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Sunday with Deborah Meaden: ‘The cats get me up about 9.30am by tapping my face’ None - Up early or lie-in? My husband, Paul, is up and out coaching for the local rugby team; I’m not an early riser. The cats get me up about 9.30am by tapping my face. First thing you do? I walk around the garden in bare feet. Then I’m on feeding duties. As well as the cats, we’ve got horses, sheep, rescue dogs, ducks and angry geese. I wander with my coffee and say good morning to them all. Breakfast? I only eat breakfast on holiday. I have wholemeal toast around lunchtime, but don’t eat properly until around 6pm. Sunday morning? I see my sister, Gail, who lives 20 minutes away – close, but not too close. I keep horses there so we go out for a ride, then I treat myself to an oat-milk latte and we have a chat. Sunday afternoon? I’ll have a fiddle around in the garden. I don’t pretend I look after it particularly well because we have a gardener and he should take all the glory when people say, ‘Oh, how lovely.’ Then Paul and I walk our five dogs as a group before I take them out one by one. They’ve got different personalities. I do that so they focus on me, to remind them I’m in charge. Sunday dinner? A ‘this isn’t chicken’ roast with stuffing, cabbage, leeks and broccoli. Paul makes himself a chicken casserole. I’ve been vegan for three years. I don’t cook and he’s a fantastic cook, but he makes the fair point that I decided to go vegan, he didn’t, so he’s not cooking two meals. Monday dread? On Friday, I look at the next week ahead so I know what is coming my way, but I never look at it on a Sunday. It is my day away from everything. Sunday is a time for contemplation, not for work – it’s for remembering what life’s all about. Wind down? I sit with a heap of animals on my lap and can barely see the television. We watch something lovely like The Piano, because Sunday nights have a different feel to other days. We’ve just finished Baby Reindeer. That is definitely not for a Sunday. skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Observed Free weekly newsletter Analysis and opinion on the week's news and culture brought to you by the best Observer writers Enter your email address Sign up Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy . We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion Deborah Meaden Talks Money (Red Shed) is out in paperback on 23 May
UK rail faces fight to stay on track as climate crisis erodes routes None - Under the chalk cliffs east of Folkestone sits the Warren, a coastal wilderness largely owned by the railway, hosting a nature trail for walkers, as well as the Victorian rail line that runs on to Dover. It is also, problematically for Network Rail, an active landslide. “Our monitoring here,” says Derek Butcher, principal geotechnical engineer for the southern region, “shows we’re actually moving ever closer to France – despite Brexit.” The geological combination of permeable chalk above gault clay means this has long been a known risk area: a massive landslide in 1915 moved the tracks about 50 metres towards the sea, and the line stayed closed for nearly four years because manpower had been diverted to the first world war trenches. Although numerous sea defences and drains have been built since, the line has taken a battering again as a run of the wettest winters on record piled up in the past 10 years. The Warren is just one of many risk sites. Unprecedented rainfall in the last 18 months – hot on the heels of record-breaking summer heat – has in every sense shifted the ground for the railway. Resilience to extreme weather of all kinds is a preoccupation in planning. The kind of money that not long ago would have electrified a railway line is now going, in large part, down the drains. Network Rail has dedicated £2.8bn in the next five years simply to bolster Britain’s tracks against the changing climate – and its leaders have warned that it may never be enough to save all the routes that exist today. Recorded landslips on the British railway alone have almost doubled in frequency, from 475 to 848 in the five years either side of 2019. At the Warren, recent movement of the earth is clearly visible on a large fault line that runs from the rail tracks to the sea. View image in fullscreen Surveyors monitoring slippage underneath the chalk cliffs in the Warren. Photograph: Andy Hall/The Observer “It’s opened up quite significantly over the last two months or so,” Butcher points out: in the footpath through the shrub, 20cm to 30cm of fresh bare earth is visible against the green of weeds; at sea level, a concrete apron built half a century ago to protect the beachfront from erosion is ruptured again. “And trains don’t need a lot of track movement to derail.” While the trackside has been reinforced and fresh ballast laid, the undulation is clear on the line emerging between the tunnels here. For safety, a 20mph speed limit has been imposed and high-speed trains that reach 140mph a few miles north on their way to London now crawl along, the ends of the carriages visibly lifting and falling as they pass over the dip. A 75-metre-deep inclinometer has been sunk into the earth and Network Rail engineers are out walking the tracks, checking for any further movement of the rails. More and more risk sites are now monitored remotely with sensors in the earth, but even large-scale mitigation work can only do so much. Network Rail’s chief executive, Andrew Haines, says technology can help manage the effects, but adds bluntly: “We cannot infrastructure-build our way out of climate change. The price tag is too expensive and it’s too disruptive.” Although the buckling rails seen in a sweltering July 2022 might become a more frequent concern as temperatures rise, the primary issue now is abnormally high rainfall. “It’s not a risk for a future – we are living climate change,” Haines says. View image in fullscreen Climate change causing record rainfalls and summer heat waves has resulted in the ground underneath the railway lines shifting. Photograph: Andy Hall/The Observer He commissioned a full review of the railway’s earthworks in the wake of the 2020 Stonehaven rail crash, where heavy rain and a faulty drain contributed to a fatal derailment. It suggested, as Haines puts it, that “you’ve got to start looking at what the Asian railways are doing, because they are used to dealing with much more torrential rain. “We have to progressively invest in better drainage, drainage engineers. We probably can’t do that in a generation.” Intense monitoring of the earth is supplemented at the Warren with a weather post that automatically relays readings to local control centres, to check how its microclimate matches the forecast. Staff across the railway are being trained in how to read such data more expertly, and understand the likely effects, in a “weather academy” staged at Network Rail’s Milton Keynes offices. The academy hopes to bring more knowledge and confidence in decisions to keep the railway operating when possible, says Lisa Angus, Network Rail’s weather response director. “There’s a view that over the last few years, and particularly since the Stonehaven accident in 2020, that we have all become a little bit more risk averse,” she says. skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Observed Free weekly newsletter Analysis and opinion on the week's news and culture brought to you by the best Observer writers Enter your email address Sign up Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy . We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion “We don’t want people looking out of the window and thinking it’s raining today, that’s my bloody rail service scuppered … Our job is to minimise the disruption to give the best service we possibly can.” Parallel work includes tests to see whether trains can run through more floodwater than had previously been deemed safe. But while the railway devises more ways to keep going through extreme weather, it may not be the longer-term answer. Lisa Constable, who leads on climate change adaptation strategy at Network Rail, says future planning includes looking at regions where extreme weather and higher net rainfall is likely to cause more flooding or erosion – and how to respond when that occurs. “In some cases, that means abandoning the railway,” she says. View image in fullscreen Stormy weather in Dawlish, Devon, in 2014 washed away 80 metres of track. Photograph: Theo Moye/Alamy Long stretches of the UK’s railway hug the coastline – as vividly illustrated by the collapse of the seawall at Dawlish in Devon in 2014, which took 80 metres of track away from the mainline that connected Cornwall to the rest of the rail network. That line was immediately restored in emergency works that took just six weeks. Whether the instinct to repair should always be followed everywhere in future is a moot point, Constable suggests, citing routes like the Cambrian and Cumbrian coast lines, or Holes Bay near Poole. “It may be that it’s just not feasible from a technical or a financial perspective to maintain the railway in that area. “Do we decide we have to build out into the sea on reclaimed land? Or are we going to abandon the track, bring it inland, build a new one, put people on buses instead of the trains? What is best for communities and the economy, as well as the railway?” Thinking beyond rail alone will be vital, says Juliet Mian, of the engineering firm Arup, co-author of a “resilience framework” for how railways around the world can address the climate crisis. “There’s not a silver bullet,” she says. “Because we’ve got a big Victorian railway, we absolutely don’t have the money to replace it. We need to find cross-sectoral solutions. Otherwise you have every organisation looking at the price tag alone and feeling daunted.” Resilience, she says, also means thinking about the climate impact of the work itself. Higher concrete walls might resist flooding, but have a carbon cost; and electrification is “a necessary thing”, even though overhead wiring is susceptible to damage in storms, Mian says. “If we don’t get to net zero, those extremes will be much bigger and more difficult to navigate.” The speed restrictions at Folkestone, reducing the number of trains that can run, are only temporary; Network Rail expects to spend millions to eventually repair the line, the fractured sea defences and footpaths it maintains. But with the cracks so visible, Butcher says: “Who knows what the future of the Warren is, with the extent of climate change?”
Post Office scandal: how did Paula Vennells, an ordained priest, fall so far and so fast from grace? None - When Paula Vennells was appointed chief executive of the Post Office in 2012, it felt like a true meeting of minds. The Post Office had long prided itself as the most trusted brand in Britain and here was a woman who, unusually among chief executives, was unashamed in emphasising, above all else, her personal ethical values. Vennells was a committed Christian, an ordained minister, who gave sermons at her local parish church, in Bromham, Bedfordshire. A confidant of the archbishop of Canterbury (Justin Welby reportedly supported her – unsuccessful – candidature to become bishop of London in 2017) she had no hesitation, in her seven years as head of the 350-year-old institution, in moralising about the fundamentals of her leadership, while overseeing a billion-pound revamp of Post Office operations. As the keynote speaker for a Faith in Business forum in 2016, Vennells referenced the wisdom of King Solomon, in exercising her responsibilities as CEO (for which she was paid about £5m during her tenure): “Now, Lord my God … give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong … in administering justice …” The extent to which those prayers were ever answered will be examined this week in the more down-to-earth forum of the government’s statutory Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry. Over three days, Vennells will explain her role in the scandal. As the inquiry has repeatedly heard, justice afforded to innocent subpostmasters and mistressesbefore and during Vennells’s watch was often summary and brutal. As revealed in the indefatigable campaigning efforts of Alan Bates and his Justice For Subpostmasters Alliance (dramatised in ITV’s extraordinary Mr Bates vs The Post Office) more than 900 employees were, over 15 years, prosecuted for crimes including theft and false accounting, based on evidence from the flawed Horizon system. Of those, 96 have had wrongful convictions overturned, with more to follow; many others had their lives ruined by bankruptcy and public disgrace. The scandal has so far cost UK taxpayers well over £1bn. View image in fullscreen Episode 3 of Mr Bates vs the Post Office with, from left, Katherine Kelly, Lia Williams as Paula Vennells and Ian Hart. Photograph: TV Plc Vennells’s role in the Post Office’s efforts at rebuttal and cover-up has, like much of the evidence at issue, been hard to extract from the public body at every stage. On Friday, Jason Beer KC for the inquiry revealed that Vennells had only that morning supplied 50 new documents relevant to it. Late and incomplete disclosure has been a repeated cause of criticism from chair of the inquiry, retired judge Sir Wyn Williams. Vennells came to her role promising transparency and openness in Post Office’s dealings. One of the first questions she will no doubt be asked on Wednesday is: whatever became of that commitment? And not least because it seems so at odds with her public persona and utterances. Vennells grew up in what she describes as “working-class Manchester”; her father was an industrial chemist, her mother a company bookkeeper and volunteer with Citizens Advice. Vennells joined Unilever as a graduate trainee in 1981, and, in those corporate boom years, had jobs with L’Oréal, Dixons, Argos and Whitbread. She was hired initially as group network director by the Post Office in 2007, saying later: “I saw something in the Post Office that was bigger and deeper, maybe it was something about giving back. People care desperately for the Post Office. Very often it’s the subpostmaster or mistress that notices that an elderly customer hasn’t turned up recently and finds out what’s happened to them.” As CEO, she was tasked with making the loss-making organisation viable after it was split from Royal Mail. She promoted three core values – care, commitment and challenge – insisting that all the head office team worked in branches at Christmas to help them understand the grassroots business. In a 2017 TEDx talk to the sixth formers at Bedford school, where she was a governor, she reflected on the value of “rethinking the norm”: “About being curious, and about being open to opportunities and persistent in following them up.” On the evidence heard so far, her curiosity about the Horizon scandal seems to have failed her quite early on. In evidence on Friday, her former chief financial officer, Alasdair Cameron, told the inquiry: “She seemed clear in her conviction from the day I joined that nothing had gone wrong. She never, in my observation, deviated from that or seemed to particularly doubt that.” Vennells started, it appears, with good intentions. One of her first acts was to appoint an independent investigator, Second Sight, to find the truth “at all costs” behind the wave of prosecutions that had begun a decade earlier. There is evidence to suggest that determination did not survive the investigators’ interim report. A key line of inquiry with Vennells this week will concern the question of exactly when she became aware that the supposedly “closed” Horizon system could be accessed and manipulated remotely. An investigation by ITV last month discovered a tape of a secretly recorded meeting with Post Office executives, including Vennells in July 2013, explicitly concerning allegations that accounts could be accessed remotely by Fujitsu, a fact denied up until 2019 by the Post Office. In 2015, Vennells appears to have acknowledged that distortion in an email to Mark Davies, her head of corporate communication, seeking guidance prior to a select committee appearance. Specifically she wanted to know whether the Fujitsu Horizon system was secure: “What is the true answer?” she asked. ”I need to say ‘no, [remote access] is not possible …” View image in fullscreen Vennells with, left, George Thomson of the National Federation of SubPostmasters and, right, postal affairs minister Norman Lamb in 2012. Photograph: PA Images/Alamy Two years earlier, the inquiry has heard, in the evidence of the Post Office’s then senior in-house lawyer, Chris Aujard, it was Vennells who insisted that prosecutions of subpostmasters continue, despite contrary evidence raised in Second Sight’s interim report. Susan Crichton, Aujard’s predecessor as general counsel, had resigned after being excluded from a meeting about that report after, she said refusing to “manage or manipulate the [information] in the way that Alice Perkins [former chair of the board] was expecting me to.” In meeting notes about Crichton’s departure, Vennells wrote that the lawyer had “put her integrity as a lawyer above the interests of the business”. Two weeks after that meeting, Vennells received an email from Alan Bates detailing a “prime example of the thuggery” being visited on a subpostmaster over shortfalls in his Horizon account. The man in question, Martin Griffiths, had earlier that day stepped out in front of a bus. He died three weeks later. Bates forwarded a note from Griffiths’s father-in-law, about the culpability of the “bully boys” from the Post Office investigations unit. “May god forgive them,” he wrote. In some respects, even before this week, Vennells’s public fall from grace has been enacted. After the first round of convictions of subpostmasters were overturned on appeal in 2021, she stood down from her role as chair of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. She also gave up her parish duties at the Church of St Owen in Bromham. The bishop of St Albans, her diocese, expressed his distress at the suffering of post office employees, particularly as his own father had been a subpostmaster. Finally, after the ITV drama aired, Vennells returned her CBE, saying: “I am truly sorry for the devastation caused to the subpostmasters and their families, whose lives were torn apart by being wrongly accused and wrongly prosecuted as a result of the Horizon system.” It remains to be seen what justice for that devastation will look like. In the inquiry last week, one of the barristers, Julian Blake, asked Mark Davies, the former Post Office spin doctor, if he had ever asked himself that meme-friendly question: “Are we the baddies?” You don’t imagine it is a question that Vennells has often felt moved to address, but this week might be that moment. As King Solomon also observed: give me the gift of a listening heart.
Is America ready for a $400 pineapple? Luxury fruit is now a thing None - New York CNN — Imagine you have $400 to spend on a luxury dining experience. You might treat yourself to a tin of premium caviar, a bottle or two of very fine wine or a multi-course meal at a high-end restaurant. Or you could blow it all on a single pineapple. The Rubyglow pineapple –— bred for its distinctive red exterior and its sweetness — costs $395.99 at Melissa’s Produce, a California-based seller of specialty fruit and veggies. It took Del Monte, a wholesaler which sells a variety of produce but specializes in pineapple, a decade and a half to develop the red-hued fruit. A limited crop was first available in China early this year. Recently, Del Monte decided to see how the item would fare in the United States, and Melissa’s starting selling it at the astronomical price. It may not seem like the best time to market a (very, very) expensive piece of fruit in America. It wasn’t that long ago that soaring grocery prices made headline news, stressing out consumers and stretching their budgets thin. Still nervous about inflation and worried about unemployment, many Americans are now spending less. And yet, there’s interest in premium fruit — enough to convince Del Monte to bring the Rubyglow, which is grown in Costa Rica, stateside. “Consumers are willing to pay for something that’s special,” said Cindy van Rijswick, fresh produce strategist for Rabobank’s global research team. When it comes to specialty produce, “there’s always a small market for higher-end restaurants, or foodies, or certain online channels,” she said. Americans have become interested in particular for new fruit varieties in recent years, paying a premium for Honeycrisp apples, Cotton Candy grapes, Sumo Citrus and vertically-grown Japanese strawberries. Now, they are hungry for different types of fruit, and are ready to shell out for exciting new options. But a $400 pineapple? That’s a bit rich. The rise of premium fruit When the Honeycrisp was introduced over 30 years ago, there weren’t many apple options in the supermarket. Red Delicious, Golden Delicious and, in some areas, McIntosh apples were standard fare, recalled Jim Luby, a professor in the horticultural science department at the University of Minnesota. But that was about it. “If you didn’t go out to a local orchard, you didn’t have that many choices.” Honeycrisp apples, though priced at a premium, have been a major success. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images People were hungry for more, and Honeycrisp fit the bill — sweet, crisp and novel. “It became popular in Minnesota amongst our growers,” said Luby, who was part of the team that developed the variety. “There wasn’t that much production. So it was priced high. And yet it kept selling.” Marketing new produce is a costly affair. Researchers have to breed and cross-breed, wait out the growing cycle, and start over if the fruit disappoints. Finding something that is both delicious and resilient enough to be commercially successful takes time, and a lot of painstaking work. Then plant scientists have to convince growers to make an investment in an unproven fruit, devoting resources that could be used for old favorites. But the Honeycrisp helped show that the risk can be justified. Since the apple’s success, variety in the produce section has increased. Over roughly the past decade, per capita availability — a good proxy for consumption — of higher-priced fruit, like berries, mango and avocados, has increased, according to Rabobank, which drew from USDA data. In that time, availability of cheaper fruit like apples and bananas has essentially stayed flat. Some specialty fruits have even developed cult followings: those Cotton Candy grapes, named for their sweetness, hit the scene in 2011 and quickly became popular. Sumo Citrus, a hybrid of navel oranges, pomelos and mandarins, was more of a slow burn, but has exploded in recent years. Sumo Citrus and other fruit varietals have developed a cult following. Lane Turner/The Boston Globe/Getty Images In these cases, consumers have been willing to spend a little bit more. But those items are cheap in comparison to Oishii’s specialty strawberries, grown indoors in a climate-controlled vertical farm. When its berries first became available to the public in 2018, Oishii charged $50 for a pack of eight. Oishii is selling more than just berries: It’s selling a luxury item. The berries are packed in flat boxes that spotlight each individual fruit, more like a package for hand-crafted chocolate truffles than the mold-hiding plastic containers you see at a supermarket. Each fruit is supposed to be perfect. “Even at $50, we had thousands of people on the waitlist constantly,” said Oishii CEO Hiroki Koga. Oishii strawberries on display in 2022 in Beverly Hills, California. Jerod Harris/Getty Images for Vox Media Buzzy or not, $50 for strawberries is not a sustainable price. Today, after rounds of funding and improved technology, Oishii’s products are more readily available, and much cheaper. You can get Oishii berries at mainstream grocers for around $10-$14 per pack. Del Monte makes its move Del Monte’s researchers have been coming up with different types of pineapples for years, designing proprietary fruit and often optimizing for taste. In 2020 the company launched its own pretty, giftable fruit — the Pinkglow pineapple, which has pink flesh and comes in its own special box. The Pinkglow pineapple has a pink interior. Courtesy Fresh Del Monte The Pinkglow was never supposed to be a grocery list staple, said Melissa Mackay, VP of marketing in North America at Del Monte. “It’s a hostess gift, it’s a Mother’s Day gift,” she said. It’s also perfect for Instagram and TikTok, where food influencers with large followings cut open the fruit, marveled at its color and shared their reviews (the verdict: very sweet). At first, the Pinkglow was sold for about $50. Today, you can get one for far less, online between around $8 and $29 — bargain prices, relatively, but still steep for a pineapple. If you can afford it, splurging on a pink pineapple is “permissible, because you’re investing in something that’s good for you,” said Melanie Zanoza Bartelme, associate director of Mintel Food & Drink. “It’s like people who go to Erewhon and spend almost $20 on a smoothie that a celebrity created,” she said, referring to the high-end Los Angeles grocery store known for collaborating with celebrities on pricey smoothies (like Hailey Bieber’s Strawberry Glaze Skin Smoothie, priced at $19 for a 20-ounce cup). Still, she noted, there is a “blank space between a $16 pineapple and a $400 pineapple.” Is it worth it? Melissa’s Produce, which sells everything from truffles to mangosteens to kumquats, describes the Rubyglow on its website as a “rare gem” and “the pinnacle of luxury fruit,” adding that “for the gourmand, it’s an unforgettable gift.” The pitch has had limited success. Melissa’s started with 50 pineapples, according to Robert Schueller, director of public relations at Melissa’s Produce. So far, it has sold about half that number over the course of a month, including to restaurants in Las Vegas and Southern California, which he said are using the fruit in displays. The Rubyglow, which Del Monte in its marketing has dubbed "The Red Legend." Courtesy Fresh Del Monte “There’s a market for this,” Schueller said. It’s just a very small, very niche market. “This is not something for everybody.” To try to create more buzz, Melissa’s reached out to a handful of food influencers, including Bo Corley, a chef who shares recipes and other food tidbits on his social channels. The pineapple “was absolutely delightful,” Corley said. “There’s almost like a bitter aftertaste when you eat too much pineapple,” he explained. “You don’t have that with the Rubyglow.” But, he said, it wasn’t worth $400. Corley can see people spending to get their hands on the Rubyglow, if not for the taste of the pineapple itself then for the wow factor of the brilliant exterior. “I think charcuterie boards this Christmas, Thanksgiving — you’re going to see this Rubyglow as a centerpiece, especially in an affluent house,” he said. In other words, people may not spend for the taste of the pineapple, but just to show off that they have it.
Judge clears courtroom, as chaos breaks out when defense witness battles with Judge Merchan None - Andrew Weissmann, former top prosecutor at the Justice Department, Susanne Craig, New York Times Investigative Reporter, Donny Deutsch, host of the podcast, "On Brand,” and Vaughn Hillyard, NBC News Correspondent join Nicolle Wallace on Deadline White House with reaction to the latest from the Manhattan courtroom, with defense witness Robert Costello picking a fight with Judge Merchan forcing the judge to clear the courtroom. May 20, 2024
Trump lawyers call Robert Costello to the stand at hush money trial None - Lawyers for former President Trump have called attorney Robert Costello to the stand in the New York hush money trial. NBC News' Vaughn Hillyard reports on what Costello may be questioned about and his relationship to Michael Cohen.May 20, 2024
Michael Cohen admits he stole from the Trump Organization during cross-examination None - Michael Cohen admitted to stealing from the Trump Organization as a lawyer for former President Trump continued his cross-examination in the hush money trial. NBC News' Dasha Burns reports from outside the courthouse as the defense has finished their questioning and prosecutors have begun redirect.May 20, 2024
Is it too late to join the bull market? Experts weigh in. None - The Dow stands above 40,000 for the first time in history. Is it too late to join the bull market? Experts weigh in. The blazing hot stock market seems to set new records just about every day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average stands above 40,000 for the first time in history, after climbing nearly 20% since October. Over that period, the S &P 500 and the Nasdaq have each soared even higher, climbing 23% and 27% respectively. The market rally means a windfall for people with stock holdings but it poses a quandary for those on the sidelines: Is it time to jump in or too late to reap the gains? Experts who spoke to ABC News encouraged investors to take advantage of the market upswing, saying the major indexes have room to rise even further. The confidence stems from the nation’s sunny economic outlook, they added, as the Federal Reserve stands poised to make interest rate cuts that could boost an already robust economy. However, they cautioned, stubborn inflation or an economic downturn could bring losses. "This is a pretty awesome environment to own stocks in right now," Tom Essaye, president of financial data firm Sevens Report Research, told ABC News. "There is still time to get in." The economy is performing well on many key metrics. Unemployment stands near a 65-year low, while economic growth has remained solid and consumer spending has shown resilience. All of these positive indicators have added up to strong corporate profits, the lifeblood of the stock market. "Growth is good and corporate earnings are good," Essaye said. Strong stock market performance, however, depends on where company results and economic output are headed rather than where they stand at the present time, experts said. Fortunately, many observers hold an optimistic outlook about the coming months, since the Fed appears to be on the verge of interest rate cuts that could deliver a jolt to the economy. In recent months, the Fed had all but abandoned its previous forecast of three quarter-point rate cuts this year. But a slowdown of price hikes offered hope of rekindling those plans. Inflation data released last week showed that price increases slowed slightly from the annual rate recorded in the previous month, ending a surge of inflation that stretched back to the beginning of 2024. "Front and center is what the Fed is going to do," Marc Dizard, chief investment strategist at PNC Asset Management Group. "There is a bias here that they want to cut rates, which the market is really liking." Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference at the Federal Reserve in Washington, May 1, 2024. Susan Walsh/AP Optimism about the stock market also owes to enthusiasm about the impact of artificial intelligence, experts said. Major stock indexes drew a bump in recent months from investors favorable toward the newly prominent technology. Those gains were concentrated primarily in a handful of tech giants, known as the so-called "Magnificent 7": Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Tesla and Nvidia. Shares of Nvidia have climbed nearly 120% since October; Microsoft has jumped almost 35% over that period. Ed Yardeni, the president of market advisory firm Yardeni Research and former chief investment strategist at Deutsche Bank's U.S. equities division, said adoption of AI in the coming months and years would help grow the economy and send the stock market higher. "The market is right to get excited about technological innovations like artificial intelligence, robotics and automation," Yardeni said. "I think those technologies will boost productivity and productivity boosts real economic growth." Dizard, of PNC, said the stock market retains the capacity to rise between 5% and 8%. While Essaye, of Sevens Report Research, said the S &P 500 could increase another 3% or more. Meanwhile, Yardeni offered a longer-term view, saying he expects the major stock indexes to climb 50% by 2030. Still, the experts warned of potential outcomes that could not only blunt future gains but incur significant losses. Stubborn inflation could force the Fed to shift its posture, holding rates elevated for longer than expected or even raising them altogether. "You could see a curveball," Dizard said. "That’s something investors need to be cautious about." Some economic indicators, meanwhile, have already shown signs of a slowdown. The labor market has continued to add jobs this year but at a slower pace than 2023. The economy grew at the outset of 2024 but cooled off from the final stretch of last year. "An economic slowdown is the number one thing everybody has to worry about," Essaye said, predicting that such an outcome could bring a market decline of 10% or more. Even after noting risks, Dizard struck a positive note. "There is momentum to the upside," he said.
Kosovo shuts 6 Serb bank branches over use of the dinar currency in a move that could raise tensions None - Kosovo police have closed six branches of a Serbia-licensed bank in line with the decision on the ban of the use of the Serbian dinar currency in the country Kosovo shuts 6 Serb bank branches over use of the dinar currency in a move that could raise tensions PRISTINA, Kosovo -- Kosovo police on Monday closed six branches of a Serbia-licensed bank in line with the decision on the ban of the use of the Serbian dinar currency in the country, a move that has raised tension with neighboring Serbia. A police statement said they closed the branches of the Postal Savings Bank, following a request from financial institutions on their illegitimacy and based on an authorization from the prosecutor’s office. Starting on Feb. 1, the government required areas dominated by the ethnic Serb minority in Kosovo to adopt the euro currency, which is used in the rest of the country, and abolished the use of the Serbian dinar. Pristina postponed the move for about three months, following pressure from the European Union and the United States, concerned that the decision would negatively impact the ethnic Serb minority in northern Kosovo. Most of Kosovo uses the euro, even though the country isn’t part of the EU. But parts of Kosovo’s north, populated mostly by ethnic Serbs, continue to use the dinar. Many Serbs there rely on the government of Serbia for financial support, often delivered in dinars in cash. Brussels and Washington are pressing both countries to implement agreements that Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti reached in February and March last year. The EU-facilitated normalization talks have failed to make progress, especially following a shootout last September between masked Serb gunmen and Kosovo police that left four people dead and ratcheted up tensions. Serbia and Kosovo have both said they want to join the EU, but the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, has warned that their refusal to compromise is jeopardizing their chances. Serbian forces fought a 1998-99 war with ethnic Albanian separatists in what was then the province of Kosovo. About 13,000 people, mostly ethnic Albanians, died until a 78-day NATO bombing campaign pushed Serbian forces away. Kosovo declared independence in 2008, which Belgrade doesn’t recognize.
California congressman urges closer consultation with tribes on offshore wind None - A California congressman says tribes should be more involved in the decision-making process for the development of the first offshore wind farms along the West Coast A congressman who represents California’s north coast has sent a letter to federal regulators asking that they “urgently place” a senior official in the state to respond to tribal needs as wind power is developed offshore. U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman sent the letter as the U.S. offshore wind industry begins to take shape and as tribal communities in California and Oregon express frustration with what they say is a lack of consultation on proposals that affect culturally significant waters and land. “Regional tribal nations are asking for the opportunity to help influence the way in which offshore wind is executed off the shores of the West Coast,” said Heidi Moore-Guynup, director of tribal and government affairs for Blue Lake Rancheria, in an interview Friday. “They’ve been the stewards of the waterways, bays and oceans since time immemorial and want to ensure that the health of such waterways and the species that live among them is preserved.” The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has its Pacific office in Camarillo, California. It is responsible for the development of offshore energy and mineral resources for the entire region. Huffman said tribes need someone dedicated to working solely with them, given the scale of the offshore wind planned and the level of consultation needed. “They just feel like no one is home in California,” he said. BOEM said Monday that while it does not publicly comment on congressional correspondence, it will continue to refine the way it engages with tribes. The agency said the renewable energy leasing process will be comprehensive and transparent, and incorporate indigenous knowledge and tribal perspectives. The U.S. held the first-ever auction of leases in December 2022 to develop commercial-scale floating wind farms in the deep waters off the West Coast. The auction featured five lease areas — two in northern California off Humboldt County and three in central California near Morro Bay. The Interior Department has approved eight commercial-scale offshore wind projects in the U.S. They are the first such projects in the nation. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland visited Humboldt Bay in March and met with tribal leaders. Many of the 13 tribes represented in the room, including Blue Lake Rancheria, said the engagement with BOEM has been inadequate. “I want to make sure we do this right, so we can include the tribes in a very meaningful way and not as some sort of ministerial consultation that just checks the box," Huffman said in an interview. The letter, sent Friday, was first reported by The Associated Press. Huffman’s district includes more than two dozen federally-recognized tribes. In California, Jacque Hostler-Carmesin said having a senior federal official to work with would be a really good first step, but it’s not enough. Hostler-Carmesin, chief executive officer of the Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria, said a government coordinating council on wind energy should be created to bring together federal, state, local and tribal governments. “In order to have tribal chairs and tribal leaders at the table, there has to be a structure,” she said. The tribe is currently opposed to the development of offshore wind. But that could change if tribes are truly part of the decisions, not just informed of them after the fact, Hostler-Carmesin said. Earlier this year in Oregon, the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians objected to the federal government finalizing two areas off that state’s southern coast for floating offshore wind farms. The two areas span nearly 195,000 acres (78,900 hectares), with one located 32 miles (52 kilometers) off the coast of Coos Bay, and the other 18 miles (29 kilometers) from the shore of the small city of Brookings, near the California state line. The areas, which have been proposed for offshore wind energy auctions, have the capacity for powering more than one million homes, according to the Department of the Interior. The federal agency said it had “robust engagement” with tribes as it finalized the areas for offshore wind in Oregon. But the Confederated Tribes of the Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Indians refuted this, saying they were “extremely disappointed” that areas of cultural and historic importance were identified for offshore wind. Negotiations in other parts of the country, however, have gone well. In Massachusetts earlier this year, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe entered an agreement with Vineyard Offshore, which is developing wind power off the state’s southern coast. The tribe said in a news release that “there has been a significant emphasis on collaboration” since it first began discussing the project with the company in 2016. The agreement creates a fund for the tribe for workforce training, scholarships, language reclamation and wastewater projects. The money will also support the tribe’s efforts to engage with offshore wind projects. A 30-day public comment period on BOEM’s environmental assessment of the Oregon proposals ends May 31. ___ Rush reported from Portland, Oregon. McDermott reported from Providence, Rhode Island. ___ The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
'The Apprentice,' about a young Donald Trump, premieres in Cannes None - While Donald Trump’s hush money trial entered its sixth week in New York, an origin story for the Republican presidential candidate premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, unveiling a scathing portrait of Trump in the 1980s CANNES, France -- While Donald Trump's hush money trial entered its sixth week in New York, an origin story for the Republican presidential candidate premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on Monday, unveiling a scathing portrait of the former president in the 1980s. “The Apprentice,” directed by the Iranian Danish filmmaker Ali Abbasi, stars Sebastian Stan as Trump. The central relationship of the movie is between Trump and Roy Cohn (Jeremy Strong), the defense attorney who was chief counsel to Joseph McCarthy’s 1950s Senate investigations. Cohn is depicted as a longtime mentor to Trump, coaching him in the ruthlessness of New York City politics and business. Early on, Cohn aided the Trump Organization when it was being sued by the federal government for racial discrimination in housing. “The Apprentice,” which is labeled as inspired by true events, portrays Trump's dealings with Cohn as a Faustian bargain that guided his rise as a businessman and, later, as a politician. Stan's Trump is initially a more naive real-estate striver, soon transformed by Cohn's education. The film notably contains a scene depicting Trump raping his wife, Ivana Trump (played by Maria Bakalova). In Ivana Trump’s 1990 divorce deposition, she stated that Trump raped her. Trump denied the allegation and Ivana Trump later said she didn’t mean it literally, but rather that she had felt violated. That scene and others make “The Apprentice” a potentially explosive big-screen drama in the midst of the U.S. presidential election. The film is for sale in Cannes, so it doesn't yet have a release date. Variety on Monday reported alleged behind-the-scenes drama surrounding “The Apprentice.” Citing anonymous sources, the trade publication reported that billionaire Dan Snyder, the former owner of the Washington Commanders and an investor in “The Apprentice,” has pressured the filmmakers to edit the film over its portrayal of Trump. Snyder previously donated to Trump's presidential campaign. Neither representatives for the film nor Snyder could immediately be reached for comment. In the press notes for the film, Abbasi, whose previous film “Holy Spider” depicts a female journalist investigating a serial killer in Iran, said he didn't set out to make “a History Channel episode.” “This is not a biopic of Donald Trump," said Abbasi. "We’re not interested in every detail of his life going from A to Z. We’re interested in telling a very specific story through his relationship with Roy and Roy’s relationship with him.” Regardless of its political impact, “The Apprentice” is likely to be much discussed as a potential awards contender. The film, shot in a gritty '80s aesthetic, returns Strong to a New York landscape of money and power a year following the conclusion of HBO’s “Succession.” Strong, who's currently performing on Broadway in “An Enemy of the People,” didn't attend the Cannes premiere Monday. “The Apprentice” is playing in competition in Cannes, making it eligible for the festival's top award, the Palme d'Or. At Cannes, filmmakers and casts hold press conferences the day after a movie's premiere. “The Apprentice” press conference will be Tuesday.
Norwegian Cruise Line, Wix.com rise; Cushman & Wakefield, Target fall, Monday, 5/20/2024 None - Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes on Monday: Norwegian Cruise Line, Wix The Associated Press By The Associated Press NEW YORK -- Stocks that traded heavily or had substantial price changes on Monday: Johnson Controls International PLC, up $1.60 to $70.62. Elliott Investment Management has reportedly taken a large stake in the diversified technology and industrial company. Hims & Hers Health Inc., up $4.03 to $18.60. The telehealth company announced expanded access to weight-loss medication, including GLP-1 injections. Wix.com Ltd., up $32.34 to $168.02. The cloud-based web development company beat analysts' first-quarter earnings and revenue forecasts. Independent Bank Group Inc., up $3.36 to $47.30. SouthState Corp. is buying the bank holding company for about $2 billion in an all-stock deal. Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd., up $1.19 to $16.94. The cruise line raised its earnings forecast for the year. Cushman & Wakefield, down 27 cents to $11.45. The commercial real estate company announced a stock offering of 26.5 million shares through J.P. Morgan. Target Corp., down $3.42 to $156.71. The retailer plans on cutting prices on thousands of consumer basics this summer. United States Steel Corp., up 84 cents to $36.75. Nippon Steel is reportedly stepping up efforts to complete its buyout of the steelmaker.
Ivan Boesky, stock trader convicted in insider trading scandal, dead at 87 None - Ivan F. Boesky, the flamboyant stock trader whose cooperation with the government cracked open one of the largest insider trading scandals in the history of Wall Street, has died at the age of 87. A representative at the Marianne Boesky Gallery, owned by Ivan Boesky's daughter, confirmed his death. No other details were given. The son of a Detroit delicatessen owner, Boesky was once considered one of the richest and most influential risk-takers on Wall Street. He had parlayed $700,000 from his late mother-in-law's estate into a fortune estimated at more than $200 million, hurtling him into the ranks of Forbes magazine's list of the 400 richest Americans. Once implicated in insider trading, Boesky cooperated with a brash young U.S. attorney named Rudolph Giuliani in a bid for leniency, uncovering a scandal that shattered promising careers, blemished some of the most respected U.S. investment brokerages and injected a certain paranoia into the securities industry. Working undercover, Boesky secretly taped three conversations with Michael Milken, the so-called "junk bond king" whose work with Drexel Burnham Lambert had revolutionized the credit markets. Milken eventually pleaded guilty to six felonies and served 22 months in prison, while Boesky paid a $100 million fine and spent 20 months in a minimum-security California prison nicknamed "Club Fed," beginning in March 1988. After Boesky's arrest, accounts circulated widely that he had had told business students during a commencement address at the University of California at Berkeley in 1985 or 1986, "Greed is all right, by the way. I want you to know that. I think greed is healthy. You can be greedy and still feel good about yourself." The line was memorably echoed by Michael Douglas in his Oscar-winning portrayal of Gordon Gekko, a high-flying trader, in Oliver Stone's 1987 film "Wall Street." "The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good," Douglas tells the shareholders of Teldar Paper. "Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit." Boesky, however, said he couldn't remember saying "greed is healthy" and denied another quotation attributed to him in the 1984 Atlantic Monthly, in which he allegedly said that climbing to the height of a huge pile of silver dollars would be "an aphrodisiac experience." While he usually worked 18-hour days, the silver-haired and lean Boesky also lived a life of opulence. He wore designer clothes, traveled in limousines, private airplanes and helicopters and revamped his 10,000-square-foot Westchester County mansion with a Jeffersonian dome to resemble Monticello. "There was a very substantial amount of materiality available," Boesky said during his 1993 divorce proceedings. "We had places in Palm Beach, Paris, New York, the south of France." Boesky was an arbitrageur, a risk-taker who made millions by betting on stocks thought to be the target of corporate takeovers. But some of his tips came from within the mergers and acquisitions departments of Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. and Kidder, Peabody & Co. Dennis Levine of Drexel and Martin Siegal of Kidder, Peabody fed Boesky confidential information in return for promised cut of profits of either 1% or 5%. Boesky paid Siegal $700,000 in three installments, with a courier delivering briefcases full of cash at three clandestine meeting on a street corner and in the lobby of the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan. Boesky had made millions on Siegal's tips, which included word that Getty Oil and Carnation Co. were ripe for takeovers. Levine was arrested before his payout could come, tripped up by his own insider trading. Facing harsh penalties under the government's racketeering statutes, Levine revealed everything and Boesky began talking as well, providing information leading to convictions or guilty pleas in cases involving former stockbroker Boyd Jefferies, Siegel, four executives of Britian's Guiness PLC, takeover strategist Paul Bilzerian, stock speculator Salim Lewis and others. The most notable arrest was of Milken, the pioneering financier who had transformed capital markets in the 1970s with a new form of bond that allowed thousands of mid-sized companies to raise money. In the 1980s those "junk" bonds were used to finance thousands of leveraged buyouts, including Revlon, Beatrice Companies, RJR Nabisco Inc. and Federated Department Stores, making Milken a hated and feared figure on Wall Street. The financier and philanthropist was indicted on 98 counts, including securities and mail fraud, insider trading, racketeering and making false statements. Prosecutors said Milken and Boesky conspired together to manipulate securities prices, rig transactions and evade taxes and regulatory requirements. Milken eventually pleaded guilty to six securities violations, including telling Boesky he'd cover any losses he suffered trading the stock of Fischbach Corp., a takeover target at the time. Prosecutors said Boesky's cooperation provided the government with the most information about securities law violations since the legislative hearings that led to the 1933 and 1934 Securities Acts. When John Mulheren Jr. feared he was about to be implicated, the Wall Street executive loaded an assault rifle with the intent of killing Boesky and Boesky's former head trader, police said. Mulheren was captured en route. At trial, Mulheren's attorney, Thomas Puccio, called Boesky a repeat liar and "pile of human garbage" who was motivated to say anything to assist federal authorities in exchange for leniency. "If there ever was a person to whom the title Prince of Darkness could be applied, Ivan Boesky is that man," Puccio said. "The king of greed, a person who stood for nothing except his own ambition, his own greed." The jury convicted Mulheren, but his conviction was later overturned. Other convictions were reversed as well — those of GAF Corp. and a senior executive, five principals of Princeton-Newport Partners and that of a former Drexel trader. The reversals bolstered the arguments of free-traders who argued that Wall Street had been victimized by a publicity-seeking federal prosecutor using racketeering statutes usually reserved to combat organized crime. The government had previously done little to police insider trading, and some said it should be legalized. But no one could defend payoffs involving suitcases full of cash. Levine, writing in the pages of Fortune after his release, said he couldn't understand why Boesky would risk so much by engaging in something so clearly illegal. "And I don't know why Ivan engaged in illegal activities when he had a fortune estimated at over $200 million," Levine wrote in 1990. "I'm sure he derived much of his wealth from legitimate enterprise: He was skilled at arbitrage and obsessed with his work. He must have been driven by something beyond rational behavior." At his 1987 sentencing Boesky's lawyer quoted his psychiatrist as saying Boesky "has begun to recognize that he suffered from an abnormal and compulsive need to prove himself, to overcome some sense of inadequacy or inferiority that is rooted in his childhood." Three years after his release from a Brooklyn halfway house in April 1990, Boesky and his wife Seema divorced after 30 years of marriage. Claiming he had been left penniless after paying fines, restitution and legal fees, he won $20 million in cash and $180,000 a year in alimony from his wife's $100 million fortune. He also got a $2.5 million home in the La Jolla section of San Diego, where he lived with his boyhood friend, Houshang Wekili. Ivan Frederick Boesky was born in Detroit in 1937 into a family of Russian Jewish immigrants. Boesky said he learned industriousness from his father, who operated three delicatessens. At the age of 13 Boesky bought a 1937 Chevy truck, painted it white and sold ice cream from it in Detroit parks, making about $150 a week in nickels and dimes. A three-time college dropout, Boesky entered the Detroit College of Law in 1959, which then did not require an undergraduate degree for admission. He withdrew twice before receiving his degree five years later. While in law school Boesky married Seema Silberstein, the daughter of Ben Silberstein, a real estate developer and the owner of the Beverly Hills Hotel. Unable to find employment with any major Detroit law firm, Boesky moved in 1966 with his wife and the first of their four children to New York, where he floated from job to job on Wall Street. In 1975 Boesky struck out on his own, opening small brokerage that he eventually parlayed into a sprawling group of investment companies with more than 100 employees. He worked grueling hours, gave self-promoting newspapers interviews and wrote a 1985 book entitled "Merger Mania." He was also an active philanthropist, especially with Jewish causes, giving $20 million to endow a library at the Jewish Theological Seminary that was later renamed.
Labour will aim to reveal new town sites within first year in power None - A Labour government would aim to announce the sites for a series of new towns within a year of taking office, with the promise that homes would be built in them by the end of a first term, Angela Rayner is to say in a speech. Giving more detail to a plan first outlined in Keir Starmer’s party conference speech in October, Rayner will tell a housing conference that Labour will strongly support private developers who create high-quality and affordable housing. Speaking at the event in Leeds, the Labour deputy leader, who is also shadow housing and levelling up secretary, will link the plan with the new towns created under Labour during the postwar building boom. The new versions are part of a wider pledge by the party to oversee the construction of 1.5m new homes during a first term in office. Under the plan, Rayner would appoint a new towns taskforce of independent experts to select possible sites, with factors to consider including local views, plus a suitably high demand for new housing and the prospect of jobs and transport infrastructure. The process would be opened to bidding from councils. In a planned timetable the taskforce would make recommendations within six months, with the list of projects confirmed within 12 months and homes being built during a first term. While the post-second world war New Towns Act put in place the process for 32 new towns, the Labour proposals would be for what are described as “a handful”, with the precise number depending on bids and viability. Extracts of Rayner’s speech released in advance say: “Developers who deliver on their obligations to build high-quality, well-designed and sustainable affordable housing, with green spaces and transport links and schools and GPs’ surgeries nearby, will experience a new dawn under Labour. “But those who have wriggled out of their responsibilities for too long will be robustly held to account. “Labour’s towns of the future will be built on the foundations of our past. The postwar period taught us that when the government plays a strategic role in housebuilding, we can turbo-charge growth to the benefit of working people across Britain.” Labour argues that planning applications are falling in England, saying that between October and December 2023, district planning authorities had 9% fewer applications than the same period a year before, and made decisions on 12% fewer. skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to First Edition Free daily newsletter Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it matters Enter your email address Sign up Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy . We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion Separately, a cross-party thinktank has argued that Labour could fund mass construction of new homes for social rent by raising money from what it described as a “fairness tax” on other aspects of the property market. The Social Market Foundation said extra levies could be imposed on properties that are empty in the long term, on purchases by overseas owners and on homes which are “flipped” – bought and resold very quickly for a profit. It estimated this could raise up to £4bn a year, enough to triple the current rate of social home building. In 2023, slightly more than 9,500 social rent homes were built in England, with more than 22,000 lost to the sector from being sold or demolished.
Target slashing prices on thousands of items this summer None - Target slashing prices on thousands of items this summer Target is planning to lower prices, saying it will cut the cost of thousands of items this summer, hoping to lure customers back into stores. It comes as Americans juggle short-term needs with long-term financial goals. CBS News business analyst Jill Schlesinger explains.
Midwest preparing for intense storms with high chance of tornadoes None - Severe weather, with a high chance of tornadoes, is expected in parts of eastern Iowa as intense storms move through the Midwest into the evening. NBC News’ Angie Lassman gives the forecast which includes hail and strong winds.May 21, 2024
Biden is releasing 1 million barrels of gasoline from a Northeast reserve in a bid to lower prices at the pump None - Biden is releasing 1 million barrels of gasoline from a Northeast reserve in a bid to lower prices at the pump Biden is releasing 1 million barrels of gasoline from a Northeast reserve in a bid to lower prices at the pump
The Dow closed above 40,000 for the first time. The number is big but means little for your 401(k) None - Through its long history, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has offered a way for people to get a quick read on how Wall Street is doing The Dow closed above 40,000 for the first time. The number is big but means little for your 401(k) NEW YORK -- The Dow Jones Industrial Average just closed above 40,000 for the first time, the latest pop in what's been a surprisingly good year for Wall Street. But just like New Year's represents an arbitrary point in time in the Earth's revolution around the sun, such milestones for the Dow don't mean much inherently. For one, with just 30 companies, the Dow represents a tiny slice of Corporate America. For another, almost no one's 401(k) account sees its performance depend on the Dow, which has become more of a relic used for historical comparisons. What’s more important is that the Dow at 40,000 is one example of how the broader U.S. stock market is setting records. Here's a look at what the Dow is, how it got here and how its use among investors is on the wane: WHAT IS THE DOW? It's a measure of 30 established, well-known companies. These stocks are sometimes known as “blue chips,” which are supposed to be on the steadier and safer side of Wall Street. WHAT'S IN THE DOW? Not just industrial companies like Caterpillar and Honeywell, despite the name. The roster has changed many times since the Dow began in 1896 as the U.S. economy has transformed. Out, for example, was Standard Rope & Twine, and in recently have been big technology companies. Apple, Intel and Microsoft are some of the newer-economy names currently in the Dow. The financial industry also has a healthy representation with American Express, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Travelers. So does health care with Amgen, Johnson & Johnson, Merck and UnitedHealth Group. WHAT'S ALL THE HUBBUB NOW? The Dow crossed its latest 10,000 point threshold briefly on Thursday and closed above 40,000 Friday — at 40,003.59 to be exact. It took about three and a half years to make the leap from 30,000 points, which it first crossed in November 2020. It's kept chugging mostly higher despite the worst inflation in decades, painfully high interest rates meant to get inflation under control and worries that high rates would make a recession inevitable for the U.S. economy. Companies are now in the midst of reporting their best profit growth in nearly two years, and the economy has managed to avoid a recession, at least so far. IS THE DOW THE MAIN MEASURE OF WALL STREET? No. The Dow represents only a narrow slice of the economy. Professional investors tend to look at broader measures of the market, such as the S & P 500 index, which has nearly 17 times the number of companies within it. More than $11.2 trillion in investments were benchmarked to the S & P 500 at the end of 2019, according to estimates from S & P Dow Jones Indices. That's 350 times more than the $32 billion benchmarked to the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Investors' 401(k) accounts are much more likely to include an S & P 500 index fund than anything tied to the Dow. The S & P 500 crossed above its own milestone Wednesday, topping 5,300 points for the first time. That's what more investors care about. Well, 100-point milestones matter for the S & P 500 as little as others, but the fact that the S & P 500 is higher than ever matters a lot. HOW DIFFERENT ARE THE DOW AND THE S & P 500? Their performances have historically tracked relatively closely with each other, but the S & P 500 has been better recently. Its 27.5% rise for the last 12 months easily tops the 19.7% gain for the Dow. That's in part because the S & P 500 has more of an emphasis on Big Tech stocks, which were responsible for most of the S & P 500's gains last year. Hopes for an easing of interest rates by the Federal Reserve and a frenzy around artificial-intelligence technology have pushed them to dizzying heights. The Dow reflects none of the movements of such marquee stocks as Alphabet, Meta Platforms or Nvidia. IS THAT IT? No, the Dow and S & P 500 also take different approaches to measuring how an index should move. The Dow gives more weight to stocks with higher price tags. That means stocks that add or subtract more dollars to their stock price push and pull it the most, such as UnitedHealth Group and its $525 stock price. A 1% move for that stock, which is about $5, packs a radically harder punch than a 1% move for Walmart, which is about 64 cents The S & P 500, meanwhile, gives more weight to stocks depending on their overall size. That means a 1% move for Walmart carries more weight than a 1% move for UnitedHealth Group because Walmart is a slightly bigger company by total market value. SO WHY CARE ABOUT THE DOW? Because it's so old, it has a longer track record than other measures of the market. For a while, a triple-digit move for the Dow also offered an easy shorthand way to show the stock market was having a big day. Now, though, it means much less. A 100 point swing for the Dow means a move of less than 0.3%.
Small business owners are more undecided about the election than the general public None - Small business owners are more undecided about the election than the general public Small business owners are more undecided about the election than the general public NEW YORK -- Small business owners are more undecided about the election than the general public. That's according to a new survey by Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices. The group surveyed 1,259 small business owners from 47 states, Puerto Rico, Guam and Washington, D.C. The vast majority plan to vote, with 96% saying they will definitely or probably vote in November. But 20% of small business owners say they’re undecided on who they plan to vote for for president. That compares to about 12% undecided among the general public. According to the survey, 55% of small business owners say they think presidential candidates aren't talking enough about issues that concern them, including inflation, small business tax policy, and the regulatory burden on small businesses. “America’s small business owners today are experiencing operating costs that are increasingly unaffordable,” said Jessica Johnson-Cope, President of Johnson Security Bureau in The Bronx, New York. “As campaign season kicks off, small business owners want policymakers and candidates to focus on issues that improve the small business climate because small business is America’s future.” Meanwhile, small business owners across the country say inflation is still weighing on their businesses. Seventy-one percent say inflationary pressures have increased on their businesses and 49% say they’ve had to raise the prices on their goods or services over the past three months.
2 top Penguin Random House editors leaving amid ongoing changes at publishing house None - Two top editors at Penguin Random House are leaving as the country’s leading trading publisher continues to transform during a period of uncertain revenues and generational change NEW YORK -- Two top editors at Penguin Random House are leaving as the country's leading trading publisher continues to transform during a period of uncertain revenues and generational change. The Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a Penguin Random House division, announced Monday the dismissals of Alfred A. Knopf publisher Reagan Arthur and Pantheon/Schocken publisher Lisa Lucas. A publishing official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the restructuring was for financial reasons. Knopf and Pantheon/Schocken are two of the industry's most established literary publishers and Arthur and Lucas two of the most widely liked editors. Their departures were met with surprise and dismay around the industry; author Sara Schaff wrote on X that the news was “demoralizing and short sighted.” The book market has softened since early in the pandemic, when sales surged amid shutdowns in the entertainment industry and beyond. In a year-end company letter sent in December 2023, Penguin Random House CEO Nihar Malaviya referred to “very difficult and challenging” changes facing the company. On Monday, Knopf Doubleday publisher Maya Mavjee said the latest “realignment” was "necessary for our future growth.” “Our new structure –- consisting of a nimble, concentrated leadership team –- will enable us to meet the trials of an ever-shifting marketplace, hone the shape and focus of our imprints, and continue to allow us to do what we do best: publish great books," Mavjee said. Jordan Pavlin, currently Knopf's editor in chief, will now also serve as publisher. At Pantheon, vice president-editorial director Denise Oswald will report to the publisher of Doubleday, Bill Thomas. Over the past few years, much of Penguin Random House's leadership team has retired, died or otherwise departed. CEO Markus Dohle left after the publisher's purchase of rival Simon & Schuster was blocked in 2022 by a federal judge, and numerous longtime officials accepted buyouts. Arthur's immediate predecessor at Knopf, Sonny Mehta, died in 2019. One of Knopf's most celebrated editors, Robert Gottlieb, died last year. Arthur, who joined Knopf in 2020 after heading Little, Brown and Company, had worked with Ian McEwan and Nathan Hill among others. A Knopf novel, Jayne Anne Phillips' “Night Watch,” is this year's winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. Lucas was also hired in 2020, after serving four years as executive director of the National Book Foundation, where she had been the first Black person and first woman to head the non-profit organization. Her books at Pantheon included Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah's novel “Chain-Gang All-Stars,” a National Book Award finalist, and Laura Warrell's novel "Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm, a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner prize. Lucas wrote on X that she learned of her dismissal a few days after being honored by her alma mater, the University of Chicago, for professional achievement. The news also came almost exactly six years since the death of her father, musician Reggie Lucas. "WILD RIDE FOR ONLY FOUR DAYS," she wrote. Adjei-Brenyah tweeted that Lucas had made Pantheon one of the industry's most diverse imprints and that “to not even allow” her five years on the job was “pretty shameful.” Pantheon author Nina McConigley wrote on X: “As an author who signed with @PantheonBooks — @likaluca was one of the reasons I was so excited. She is a role model in so many senses of the word. So so brokenhearted.”