’t Say Gay legislation championed by DeSantis and Republican lawmakers. In the other lawsuit, in federal court in Tallahassee, Disney says DeSantis violated the company’s free speech rights. The governor has touted his yearlong feud with Disney in his run for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, often accusing the entertainment giant of being too “woke.” Disney has accused the governor of violating its First Amendment rights. Attorneys for Disney had argued that any decision in state court would be moot since the Republican-controlled Legislature already has passed a law voiding agreements that the company made with a prior governing board made up of Disney supporters that gave design and construction powers to the company. The entertainment giant had asked that the state court case be put on hold if it’s not dismissed until the federal lawsuit in Tallahassee was resolved since they covered the same ground and that lawsuit was filed first. In that case, Disney sued DeSantis and his appointees to the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District in an effort to stop the takeover, saying the governor was violating the company’s free speech and “weaponizing the power of government to punish private business.” DeSantis wasn’t a party in the state court lawsuit. The fight between DeSantis and Disney began last year after the company, facing significant pressure internally and externally, publicly opposed a state law banning classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades, a policy critics call “Don’t Say Gay.” As punishment, DeSantis took over the district through legislation passed by Florida lawmakers and appointed a new board of supervisors to oversee municipal services for the sprawling theme parks and hotels. But before the new board came in, the company made agreements with previous oversight board members who were Disney supporters that stripped the new supervisors of their authority over design and construction. In response, DeSantis and Florida lawmakers passed the legislation that repealed those agreements. Disney announced in May that it was scrapping plans to build a new campus in central Florida and relocate 2,000 employees from Southern California to work in digital technology, finance and product development. Disney had planned to build the campus about 20 miles (30 kilometers) from the giant Walt Disney World theme park resort. ___ Follow Mike Schneider on Twitter at @MikeSchneiderAP
Legal approval puts takeover of Augusta University hospitals a step closer 2023-07-28 - ATLANTA (AP) — A plan for an Atlanta-area hospital system to take over Augusta University’s hospitals complies with state law and may proceed, Georgia’s attorney general ruled Thursday. Marietta-based Wellstar Health System would take over the 478-bed Augusta University Medical Center and 154-bed Children’s Hospital of Georgia, as well as the rights to build a 100-bed hospital in Grovetown, in the growing Columbia County suburbs of Augusta. Wellstar, Augusta University and the University System of Georgia said in a joint statement that “work remains to be done before the transaction is complete” but that all parties are trying to complete the deal this summer. The Federal Trade Commission must also review the deal and agree that it doesn’t give Wellstar unfair market power. Wellstar would also take over the Roosevelt Warm Springs Rehabilitation and Specialty Hospitals that Augusta University currently runs. Assistant Attorney General Alkesh Patel found after a hearing last month in Augusta that the deal complies with a Georgia law requiring that a community get fair benefit and guarantees of access to care from the transfer of a nonprofit hospital. Patel wrote that the Augusta University Health System, the nonprofit entity that currently runs the hospitals, “will receive an enforceable commitment for fair and reasonable community benefits in exchange for its assets” as required by state law. As part of the 40-year deal, Wellstar agrees to take on $234 million in debt and to pay at least $111 million in naming rights for use of the Medical College of Georgia name. The system will now be known as Wellstar MCG Health. Wellstar is agreeing to invest up to $797 million in the system. That includes $395 million to build a new hospital and medical office building in Grovetown. Wellstar would spend $62 million at the existing Augusta hospitals in the first two years of the deal, and another $139 million in the next eight years. If the Augusta hospitals had at least a 2% profit margin, Wellstar would invest another $201 million. Some of that investment would come from Wellstar implementing an electronic medical record system. Wellstar could pay more if MCG Health operations are sufficiently profitable, between $5 million and $15 million a year in mission support payments. The regents agreed to spend that money to improve the Medical College of Georgia, Augusta University or the health of Georgians, in consultation with Wellstar. University system officials have been eager to shed responsibility for the health system’s finances while maintaining access to the crucial training that students of the Medical College of Georgia get at the hospitals. Augusta University President Brooks Keel, in the June hearing, described the health system’s financial situation as “not good,” and Patel wrote that after a multiyear process of seeking merger partners, Wellstar was the only suitor willing to go forward. But some Atlanta-area leaders have fought the deal, saying Wellstar illegally discriminated against Black people and violated its tax-exempt status when it closed hospitals in downtown Atlanta and a southern suburb. The attorney general’s office validated the health system’s analysis that it was worth $337 million to $394 million and had secured pledges from Wellstar to invest $555 million to $613 million, using the current value of future spending. Wellstar promised to maintain a list of core services, including an emergency room, a top-level trauma center, a top-level neonatal intensive care unit, a pediatric intensive care unit, and cancer and stroke treatment for at least 10 years. Wellstar could cut or end medical training programs only if university regents agree, after Wellstar shows there’s no viable alternative, or government funding has significantly decreased and Wellstar tried to maintain the programs The documents outline that the Medical College of Georgia will work with Wellstar to create a regional medical campus at Wellstar’s flagship Kennestone Regional Medical Center in Marietta by as early as mid-2025. Wellstar can extend the deal for another 40 years at its discretion. For the first 10 years, the regents would have a right of first refusal to buy back control if Wellstar sought to give control to a for-profit entity or a nonprofit based outside Georgia. The agreement can be terminated only if both sides agree, if one side does something illegal or if one side breaks the agreement in such a way that “also creates long-term corporate or financial harm” to the other side.
Dockworkers union wins state appeal in South Carolina dispute over new terminal jobs 2023-07-28 - Unionized dockworkers have the right to staff every job at a new container terminal in South Carolina under a federal court decision — but there is no guarantee that a $1 billion loading site that has sat largely idle will soon resume activity. A three-judge panel on Friday denied an appeal from the South Carolina State Ports Authority that would have instead maintained the fairly unique “hybrid” model that relies on state and union employees. The ruling handed a victory to International Longshoremen’s Association members in the least unionized state seeking to hold onto jobs after technological changes last century that threatened their work. The labor dispute began when the ILA sued the United States Maritime Alliance for sending shipping lines to Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal shortly after the completion of its first phase two years ago. The union alleged the move violated the terms of a master contract prohibiting the use of newly constructed terminals where ILA dockworkers do not perform all unloading tasks. That interpretation posed a problem at the Port of Charleston — one of just three sites alongside those in Savannah, Georgia, and Wilmington, North Carolina, where union members work alongside state employees. Shipping line containers subsequently called off. The South Carolina State Ports Authority viewed the move as an illegal strong-arm tactic to grab new lines of work and argued a solely unionized staff would increase operational costs. The state favored a narrow definition of the jobs entitled to ILA members that excluded “lift-equipment jobs” like cranes operation. However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit endorsed a broader definition. Two of the three judges affirmed the National Labor Relations Board’s conclusion that “work” involved “the loading and unloading generally at East and Gulf Coast ports.” But the rift may not be over. Republican Gov. Henry McMaster told reporters earlier this month that he would support sending the case to the U.S. Supreme Court if the dockworkers won the state’s appeal.
Vietnam car maker begins build for North Carolina electric vehicle plant that will employ thousands 2023-07-28 - MONCURE, N.C. (AP) — A Vietnamese company planning an electric vehicle plant in central North Carolina that would employ 7,500 workers met a milestone Friday as its top executive joined Gov. Roy Cooper and others for a ground-breaking ceremony. VinFast announced last year that it would build its first manufacturing facility outside Vietnam in Chatham County, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) southwest of Raleigh. The planned $4 billion investment also would create North Carolina’s first car manufacturing plant and North Carolina’s largest-ever, state-backed economic development project as far as job creation, according to news outlets. North Carolina had missed out on car plants over the years to other Southeastern states. (For) “decades we’ve wanted an automaker in North Carolina, and you know, somebody was looking after us. We were just waiting for that EV market,” Cooper said at Friday’s event. VinFast, which makes fully electric SUVs, aims to open in 2025 a manufacturing and asssembly plant with initial production capacity of 150,000 vehicles annually. The company has submitted site plans to Chatham County government and received county and environmental permits to begin work. The state and Chatham County offered VinFast up to $1.25 billion in incentives that can be reached if it meets hiring and investment thresholds. The amount includes $450 million that the General Assembly set aside for infrastructure around the plant. A car company that was only formed in 2017, VinFast pivoted two years ago toward electric SUVs and targeted foreign markets. The company says it’s so far delivered 350 of its five-seat model to U.S. customers since shipping their first batch late last year. “Our project represents a significant investment and we’re proud to create thousands of jobs here in North Carolina, but we believe the recognition that we receive here goes beyond the figures and reflects the mutual ambition that we all are pursuing,” VinFast CEO Le Thi Thu Thuy said at the ceremony. Earlier this year, the company announced it would delay the production start in Chatham County from 2024 to 2025. A company executive acknowledged that their original timeline had been aggressive but reaffirmed the company’s commitment to build.
Two taxi drivers arrested in Mexican resort of Cancun for assaulting van carrying foreign tourists 2023-07-28 - MEXICO CITY (AP) — Two taxi drivers have been arrested in the Mexican city of Cancun for assaulting a van carrying foreign tourists, prosecutors said Friday. The events in the Caribbean coast resort on Thursday were the latest in a months-long string of assaults on vehicles that medallion-cab drivers suspect of being operated by ride-hailing apps such as Uber. Prosecutors in the Caribbean coast state of Quintana Roo said such behavior will not be tolerated. “Strong action will be taken to ensure that the state is a safe destination for local inhabitants and visitors,” the state prosecutor’s office said in a statement. Local residents posted video on social media showing at least two uniformed cab drivers bashing a Chevy Suburban with poles and other objects. The van driver attempts to escape with the vehicle’s tailgate open, according to the footage, and the tourists’ luggage spills into the street. Three women can later be seen retrieving their luggage from the street. “What are you doing?” cries one woman in English as belligerent cabbies mill around the scene, carrying what looked like improvised cudgels. “That is not okay.” A local business owner who filmed the incident invited the women to take refuge in her store. The video shows the taxi drivers chasing the driver of the Suburban down the street until he reached a police officer. The state prosecutors’ office said two taxi drivers were charged with robbery, and causing damage and injuries. Local media reported the Suburban was not run through a ride-hailing app but by a local, non-medallion limousine service. Past incidents of taxi drivers attacking private vehicles in Cancun were based on the mistaken assumption they were Uber cars. Cancun residents organized a boycott of medallion taxis in January following a week of blockades and violent incidents by drivers protesting the ride-hailing app Uber. Road blockades, stone throwing and cabbies physically getting in the way had prevented tourists from boarding Uber vehicles. The U.S. issued a travel advisory warning that “past disputes between these services and local taxi unions have occasionally turned violent, resulting in injuries to U.S. citizens in some instances.” Ride-hailing app s were blocked in Cancun until January, when a court granted an injunction allowing Uber to operate.
Europe’s banks could survive a drastic economic downturn, stress test shows 2023-07-28 - FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Europe’s banking sector could withstand a severe economic downturn without depleting their financial buffers against losses, the European Central Bank said Friday. A survey of 98 large and medium-sized banks done by the ECB’s supervisory arm in conjunction with the European Banking Authority showed that even in the most adverse scenario — a fall of almost 10% in economic outpoint over three years — banks would still have enough capital to cover losses and then some. The stress test was not a pass-fail exercise for banks in the 20 countries that use the euro currency. Rather, results for individual banks will be used by banking regulators in determining how much capital they need to hold in reserve. Banks are crucial to the European economy because companies get most of their financing from them, instead of from financial markets — the opposite of the situation in the U.S. The ECB took over supervision of the biggest banks after the eurozone debt crisis more than a decade ago, when bank losses led to heavy bailout costs for governments. National supervisors were perceived to have been less than vigilant on developing risks. Scrutiny of bank finances has grown after the failure of three U.S. banks amid rising interest rates that led to losses on investments and mass withdrawal of deposits. The financial turmoil then hit Credit Suisse, a globally significant bank that had long-running problems, leading the Swiss government to engineer an emergency takeover by rival UBS to prevent further banking chaos. Switzerland is not part of the European Union, where some of the safeguards instituted after the 2008-2009 global financial crisis were more widely applied.
The backup driver in the 1st death by a fully autonomous car pleads guilty to endangerment 2023-07-28 - PHOENIX (AP) — The backup Uber driver for a self-driving vehicle that killed a pedestrian in suburban Phoenix in 2018 pleaded guilty Friday to endangerment in the first fatal collision involving a fully autonomous car. Maricopa County Superior Court Judge David Garbarino, who accepted the plea agreement, sentenced Rafaela Vasquez, 49, to three years of supervised probation for the crash that killed 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg. Vasquez told police that Herzberg “came out of nowhere” and that she didn’t see Herzberg before the March 18, 2018, collision on a darkened Tempe street. Vasquez had been charged with negligent homicide, a felony. She pleaded guilty to an undesignated felony, meaning it could be reclassified as a misdemeanor if she completes probation. Authorities say Vasquez was streaming the television show “The Voice” on a phone and looking down in the moments before Uber’s Volvo XC-90 SUV struck Herzberg, who was crossing with her bicycle. Vasquez’s attorneys said she was was looking at a messaging program used by Uber employees on a work cellphone that was on her right knee. They said the TV show was playing on her personal cellphone, which was on the passenger seat. Defense attorney Albert Jaynes Morrison told Garbarino that Uber should share some blame for the collision as he asked the judge to sentence Vasquez to six months of unsupervised probation. “There were steps that Uber failed to take,” he said. By putting Vasquez in the vehicle without a second employee, he said. “It was not a question of if but when it was going to happen.” Prosecutors previously declined to file criminal charges against Uber, as a corporation. The National Transportation Safety Board concluded Vasquez’s failure to monitor the road was the main cause of the crash. “The defendant had one job and one job only,” prosecutor Tiffany Brady told the judge. “And that was to keep her eyes in the road.” Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell said in a statement after the hearing that her office believes the sentence was appropriate “based on the mitigating and aggravating factors.” The contributing factors cited by the NTSB included Uber’s inadequate safety procedures and ineffective oversight of its drivers, Herzberg’s decision to cross the street outside of a crosswalk and the Arizona Department of Transportation’s insufficient oversight of autonomous vehicle testing. The board also concluded Uber’s deactivation of its automatic emergency braking system increased the risks associated with testing automated vehicles on public roads. Instead of the system, Uber relied on the human backup driver to intervene. It was not the first crash involving an Uber autonomous test vehicle. In March 2017, an Uber SUV flipped onto its side, also in Tempe when it collided with another vehicle. No serious injuries were reported, and the driver of the other car was cited for a violation. Herzberg’s death was the first involving an autonomous test vehicle but not the first in a car with some self-driving features. The driver of a Tesla Model S was killed in 2016 when his car, operating on its Autopilot system, crashed into a semitrailer in Florida. Nine months after Herzberg’s death, in December 2019, two people were killed in California when a Tesla on Autopilot ran a red light, slammed into another car. That driver was charged in 2022 with vehicular manslaughter in what was believed to be the first felony case against a motorist who was using a partially automated driving system. In Arizona, the Uber system detected Herzberg 5.6 seconds before the crash. But it failed to determine whether she was a bicyclist, pedestrian or unknown object, or that she was headed into the vehicle’s path, the board said. The backup driver was there to take over the vehicle if systems failed. The death reverberated throughout the auto industry and Silicon Valley and forced other companies to slow what had been a fast march toward autonomous ride-hailing services. Uber pulled its self-driving cars out of Arizona, and then-Gov. Doug Ducey prohibited the company from continuing its tests of self-driving cars. Vasquez had previously spent more than four years in prison for two felony convictions — making false statements when obtaining unemployment benefits and attempted armed robbery — before starting work as an Uber driver, according to court records.
FDIC launches sale of $18.5 bln of Signature Bank loans 2023-07-28 - July 28 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) set in motion the sale of an $18.5 billion loan portfolio from Signature Bank this week, a set of loans linked to major private equity and investing firms, according to the regulator's website. The portfolio comprises 201 performing capital-call loans tied to Starwood Capital Group, Carlyle Group (CG.O), Blackstone (BX.N), Thoma Bravo and Brookfield Asset Management (BAM.TO), Bloomberg News reported on Friday, citing a person familiar with the matter. The FDIC hired Newmark Group (NMRK.O) in March to sell about $60 billion of Signature Bank's loans, after state regulators decided to close down the failed lender amid a turmoil in regional banks earlier this year. The FDIC declined to comment beyond the notice on its website. The sale was launched on July 25 and is limited to FDIC-insured depository institutions, the Bloomberg report said. The notice reads that the loans for sale "consist of subscription credit facilities to private equity funds." Reporting by Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
J&J effort to resolve talc lawsuits in bankruptcy fails a second time 2023-07-28 - [1/2] A bottle of Johnson and Johnson Baby Powder is seen in a photo illustration taken in New York, February 24, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar/Illustration/File Photo Companies Johnson & Johnson Follow NEW YORK, July 28 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Friday shot down Johnson & Johnson's (JNJ.N) second attempt to resolve tens of thousands of lawsuits over its talc products in bankruptcy, imperiling a proposed $8.9 billion settlement that would stop new lawsuits from being filed. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Kaplan in Trenton, New Jersey, ruled that a J&J company's second bankruptcy, like its first, must be dismissed because the talc lawsuits did not put it in immediate "financial distress." "In sum, this Court smells smoke, but does not see the fire," Kaplan wrote, referring to the J&J unit, LTL. "Therefore, the emphasis on certainty and immediacy of financial distress closes the door of chapter 11 to LTL at this juncture." J&J said on Friday that it disagreed with Kaplan's decision, and that it would vigorously defend itself against lawsuits that are "specious and lack scientific merit." J&J's first bankruptcy gambit began in 2021, when it offloaded its talc liabilities into a new company, LTL Management, and immediately placed that company into bankruptcy. LTL's first bankruptcy was dismissed in April after a U.S. appeals court ruled that it was not in sufficient financial distress to be eligible for bankruptcy protection. LTL quickly filed for bankruptcy again, arguing that its second effort has won more support from plaintiffs for a comprehensive settlement of current and future lawsuits alleging that J&J's baby powder and other talc products sometimes contained asbestos and caused mesothelioma, ovarian cancer and other cancers. J&J has said its talc products are safe and do not contain asbestos. Attorneys representing cancer victims, along with the U.S. Justice Department's bankruptcy watchdog, had called for LTL's second bankruptcy to be dismissed as an abuse of U.S. bankruptcy law. Andy Birchfield, an attorney who represents cancer victims, said that the second bankruptcy was meant to keep the talc lawsuits from being heard by juries. "J&J has spent two years trying to convince us that somehow a company worth a half-trillion dollars is bankrupt," Birchfield said. "It’s time for the nonsense to stop and for J&J to accept responsibility." J&J argued that the proposed bankruptcy settlement offers a fairer and faster resolution for cancer claimants than litigation in other courts. J&J compared recent trials to a "lottery" in which some litigants receive large awards and others get nothing. It said that the costs of its talc-related verdicts, settlements and legal fees have reached about $4.5 billion. Plaintiffs' lawyers who opposed the $8.9 billion offer said that J&J had created the "illusion" of support by signing deals with plaintiffs' lawyers who quickly signed up large numbers of clients without ever filing any lawsuits against J&J. By settling the lawsuits in bankruptcy, J&J could cram down the settlement terms on cancer victims opposed to the deal, and prevent new lawsuits from being filed by people who develop cancer in the future as a result of their talc use, according to lawyers opposed to the deal. LTL's bankruptcy proceedings have largely paused the 38,000 lawsuits that were filed before October 2021. Kaplan allowed one case to proceed to trial during LTL's second bankruptcy, resulting in an $18.8 million verdict in favor of a California man who said he developed cancer from exposure to J&J baby powder. Reporting by Dietrich Knauth in New York Additional reporting by Mike Spector in New York Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Matthew Lewis Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.