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A Blood Test Accurately Diagnosed Alzheimer’s 90% of the Time, Study Finds 2024-07-28 11:00:06.864000+00:00 - Scientists have made another major stride toward the long-sought goal of diagnosing Alzheimer’s disease with a simple blood test. On Sunday, a team of researchers reported that a blood test was significantly more accurate than doctors’ interpretation of cognitive tests and CT scans in signaling the condition. The study, published Sunday in the journal JAMA, found that about 90 percent of the time the blood test correctly identified whether patients with memory problems had Alzheimer’s. Dementia specialists using standard methods that did not include expensive PET scans or invasive spinal taps were accurate 73 percent of the time, while primary care doctors using those methods got it right only 61 percent of the time. “Not too long ago measuring pathology in the brain of a living human was considered just impossible,” said Dr. Jason Karlawish, a co-director of the Penn Memory Center at the University of Pennsylvania who was not involved in the research. “This study adds to the revolution that has occurred in our ability to measure what’s going on in the brain of living humans.” The results, presented Sunday at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in Philadelphia, are the latest milestone in the search for affordable and accessible ways to diagnose Alzheimer’s, a disease that afflicts nearly seven million Americans and over 32 million people worldwide. Medical experts say the findings bring the field closer to a day when people might receive routine blood tests for cognitive impairment as part of primary care checkups, similar to the way they receive cholesterol tests.
This undergrad rings up groceries and Big Macs to stay in college 2024-07-28 11:00:00+00:00 - This is part of NBC News’ Checkbook Chronicles, a series of profiles looking at the financial realities of everyday Americans and the challenges they face. Romona Smith, 20, Nashville Undergraduate subsidizing her college costs with shifts at Kroger and McDonald’s. Trying to save and budget with little family support. Concerned about what another Trump presidency could mean for her financial future. Romona Smith nearly dropped out of college twice since enrolling in 2022. The first time, she was about to call it quits after extra shifts at McDonald’s failed to cover her more than $2,000 in out-of-pocket costs at Tennessee State University. Pell grants and Title III loans had funded most of the Seattle native’s $11,800-per-semester out-of-state tuition, but she was coming up short for the rest until a school adviser connected her with vital grant money. And in January, she almost missed out on her sophomore spring, unable to scrape together the $350 for her flight back to Nashville until an uncle came through with $200. “Me working wasn’t enough,” said Smith, who described the latter experience as strengthening her resolve. “I was not going to stay home,” she recalled telling herself. “I’m going back to college if it’s the last thing I do.” Primary source of income: Working full time for $20 an hour at a McDonald’s in Corona, California, over the summer. Once back in Nashville this fall, she’ll return to her part-time job as a clerk at a Kroger grocery store making $16.25 an hour, aiming for at least 32 hours per week. Living situation: Spending the summer rent-free with her college roommate and family in their five-bedroom home in Corona. On-campus room and board will cost her about $4,600 for the fall term. Economic outlook: Smith is on her own financially, with virtually no support from her parents. “And that’s not even school-related,” she said. “If I need it, they probably won’t have it.” Her budget is under pressure both from price increases and from the high interest rates that have helped tame them. She wants to buy a car so she can spend less on Uber rides to and from campus and her job, which can come to around $200 a week. But auto loan rates for new and used vehicles — at 6.7% and 11.9%, respectively — while down slightly from last year’s records, have kept her priced out despite her 670 credit score. “Inflation has changed a lot of things,” said Smith, who’s been leaning into what she calls “boring” hobbies like crocheting and $12 paint-by-numbers kits she grabs from Target every once in a while. At 3.4% annually, consumer price increases are still running hotter in the four-state census region that includes Tennessee than they are nationally, at 3%. I’m going back to college if it’s the last thing I do. Romona Smith, 20, Nashville Smith is pursuing a double major in social work and psychology, along with a certification as a registered behavior technician to work with people with ADHD or autism. She’s already trying to secure an internship for the upcoming term, and she’s keen to get a head start on learning about advancements in her field, like AI, so she can hit the ground running after graduation. “I want to be financially stable,” said Smith. “I do want a family eventually. I don’t want to be afraid of bringing people into this world, and this world is changing from what it is already.” With the election less than four months away, she worries about launching her career under a second Trump administration, citing the Republican nominee’s antipathy toward efforts to boost equity in the workplace and proposals in Project 2025 to roll back diversity and inclusion programs. Vice President Kamala Harris’ recent ascent to the lead the Democratic ticket has boosted her hopes — “a lot of Gen Z wants to vote now,” she said — but she remains wary: “I’m just getting into position to be prepared for whatever happens.” Budget pain points: Smith’s main focus is on financing her education, but just paying for routine expenses like her cellular plan is a challenge, too. She has about $24,500 in student loans and $1,700 in credit card debt. Maintaining a good credit score is also a top concern, as she has built it up since age 18. “But at the same time, the bills are stacking up,” Smith said. While she has “more than enough credit cards” to finance everyday expenses, “I’m slowly but surely paying them off, rather than already having them paid,” she said. She makes the minimum monthly payment across all four of her cards but hopes to wrestle down her balances further before school resumes. With her out-of-pocket tuition set to hit nearly $5,000 this fall, Smith wants to avoid another financial Hail Mary. She’s talking to her advisers about aid and plans to continue punching the clock. Since age 16, Smith said, “I’ve always worked. There wasn’t really a time where I haven’t worked for more than two weeks.” She expects to pick up a second job when she returns to Nashville. “I’m going to constantly be working, and it’s going to be so draining,” she said. Trying to save when money is tight: Smith said her savings peaked at around $6,000, but she’s recently had to dip into them so much that the account is basically empty now. “I am budgeting, don’t get me wrong,” she said, but she’s still experimenting with ways to save. Back in high school, Smith tried the “100 envelope challenge” — a cash budgeting approach that went viral on TikTok — but found it was too easy to dip into her savings. So instead, she recently bought an “indestructible” piggy bank to stash bills and spare change. Smith said her job at Kroger pays weekly, and she typically puts 50% of her paycheck into her bank account, 20% into the piggy bank as cash, and reserves 30% for spending money. Smith is among the millions of young Black workers who are disproportionately pushing to save. In a Bank of America survey of Gen Z consumers published in July, 25% of Black or African American respondents said they were reprioritizing their finances, compared with 16% of respondents overall. At least 20% of Black or African American respondents said they were putting at least some of their paychecks into savings accounts every month, versus 14% of their non-Black or African American counterparts. “I’m trying to build generational wealth,” Smith said.
UK is ‘broke and broken,’ new government says as it prepares to tackle shortfall in public finances 2024-07-28 10:52:39+00:00 - LONDON (AP) — Britain’s new left-leaning government said Sunday that the nation is “broke and broken,” blaming the situation on its predecessors ahead of a major speech on the state of the public finances that is widely expected to lay the groundwork for higher taxes. In a sweeping assessment three weeks after taking power, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office professed shock at the situation they inherited after 14 years of Conservative Party rule, while releasing a department-by-department analysis of the perceived failures of the previous government. The critique comes a day before Treasury chief Rachel Reeves is expected to outline a 20-billion-pound ($26 billion) shortfall in public finances during a speech to the House of Commons. “We will not shy away from being honest with the public about the reality of what we have inherited,’’ Pat McFadden, a senior member of the new Cabinet, said in a statement. “We are calling time on the false promises that British people have had to put up with and we will do what it takes to fix Britain.” Starmer’s Labour Party won a landslide election victory earlier this month following a campaign in which critics accused both major parties of a “conspiracy of silence” over the scale of the financial challenges facing the next government. Labour pledged during the campaign that it wouldn’t raise taxes on “working people,” saying its policies would deliver faster economic growth and generate the additional revenue needed by the government. The Conservatives, meanwhile, promised further tax cuts in the autumn if they were returned to office. As proof that the previous government wasn’t honest about the challenges facing the country, Starmer’s office pointed to recent comments from former Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt confirming that he wouldn’t have been able to cut taxes this year if the Conservatives had been returned to power. Those comments came in an interview with the BBC in which Hunt also accused Labour of exaggerating the situation to justify raising taxes now that they’ve won the election. “The reason we’re getting all this spin about this terrible economic inheritance is because Labour wants to raise taxes,” Hunt said on July 21. “If they wanted to raise taxes, all the numbers were crystal clear before the election. … They should have levelled with the British public.” The government on Sunday released an overview of the spending assessment Reeves commissioned shortly after taking office. She will deliver the complete report to Parliament on Monday. Those findings led the new government to accuse the Conservatives of making significant funding commitments for this financial year “without knowing where the money would come from.’’ It argued that the military had been “hollowed out’’ at a time of increasing global threats and the National Health Service was “broken,’’ with some 7.6 million people waiting for care. And despite billions spent to house migrants and combat the criminal gangs ferrying migrants across the English Channel on dangerous inflatable boats, the number of people making the crossing is still rising, Starmer’s office said. Some 15,832 people have crossed the Channel on small boats already this year, 9% more than during the same period in 2023. “The assessment will show that Britain is broke and broken — revealing the mess that populist politics has made of the economy and public services,” Downing Street said in a statement. The quandary the government finds itself in should be no surprise, said Paul Johnson, the director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, an independent think tank focused on Britain’s economic policies. At the start of the election campaign, the institute said that the U.K. was in a “parlous fiscal position” and the new government would have to either raise taxes, cut spending or relax the rules on public borrowing. “For a party to enter office and then declare that things are ‘worse than expected’ would be fundamentally dishonest,” the IFS said on May 25. “The next government does not need to enter office to ‘open the books.’ Those books are transparently published and available for all to inspect.”
‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ Reverses Marvel’s Box Office Slump 2024-07-28 09:01:58+00:00 - Marvel Studios, trying to move past a pair of box office humiliations, deployed two of its most popular characters over the weekend and hit a mother lode. The potty-mouthed Deadpool and hard-drinking Wolverine — packaged together for the first time on movie screens — were on pace to sell roughly $205 million in tickets in the United States and Canada, box office analysts said on Saturday. “Deadpool & Wolverine” will easily set a record for the largest R-rated movie opening in Hollywood history, even when adjusting for inflation. The current record-holder, “Deadpool” (2016), arrived to more than $175 million in today’s dollars. “Deadpool & Wolverine” was expected to collect an additional $233 million overseas, for a global total after only three and a half days of play of roughly $438 million — a start on par with Marvel’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” (2022), which went on to sell about $1 billion in tickets. Directed by Shawn Levy, “Deadpool & Wolverine” cost an estimated $320 million to make and market worldwide.
Business Is Buzzing Again for the Meme Makers of the Left 2024-07-28 09:01:04.322000+00:00 - Last Sunday, after President Biden announced he was stepping down from his presidential campaign and endorsing Kamala Harris as his replacement, Democratic meme makers rejoiced. Minutes after the announcement, a group chat called “Rebel Alliance” — made up of left-wing creators who got to know one another during the 2020 campaign — lit up with excited messages. “All the progressive meme warriors are giddy right now,” said John Sellers, a co-founder of The Other 98 Percent, a popular left-wing Facebook page with 7.1 million followers, who participated in the chat. There’s “genuine excitement” about Ms. Harris among liberal creators, he said, “whereas with Biden we were trying to manufacture excitement from vapor.”
Hollywood’s Message to Red States: Our Movies Are for You 2024-07-28 07:01:03+00:00 - For nearly two decades, Hollywood has seemingly missed no opportunity to sound the alarm about climate change. There have been cri de coeur documentaries, most notably “An Inconvenient Truth.” Superheroes have been concerned, with Batman bemoaning mankind’s treatment of the planet in “Justice League.” Nary an award show goes by without a star or several begging viewers to take environment-saving action. So it was startling when the weather-focused “Twisters” arrived from Universal Pictures this month with no mention of climate change at all. If ever there was a perfect vehicle to carry Hollywood’s progressive climate change messaging — a big-budget movie about people caught in worsening storm patterns — wasn’t this it? Apparently not. Movies should not be about “preaching a message,” Lee Isaac Chung, who directed “Twisters,” said in a prerelease interview that served as a dog whistle to conservative ticket buyers.
Apple reaches its first-ever union deal with workers at a Maryland store 2024-07-28 01:36:00+00:00 - Apple reaches its first-ever union deal with workers at Maryland store Apple has reached a tentative collective bargaining contract with the first unionized company store in the country. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers' Coalition of Organized Retail Employees, which represents the employees at a retail location in Maryland, announced Friday evening that it struck a three-year deal with the company that will increase pay by an average of 10% and offer other benefits to workers. The agreement must be approved by roughly 85 employees at the store, which is located in the Baltimore suburb of Towson. A vote is scheduled for Aug. 6. "By reaching a tentative agreement with Apple, we are giving our members a voice in their futures and a strong first step toward further gains," the union's negotiating committee said in a statement. "Together, we can build on this success in store after store." Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The deal came after workers at the store authorized a strike in May, saying talks with management for more than a year hadn't yielded "satisfactory outcomes." The Maryland store is one of only two unionized Apple sites in the country. Employees there voted in favor of the union in June 2022, a few months before workers at a second Apple location in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, unionized with the Communications Workers of America. The second store has not secured a contract with the tech company. Unions have scored headline-grabbing election wins in recent years, including at an Amazon warehouse in New York City, a Chipotle store in Michigan and hundreds of Starbucks stores across the country. But many of them have not secured contracts.
Melania Trump's New Memoir Promises Unseen Photos And Revelations Before Election 2024-07-27 20:12:00+00:00 - Former First Lady Melania Trump has announced that her memoir “Melania” will be published this fall. The book will reportedly feature personal anecdotes and family photos that have never before been shared with the public. “‘Melania’ is a powerful and inspiring story of a woman who has carved her own path, overcome adversity and defined personal excellence. The former First Lady invites readers into her world, offering an intimate portrait of a woman who has lived an extraordinary life,” according to a press release issued by her office. Also Read: Did Donald Trump Deny Stormy Daniels Affair To Shield Wife Melania From Scandal? Former Top Aide Testifies In Hush-Money Trial Melania Trump has remained largely out of the spotlight while her husband, former President Donald Trump, campaigns for a return to the White House. She has been an enigmatic presence since the launch of his first presidential campaign in 2015. Throughout her tenure as first lady, she prioritized privacy, focusing on raising their son Barron Trump and championing her “Be Best” initiative to support children’s social, emotional, and physical well-being, reported The Guardian. Though she attended her husband’s 2024 campaign launch and the closing night of last week’s Republican National Convention, Melania Trump has otherwise mostly avoided the campaign trail. Notably, she did not deliver a speech at this year’s convention, breaking with the tradition followed at the 2016 and 2020 Republican gatherings, The Guardian added. The Memoir Edition of “Melania” is a 304-page jacketed hardcover book that includes 48 pages of never-before-seen photographs. It will be available for $40, with signed copies available for $75. Skyhorse Publishing will release the book. Skyhorse is known for publishing other works by Trump supporters, including former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and attorney Alan Dershowitz. Skyhorse has also collaborated with independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and former Trump insider Michael Cohen, who later became a prominent critic. Additionally, some Skyhorse books feature forewords by Trump ally Steve Bannon, The Guardian added. Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Read Next: Photo: Shutterstock
Trump Slams Harris For Pushing Left-Wing Values: 'She Was A Bum Three Weeks Ago ... A Failed Vice President' 2024-07-27 18:29:00+00:00 - Former President Donald Trump intensified his criticism of Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday in a speech at the Turning Point USA Believers' Summit in West Palm Beach, Florida, calling her a “bum” and accusing her of pushing left-wing values on the nation. Trump portrayed Harris as excessively liberal on issues like immigration and abortion during a speech to religious conservatives, reported The Washington Post. “She was a bum three weeks ago,” Trump said. “She was a bum, a failed vice president.” Trump and other Republicans have frequently targeted Harris on immigration, labeling her as President Joe Biden‘s “border czar.” Though Biden tasked Harris with negotiating with three Central American countries to tackle the root causes of migration, he never appointed her to oversee overall border policy. Also Read: Kamala Harris Will Certify 2024 Election Results: ‘She’s Not Going To Burn The System Down In Order To Save It’ Earlier Friday, in a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump called Harris a “radical left person” who “destroyed San Francisco,” The Washington Post added. In his remarks at the summit, Trump made an effort to position Harris as further to the left than Biden, reported The New York Times. He claimed that Harris would appoint “hard-core Marxists” to a broadened Supreme Court, aiming to “to shred our Constitution and all of our religious liberty.” Trump also targeted her stance on abortion rights, a contentious issue for Republicans since the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Trump additionally accused Harris of betraying Israel by not condemning “anti-Israel” protests. As he reaffirmed his support for Israel and its military actions in Gaza, Trump alleged that Harris, despite her Jewish husband, “doesn’t like Jewish people” or “Israel.” Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Read Next: Photo: Shutterstock
TikTok collected views on abortion, gun control from U.S. users, Justice Department says 2024-07-27 17:33:00+00:00 - In a fresh broadside against one of the world's most popular technology companies, the Justice Department is accusing TikTok of harnessing the capability to gather bulk information on users based on views on divisive social issues like gun control, abortion and religion. Government lawyers wrote in documents filed late Friday to the federal appeals court in Washington that TikTok and its Beijing-based parent company ByteDance used an internal web-suite system called Lark to enable TikTok employees to speak directly with ByteDance engineers in China. TikTok employees used Lark to send sensitive data about U.S. users, information that has wound up being stored on Chinese servers and accessible to ByteDance employees in China, federal officials said. One of Lark's internal search tools, the filing states, permits ByteDance and TikTok employees in the U.S. and China to gather information on users' content or expressions, including views on sensitive topics, such as abortion or religion. Last year, the Wall Street Journal reported TikTok had tracked users who watched LGBTQ content through a dashboard the company said it had since deleted. The Justice Department warned, in stark terms, of the potential for what it called "covert content manipulation" by the Chinese government, saying the algorithm could be designed to shape the content that users receive. "By directing ByteDance or TikTok to covertly manipulate that algorithm, China could for example further its existing malign influence operations and amplify its efforts to undermine trust in our democracy and exacerbate social divisions," the brief states. The concern, the Justice Department said, is more than theoretical, alleging that TikTok and ByteDance employees are known to engage in a practice called "heating" in which certain videos are promoted in order to receive a certain number of views. While this capability enables TikTok to curate popular content and disseminate it more widely, U.S. officials posit it can also be used for nefarious purposes. New allegations in an ongoing legal battle The new court documents represent the government's first major defense in a consequential legal battle over the future of the popular social media platform, which is used by more than 170 million Americans. Under a law signed by President Joe Biden in April, the company could face a ban in a few months if it doesn't break ties with ByteDance. The measure was passed with bipartisan support after lawmakers and administration officials expressed concerns that Chinese authorities could force ByteDance to hand over U.S. user data or sway public opinion towards Beijing's interests by manipulating the algorithm that populates users' feeds. The Justice Department contends that the law is not about limiting speech or limiting what can be posted on TikTok, but instead addresses national security matters. Justice Department officials told reporters that the brief contends the law is constitutional because it does not target protected speech; it is targeting foreign ownership of TikTok. According to department officials, the filing is accompanied by three national security declarations from intelligence officials, including the Director of National Intelligence and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, that explain the basis for the law. Federal officials are asking the court to allow a classified version of the legal brief, which would not be accessible to the two companies. Nothing in the redacted brief "changes the fact that the Constitution is on our side," TikTok spokesperson Alex Haurek said in a statement. "The TikTok ban would silence 170 million Americans' voices, violating the 1st Amendment," Haurek said. "As we've said before, the government has never put forth proof of its claims, including when Congress passed this unconstitutional law. Today, once again, the government is taking this unprecedented step while hiding behind secret information. We remain confident we will prevail in court." Justice Department alleges censorship on TikTok In the redacted version of the court documents, the Justice Department said another tool triggered the suppression of content based on the use of certain words. Certain policies of the tool applied to ByteDance users in China, where the company operates a similar app called Douyin that follows Beijing's strict censorship rules. But Justice Department officials said other policies may have been applied to TikTok users outside of China. TikTok was investigating the existence of these policies and whether they had ever been used in the U.S. in, or around, 2022, officials said. The government points to the Lark data transfers to explain why federal officials do not believe that Project Texas, TikTok's $1.5 billion mitigation plan to store U.S. user data on servers owned and maintained by the tech giant Oracle, is sufficient to guard against national security concerns. In its legal challenge against the law, TikTok has heavily leaned on arguments that the potential ban violates the First Amendment because it bars the app from continued speech unless it attracts a new owner through a complex divestment process. It has also argued divestment would change the speech on the platform because it would create a version of TikTok lacking the algorithm that has driven its success. In its response, the Justice Department argued TikTok has not raised any valid free speech claims, saying the law addresses national security concerns without targeting protected speech, and argues that China and ByteDance, as foreign entities, aren't shielded by the First Amendment. TikTok has also argued that U.S. law discriminates on viewpoints, citing statements from some lawmakers critical of what they viewed as an anti-Israel tilt on the platform during the war in Gaza. Justice Department officials dispute that argument, saying the law at issue reflects their ongoing concern that China could weaponize technology against U.S. national security, a fear they say is made worse by demands that companies under Beijing's control turn over sensitive data to the government. They say TikTok, under its current operating structure, is required to be responsive to those demands. Oral arguments in the case are scheduled for September.
Human Rights Advocates Condemn Gov. Newsom's Homeless Encampment Removal Order: 'Shameful Moment In California History' 2024-07-27 16:17:00+00:00 - In response to a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced an executive order on Thursday directing state officials to initiate the removal of homeless encampments across the state. Last month, the high court upheld an Oregon city’s practice of ticketing homeless individuals for sleeping outside, rejecting claims that such “anti-camping” ordinances infringed on the Constitutional prohibition against “cruel and unusual” punishment, reported CNN. “This executive order directs state agencies to move urgently to address dangerous encampments while supporting and assisting the individuals living in them — and provides guidance for cities and counties to do the same,” Newsom said. “There are simply no more excuses. It’s time for everyone to do their part.” Also Read: Gavin Newsom Backs Kamala Harris, Calls VP Tough, Fearless And Tenacious: ‘The Ideal Candidate To Counter Donald Trump’ According to a 2023 report from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development submitted to Congress, California has the largest homeless population in the country, exceeding 180,000 individuals. The nationwide estimate for people experiencing homelessness stands at approximately 653,100, marking an increase of about 12% since 2022. California’s response to the Supreme Court decision is attracting significant attention from other cities and states. Newsom’s executive order has sparked controversy, drawing criticism from both homeless advocates and some elected officials. Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation and leader of the Housing is a Human Right initiative, criticized Newsom’s actions as an attempt to “criminalize poverty” and a continuation of “failed policies.” In a statement released Thursday, Weinstein questioned, “Governor Newsom, where do you expect people to go? This is a shameful moment in California history.” Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Read Next: Photo: Shutterstock
Why Call Options Volume for These 2 Stocks Spiked Together 2024-07-27 13:00:00+00:00 - Owning stock gives investors a one-for-one behavior in the underlying stock, and that’s good enough when there is a longer timeframe. But it won’t cut it for big traders looking to quickly get a hit-and-run stock move. That’s where stock options come in. They allow investors to achieve leverage so that returns can be amplified when an underlying stock moves. But this leverage can bring on quick – and large – losses if the move and timing of that move are wrong, so investors need to correctly identify both of those factors. Knowing this, investors should pay attention when the market reports above-average options volume for stock, particularly call options (where the bet is that the stock will go up), since it signals the expectation of a relatively big move relatively quickly. Today, two stocks that are surprisingly correlated by their share of the technology sector are reporting a surge in call option volume: Lockheed Martin Co. NYSE: LMT and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. NYSE: TSM. Get TSM alerts: Sign Up Lockheed Martin and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing: A Symbiotic Relationship One is an arms manufacturer, the other is a chips and semiconductor maker, so what do these two possibly have in common? To start, they are co-dependent. Most of the aircraft, explosives, robotics, and software that Lockheed Martin’s weapons use to stay competitive and near cutting-edge technology come from equally advanced chips. Lockheed Martin buys these chips from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, so the success of one company can spill over to the success of the other. Some of these chips even go to Lockheed Martin’s F-35 Lightning II fighter jets, among other powerful weaponry. After Lockheed Martin reported its second quarter 2024 earnings results, which were so good that the stock rallied by 12% in a single week, management provided optimistic financial guidance for the rest of the year. The highlights of this report were not only a 9% jump in revenues but also an order backlog of nearly $160 billion moving forward. Some of these backlogs include the latest Aegis Combat System, an artificial intelligence-assisted program with advanced sensors and data management that can only be delivered adequately with Taiwan Semiconductor's help. Sales guidance for Lockheed Martin was raised by nearly $2.5 billion for the rest of 2024, which may be why analysts at Deutsche Bank raised their price targets to $600 a share right after the earnings release, directly calling for a net upside of 14.5% from where the stock trades today. As Lockheed Martin's outlook improves, so does Wall Street's forecast for Taiwan Semiconductor's earnings per share (EPS). Today's projections are set at 27.5% for the next 12 months, making it easier for Susquehanna analysts to place a valuation of $250 a share for the stock, daring it to rally by 56.6% from today's prices. United States Pushing to Strengthen Domestic Semiconductor Production This is why the U.S. government is pushing hard on the CHIPS and Science Act, which will fund some of the most vital players within the chips and semiconductors industry. The aim is that this financial backing will help these brands onshore their operations in the United States rather than being concentrated in Asia, as it is now. The United States learned an important lesson in diversification when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the global economy, and lockdowns in Asia caused a massive disruption in the supply chain of chips and semiconductors. This delayed most products, from consumer electronics to vehicles. The United States is leaning on companies like Taiwan Semiconductor and Intel Co. NASDAQ: INTC to make this onshoring a reality, with the latest round of funding granting up to $6.6 billion to Taiwan Semiconductor. Call Option Traders Target the Upside Potential Knowing that these two companies are co-dependent and because onshoring semiconductor production is vital to national security since Lockheed Martin's developments rely on it, call option traders have flocked to both stocks, seeing the strong upside potential. This screener spotted the action, and the breakdown is as follows. For Lockheed Martin, a $589,398 bet on call options was amplified significantly after accounting for leverage. For Taiwan Semiconductor, the call option volume translated into a $1.4 million position, which is much bigger after applying leverage. These are not small bets by any means, and investors need to remember that this capital is subject to the two options caveats: direction and timing. Before you consider Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, you'll want to hear this. MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing wasn't on the list. While Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. View The Five Stocks Here
Why Is It So Hard for Olympic Host Cities to Control Costs? 2024-07-27 12:00:02+00:00 - Follow live updates of the women’s gymnastics qualifying at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Like every city that hosts the Olympics, Paris designed its opening ceremony to make a splash, with ethereal dance performances, athletes floating down the Seine and a blowout performance by Celine Dion. A big display is table stakes, and hundreds of thousands of people jammed the city’s bridges and riverbanks for hours to cheer the flotilla. But to make these Olympics truly unique, Paris also had something quieter in mind: It vowed to buck the decades-long trend of spending a dizzying fortune on hosting them. That vision for a budget-conscious Olympics does not seem to have panned out. The tab for the Games in Paris, the first city to fully test cost-cutting reforms that the International Olympic Committee introduced in 2019, is at least $8.87 billion. That isn’t an eye-popping bill compared with the $17 billion that London spent in 2012, the estimated $28 billion that Tokyo spent in 2021 or the $24 billion that Rio de Janeiro spent in 2016 — the three most expensive Summer Games to date. But the figure is more than $1 billion above the historical median cost of hosting the Games, according to a study by researchers at Oxford’s Said Business School published in May. And it is about 115 percent above Paris’s initial estimate. “This is not the cheap Games that were promised,” the study concluded. Figuring out how to keep host city expenses on budget is vital for the Olympics, which have struggled to find host cities in places where citizens have a say in the decision. When the I.O.C. voted on Wednesday to give the 2030 Winter Games to the French Alps and the 2034 Winter Games to Salt Lake City, both cities were the only candidates.
MarketBeat Week in Review – 7/22 - 7/26 2024-07-27 11:00:00+00:00 - Markets finished the week with big gains fueled by in-line news on the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index that offset a robust first read on the second-quarter gross national product (GDP). Even the tech-heavy NASDAQ index was coming back after a July sell-off that was amplified after Alphabet Inc. NASDAQ: GOOG and Tesla Inc. NASDAQ: TSLA reported earnings. Next week, investors will hear from most of the Magnificent 7 stocks as earnings season kicks into high gear. The Federal Reserve will announce its latest decision on interest rates on Wednesday. The expectation is that rates will remain unchanged, but investors will be paying close attention to the Fed’s outlook for rate cuts in September. Get Alphabet alerts: Sign Up And the week will end with the July jobs report being released on Friday. It’s the kind of week that could set the stage for buying or selling the news. The MarketBeat team of analysts will be on top of it to keep you educated and informed. Here are some of our top stories from this week. Articles by Jea Yu Despite the sell-off in technology stocks, Jea Yu was still pointing investors toward some attractive buying opportunities. For example, Ally Financial Inc. NYSE: ALLY is a leading fintech company that operates as an all-digital direct bank that serves over 3 million customers. ALLY stock sold off after a mixed earnings report. However, Yu explains why this appears to be more of a technical move that shouldn’t slow down the stock’s momentum. Yu also looked at Enovix Corporation NASDAQ: ENVX which is a leading manufacturer of next generation lithium-ion batteries that feature silicon anodes as opposed to graphite anodes. Initially, the technology is being used for the Internet of Things (IoT) and smartphone markets. But Yu explains why this may be the time to buy ENVX stock. Many investors are wondering where the opportunity is in chip stocks after the recent sell-off. Yu points investors to ASML Holding N.V. NASDAQ: ASML, which designs the machines needed to print microscopic patterns on silicon wafers. The company affirmed its full-year guidance for its fiscal year 2024, which may remove growing concerns about an A.I. bubble. Articles by Thomas Hughes As it turns out, Tesla Inc. NASDAQ: TSLA is more than just a car company. Still, as Thomas Hughes explains, the growth in its energy storage business wasn’t enough to excite investors waiting for the company’s robotaxis. Tesla continues to be one of the most heavily traded stocks, and Hughes explains what the current movement in the stock means for traders and investors. Lamb Weston Holdings Inc. NYSE: LW is another stock that is moving lower after reporting a double miss in its quarterly earnings. Cautious guidance has probably made the sell-off worse than it needed to be. But Hughes points out that a solid balance sheet and tasty dividend is likely to make LW stock a solid long-term buy. Investors were much more bullish about The Coca-Cola Company NYSE: KO after it scored a double beat. As Hughes notes, K.O. stock had been rallying heading into earnings, and after the solid report, KO stock is at an all-time high with room to move higher. Articles by Sam Quirke Sometimes, broad market trends create exceptional buying opportunities. Sam Quirke found one of those stocks this week by looking at the price action in Netflix Inc. NASDAQ: NFLX. The stock has been one of the best-performing stocks this year, making it a prime target for investors looking to take some profit. However, a technical indicator shows that NFLX may have moved from overbought to oversold, which could be a short-term buying opportunity for shareholders. Chip stock investors recently discovered how a statement or two from a major political candidate can sink an entire sector. But when this happens, buying opportunities are created. This week, Quirke analyzes the outlook for Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ: QCOM) and why it’s one of the best picks in the semiconductor industry. Continuing his theme of buying opportunities, Quirke looked at three technology stocks forming attractive set-ups that traders may want to take advantage of for short-term gains. Articles by Chris Markoch Oil stocks continue to look like a strong buy on an anticipated rise in oil demand. That’s taken longer than many analysts expected. However, as Chris Markoch wrote this week, Exxon Mobil Corp. NYSE: XOM and Chevron Corp. NYSE: CVX continue to be excellent long-term stocks. But which stock is the better buy right now? Markoch analyzes both stocks and gives his recommendation. Articles by Ryan Hasson Ryan Hasson covered one of the interesting stories this week. It came from little-known Serve Robotics Inc. NASDAQ: SERV. The stock is up 60% for the week after news that NVIDIA increased its stake in the company. But if you’re thinking about getting in on this trade, understand that SERV stock is just a trade. It's still a highly speculative stock as an investment. On the other end of the investment spectrum, Hasson was writing about four high-yield dividend stocks and why now may be a good time for more conservative investors to jump in on these names to take advantage of the current market volatility. Hasson also poked around the beaten-down sector and gave investors three tech stocks that have pulled back at least 30% from their 52-week highs. At a time when investors are becoming increasingly conscious about valuation, these three stocks may be offering a rare opportunity to start or add to a position. Articles by Gabriel Osorio-Mazilli One of the surest signs of sector rotation has been the move from large-cap to small-cap stocks. This week, Gabriel Osorio-Mazilli was writing about three small-cap stocks that have been among the biggest beneficiaries of this recent trade. And Osorio-Mazilli explains why strong fundamentals could move these stocks higher. But for investors who want to stay away from small-cap names, Osorio-Mazilli also wrote about how a large-cap name like Lockheed Martin Corp. NYSE: LMT is looking like a big winner after its recent earnings report. Investors are starting to understand the application of AI and which companies will benefit from it. Osorio-Mazilli also looked at another stock that got a bump after a strong earnings report. Spotify Technology S.A. NYSE: SPOT is holding on to double-digit gains for the week after the company reported a strong earnings beat and revenue that came in higher year-over-year. Articles by Leo Miller Tesla wasn’t the only EV maker to report this week. However, Leo Miller explains why the news from Ford Motor Co. NYSE: F wasn’t much better. Earnings missed sharply as the company is still trying to clean up quality control issues. But the bigger news for some investors is that it confirmed a pivot to smaller EVs as sales of its EV trucks have cratered. Miller also wrote about the price action in Cadence Design Systems Inc. NASDAQ: CDNS. The chip maker scored a double beat but lowered guidance due to a large backlog. Miller explains why you shouldn’t take the backlog at face value but understand why it could be a bullish catalyst. Steel stocks have been under pressure as the price of steel has fallen. That was reflected in shares of Nucor Co. NYSE: NUE stock, which are under pressure despite a double beat. The reason, as Miller points out, is that earnings were lower year-over-year to reflect lower steel prices despite the potential benefit from tariffs. Before you consider Alphabet, you'll want to hear this. MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Alphabet wasn't on the list. While Alphabet currently has a "Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. View The Five Stocks Here
The 3 Biggest Mistakes You Can Make With Your 401(k) 2024-07-27 09:01:59+00:00 - In a surprising turn, given the usual grim reports about how little most Americans have saved for retirement, there’s been a spate of good news lately about 401(k) investors. Plan participation, contributions and account balances all were at or near record highs in 2023, according to a study last month from Vanguard. And new research from BlackRock shows that, buoyed by a surging stock market, nearly 70 percent of workplace savers now feel they’re on track for retirement — a 12 point jump from last year. So, have we finally solved what experts routinely refer to as the country’s looming retirement crisis — at least, for the roughly half of Americans with access to an employer-sponsored savings plan? Hardly. That lofty 401(k) balance? Yes, the median shot up an impressive 29 percent in 2023, but the typical account was still worth just over $35,000 by year end, Vanguard reports. Other signs of stress: A record number of savers withdrew money early, and the percentage taking out loans rose too. All told, despite the surface optimism about retirement savings, six in 10 investors told BlackRock they still worry they’ll outlive their money. “The rising tide for retirement savers has not lifted all boats,” said Christine Benz, director of personal finance and retirement planning at Morningstar.
A Digital Coin Based on Baby Trump? Yup. 2024-07-27 07:00:28+00:00 - Josh Bailey, a 26-year-old day trader in Austin, Texas, was scrolling through a cryptocurrency group chat last month when he encountered an investment opportunity: a digital currency created in honor of a dog named Billy. The dog was cute, he thought, but more important, its name evoked something every crypto trader covets — billionaire status. “I started hearing people say ‘Billy’ to a billy,” Mr. Bailey said. “Kind of has that ring to it.” Mr. Bailey bought about $900 of $BILLY on Pump.fun, a leading vendor for memecoins, volatile cryptocurrencies based on the fluctuating popularity of internet memes. When he sold his $BILLY holdings a few days later, he made a profit of more than $100,000. The recent revival of the crypto market has fueled a surge in memecoins, one of the industry’s frothiest, most scam-ridden segments. In the first six months of the year, nearly 1.7 million new coins entered circulation, compared with 264,000 over the same period in 2023, according to Dune Analytics, a crypto data tracker. Many of the tokens have names like Bread (yes, the meme is a loaf of bread) or Baby Trump (the former president in a diaper). One of the most popular memecoins is based on Pepe the Frog, an alt-right mascot that is sometimes used as a hate symbol.
Boar's Head recalls liverwurst nationwide over listeria risk. Here's what to know. 2024-07-26 23:04:00+00:00 - Deadly listeria outbreak linked to sliced deli meat, CDC says Deadly listeria outbreak linked to sliced deli meat, CDC says 00:51 Boar's Head Provisions is recalling all of its liverwurst products on store shelves because it could contain listeria, the U.S. Food and Safety Inspection Service said Friday. The announcement comes as health officials investigate a listeria outbreak that has sickened 34 people and caused two deaths in more than a dozen states. Boar's Head also said some of its deli meat products could contain listeria, a type of bacteria that can cause illness known as listeriosis. The Sarasota, Florida-based company said it is recalling a total of more than 103 tons of meat. Safety regulators warned consumers who have purchased potentially affected Boar's Head products not to eat them and urged retailers to pull the meat from stores. Some grocery chains have temporarily closed their respective delis due to the outbreak, CBS Boston reported. What to know The recalled liverwurst products were produced between June 11 and June 17, with a shelf life of 44 days. The products are for sale at retail delis nationwide, according to the recall notice. Boar's Head sells liverwurst in 3.5 pound loaves encased in plastic, as well as in other weights, and in sliced form. The liverwurst's label reads, "Boar's Head Strassburger Brand Liverwurst." The liverwurst products under recall have sell-by dates that range from July 25 to Aug. 30. Other products Boar's Head is pulling from stores because they could contain listeria: Virginia Ham Old Fashioned Ham Italian Cappy Style Ham Extra Hot Italian Cappy Style Ham Bologna Beef Salami Steakhouse Roasted Bacon Garlic Bologna Beef Bologna The potentially tainted Boar's Head products were discovered when the Maryland Department of Health collected a sample from an unopened liverwurst product at a store that tested positive for listeria and notified the Food and Safety Inspection Service. State health officials conducted the test in collaboration with the Baltimore City Health Department as part of a larger investigation into a listeria outbreak. Mild symptoms of listeria often include fever, muscle aches, vomiting and diarrhea. It can cause serious infections in people who are pregnant or 65 and older, as well as those who have weakened immune systems, with symptoms including headaches, stiff neck, loss of balance, confusion and convulsions. Antibiotics are used to treat listeria. "Listeria spreads easily among deli equipment, surfaces, hands and food. Refrigeration does not kill listeria, but reheating to a high enough temperature before eating will kill any germs that may be on these meats," the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said earlier this month in addressing the outbreak. Consumers with questions about the Boar's Head recall can contact the company's customer service at (800) 352-6277. People with food safety questions can call the U.S. Department of Agriculture's meat and poultry hotline at (888) 674-6854 or send a question via email to MPHotline@usda.gov.
TNT host Charles Barkley dunks on NBA's new broadcast deal: "It just sucks." 2024-07-26 21:54:00+00:00 - Charles Barkley is blasting the NBA's move to snub a broadcast deal from Warner Bros. Discovery to continue airing games in favor of teaming with Amazon, claiming the pro basketball league is choosing money over fans. The NBA announced this week that it had inked 11-year agreements to air games on Amazon Prime Video, Disney and NBC. Warner Bros. owns cable channel TNT, which has carried NBA games for nearly four decades as well as "Inside the NBA," an Emmy-award winning show hosted by Barkley, Ernie Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal and Kenny Smith. "Clearly, the NBA has wanted to break up with us from the beginning," Barkley wrote in a social media post on Friday. "I'm not sure TNT ever had a chance. TNT matched the money. The league knows Amazon and these tech companies are the only ones willing to pay for the rights when they double in the future. The NBA didn't want to piss them off." "It's a sad day when owners and commissioners choose money over the fans," he added. "It just sucks." (L-R) Shaquille O'Neal, Ernie Johnson Jr., Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley speak onstage an NBA awards banquet on June 25, 2018, in Santa Monica, Calif. Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Turner Sports The NBA didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about Barkley's statement. Warner Bros. files suit Warner Bros. Discovery isn't taking the rejection lying down. The media giant on Friday filed a lawsuit against the NBA in New York state court in Manhattan. It is requesting an order to delay the league's new deal from taking effect for the 2025-26 season, along with a judgment that Warner Bros. Discovery matched Amazon Prime Video's offer. The company also claims that its existing agreement with the NBA gives it the right to match any competing offers to broadcast games, according to the suit. "Given the NBA's unjustified rejection of our matching of a third-party offer, we have taken legal action to enforce our rights," TNT Sports said in a statement. "We strongly believe this is not just our contractual right, but also in the best interest of fans who want to keep watching our industry-leading NBA content with the choice and flexibility we offer them through our widely distributed WBD video-first distribution platforms — including TNT and Max." NBA spokesman Mike Bass said in a statement that Warner Bros. Discovery's claims are "without merit" and that "our lawyers will address them." The NBA's new broadcast pact leaves the fate of "Inside the NBA" unclear. The new deals means that games will be televised on a mix of both broadcast TV and streaming services, including Amazon Prime as well as Peacock and ESPN's upcoming standalone streaming service, expected to launch in 2025. The agreements are worth a combined $76 billion, according to the Associated Press. In an interview with The Athletic, Barkley said Friday he will continue his 10-year, $210 million contract with TNT Sports or consider offers from Amazon, ESPN or NBC. —The Associated Press contributed to this report
Yes, money can buy happiness — the more wealth you have, the happier you get, research finds. 2024-07-26 19:34:00+00:00 - If you want to know the secret to achieving happiness, the answer might be found in your bank account — as long as it's extremely well-funded. The link between happiness and money is getting a fresh look from economists and scientists, with new research finding multimillionaires are much happier than the merely well-to-do. In other words, the new study, from University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School senior fellow Matthew Killingsworth, indicates that the more money you have, the happier you are — and there may be no ceiling. Killingsworth's latest research builds on his 2023 study that debunked a much-cited 2010 analysis claiming people's happiness peaked at about $75,000 in annual income, or about $110,000 in today's inflation-adjusted dollars. That 2023 research found that happiness does improve with higher earnings, but because the researchers lacked data for people earning above $500,000, it was unclear whether happiness topped out at that income. Now, Killingsworth has found that happiness rises to even higher levels for the extremely rich, or those with assets between $3 million to $7.9 million, with their life satisfaction far exceeding that of people with mere six figure incomes. The implication is happiness continues to rise alongside one's bank account, with no clear upper limit. "The money-happiness curve continues rising well beyond $500,000 a year," Killingsworth told CBS MoneyWatch in an email. "I think a big part of what's happening is that when people have more money, they have more control over their lives." He added, "I suspect it's much more fundamental and psychologically deeper than simply buying more stuff." The happiness scale The new research is based on surveys that asked people to rate their life satisfaction from 1 to 7, with the lower end representing "not at all" happy to the top number indicating "extremely" satisfied. Low-income people earning about $30,000 or less gave their lives an average rating of about 4, while people earning about $500,000 rated their lives above 5. But multimillionaires gave their life satisfaction an average rating closer to 6. One question raised by the new research is whether wealth has a different impact on happiness than income. Wealth, for instance, may allow people to invest in themselves and their families, such as providing the means to fund children's college educations or buy a bigger home in a better school district. To be sure, a high income can also help with achieving those goals, but research indicates top earners aren't immune from feeling financially stressed. For instance, one-third of people earning more than $150,000 say they are concerned about making ends meet, a higher share than those earning between $40,000 to $149,999, according to an April survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. "How wealth and income combine to explain why the wealthy people were so much happier is an open question. I'd guess that having wealth is helpful, but I can't say for sure," Killingsworth said. Whether happiness might eventually plateau at some level of wealth or income is "hard to say," although he said he's working on additional analyses to examine that issue, he added. Happiness and the 99% But whether billionaires, for instance, could be even happier than multimillionaires isn't the important takeaway from his research, Killingsworth noted, pointing out that the share of people in the U.S. whose wealth exceeds those in his analysis is "pretty small." "At some point, whether 0.1% versus 0.3% of people might be beyond some threshold becomes relevant only for a pretty small set of people, so I think showing the pattern I find here tells us a lot of what we should care about," he noted. Most Americans earn salaries linked with lower life satisfaction, given that the U.S. median annual income stands at about $75,000. To crack the top 1% of earners in the U.S. one must earn an annual income 10 times that, about $788,000. "It certainly doesn't look like half the population is already beyond the point where more money stops mattering, for example," Killingsworth pointed out. That could matter for policymakers who want to improve their citizens' well-being, since the research suggests there could be "huge ROI" by helping improve the financial situations of people with low incomes, he noted. "A given amount of money appears to yield a lot more happiness for people who have less money to begin with," Killingsworth said. "Economic trends in the U.S. seems to be moving in the opposite direction — the poorest folks have gained the least in recent decades, and the richest folks have gained the most." Is money necessary for happiness? Absolutely not, Killingsworth said. "One important point that isn't obvious from this paper by itself is that money is just one of many things that matter for happiness," he said. "So, I think it's important for everyone – policy makers, executives, and regular people – to keep in mind that so many things matter besides money." And focusing solely on making money while ignoring other issues could create more harm than good, he added. Connections with friends and family may matter more to happiness, for example, given that Americans say these provide them with more meaning than material well-being, Pew Research Center has found "It's entirely possible to be rich and miserable or poor and happy," Killingsworth noted. "The main reason is simply that lots of things matter for happiness besides money." He added, "But, all else equal, people tend to be happier the more money they have."
Video game voice and motion actors announce second strike over AI concerns 2024-07-26 16:32:00+00:00 - Hollywood's video game performers announced they would go on strike Thursday, throwing part of the entertainment industry into another work stoppage after talks for a new contract with major game studios broke down over artificial intelligence protections. The strike — the second walkout for video game voice actors and motion capture performers under the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists — will begin at 12:01 a.m. Friday. The move comes after nearly two years of negotiations with gaming giants, including divisions of Activision, Warner Bros. and Walt Disney Co., over a new interactive media agreement. SAG-AFTRA negotiators say gains have been made over wages and job safety in the video game contract, but that the two sides remained split over the regulation of generative AI. A spokesperson for the video game producers, Audrey Cooling, said the studios offered AI protections, but SAG-AFTRA's negotiating committee said that the studios' definition of who constitutes a "performer" is key to understanding the issue of who would be protected. "The industry has told us point blank that they do not necessarily consider everyone who is rendering movement performance to be a performer that is covered by the collective bargaining agreement," SAG-AFTRA Chief Contracts Officer Ray Rodriguez said at a news conference Thursday afternoon. He said some physical performances are being treated as "data." Actors have their motion capture suits calibrated at Beyond Capture Studios. The Canadian studio provides motion capture services for the film and video game industries across North America. James MacDonald/Bloomberg via Getty Images Without guardrails, game companies could train AI to replicate an actor's voice, or create a digital replica of their likeness without consent or fair compensation, the union said. "We strike as a matter of last resort. We have given this process absolutely as much time as we responsibly can," Rodriguez told reporters. "We have exhausted the other possibilities, and that is why we're doing it now." Cooling said the companies' offer "extends meaningful AI protections." "We are disappointed the union has chosen to walk away when we are so close to a deal, and we remain prepared to resume negotiations," she said. Andi Norris, an actor and member of the union's negotiating committee, said that those who do stunt work or creature performances would still be at risk under the game companies' offer. "The performers who bring their body of work to these games create a whole variety of characters, and all of that work must be covered. Their proposal would carve out anything that doesn't look and sound identical to me as I sit here, when, in truth, on any given week I am a zombie, I am a soldier, I am a zombie soldier," Norris said. "We cannot and will not accept that a stunt or movement performer giving a full performance on stage next to a voice actor isn't a performer." The global video game industry generates well over $100 billion dollars in profit annually, according to game market forecaster Newzoo. The people who design and bring those games to life are the driving force behind that success, SAG-AFTRA said. Members voted overwhelmingly last year to give leadership the authority to strike. Concerns about how movie studios will use AI helped fuel last year's film and television strikes by the union, which lasted four months. The last interactive contract, which expired in November 2022, did not provide protections around AI but secured a bonus compensation structure for voice actors and performance capture artists after an 11-month strike that began in October 2016. That work stoppage marked the first major labor action from SAG-AFTRA following the merger of Hollywood's two largest actors unions in 2012. Actors rehearse movements in motion capture suits in front of a live feed of the scene at Beyond Capture Studios in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. James MacDonald/Bloomberg via Getty Images The video game agreement covers more than 2,500 "off-camera (voiceover) performers, on-camera (motion capture, stunt) performers, stunt coordinators, singers, dancers, puppeteers and background performers," according to the union. Amid the tense interactive negotiations, SAG-AFTRA created a separate contract in February that covered independent and lower-budget video game projects. The tiered-budget independent interactive media agreement contains some of the protections on AI that video game industry titans have rejected. Games signed to an interim interactive media agreement, tiered-budget independent interactive agreement or interim interactive localization agreement are not part of the strike, the union said.