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Boeing 'disappointed' its customers but is on the path to 'transformational change,' commercial jet CEO says 2024-07-22 19:00:00+00:00 - LONDON — Boeing’s output of 737 Max planes is showing signs of improvement, the new head of its commercial unit said ahead of a major air show on Sunday, while admitting that the manufacturer has “disappointed” customers with delayed planes. Boeing is trying to get past several safety and manufacturing crises, including the midair door plug blow out in January, which have slowed deliveries of planes to airlines and prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to increase its oversight of the storied manufacturer. Stephanie Pope, in her first news conference since taking over the key role at the troubled aircraft manufacturer in March, reiterated that Boeing has committed to increasing production of the Max to 38 a month. Production slipped into the mid-20s per month in the first half of the year, analysts have said. Pope said Boeing is on the right path to improving its manufacturing quality, safety and predictability of deliveries, a “transformational change” that she said will take years. “It still doesn’t take away the reality that we’ve disappointed” our customers, she said at a press conference before the Farnborough Airshow, outside of London. “We’ve impacted their business and we haven’t met the commitments and lived up to being the partner that they expect and they need us to be.” Boeing has unveiled a host of goals aimed at getting it back on the right path, like improving worker training and manufacturing processes, among others. In the spring it delivered an improvement plan to the FAA that the agency ordered after the blowout in January. “This plan is not a three month plan,” said Pope. “I call it transformational because some of these actions will take years.” As part of the leadership shakeup that promoted Pope to head the commercial unit, Boeing’s CEO Dave Calhoun said he would step down by year’s end. When asked whether she was interested in the role, Pope said she is focused on the commercial unit’s recovery. “That is my priority,” she said. Boeing’s problems aren’t limited to its commercial program, however. Its defense unit has also been grappling with delays, including of the money-losing and delayed modification of two Boeing 747s that will serve as the next two Air Force One aircraft. The CEO of that unit, Ted Colbert, said Boeing continues “to fight through some of the challenges that really stemmed from challenges in the supply chain.” Boeing reports quarterly results on July 31 and is set to report charges from that unit, Colbert said at the same news conference.
Cleveland-Cliffs will make electrical transformers at shuttered West Virginia tin plant 2024-07-22 18:58:56+00:00 - CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — Cleveland-Cliffs announced Monday it will produce electrical transformers in a $150 million investment at a West Virginia facility that closed earlier this year. The company hopes to reopen the Weirton facility in early 2026 and “address the critical shortage of distribution transformers that is stifling economic growth across the United States,” it said in a statement. As many as 600 union workers who were laid off from the Weirton tin production plant will have the chance to work at the new facility. The tin plant shut down in February and 900 workers were idled after the International Trade Commission voted against imposing tariffs on tin imports. The state of West Virginia is providing a $50 million forgivable loan as part of the company’s investment. “We were never going to sit on the sidelines and watch these jobs disappear,” West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said in a statement. The Cleveland-based company, which employs 28,000 workers in the United States and Canada, expects the facility will generate additional demand for specialty steel made at its mill in Butler, Pennsylvania. In a statement, Lourenco Goncalves, Cleveland-Cliffs’ president, chairman and CEO, said distribution transformers, currently in short supply, “are critical to the maintenance, expansion, and decarbonization of America’s electric grid.” The tin facility was once a nearly 800-acre property operated by Weirton Steel, which employed 6,100 workers in 1994 and filed for bankruptcy protection in 2003. International Steel Group bought Weirton Steel in federal bankruptcy court in 2003. The property changed hands again a few years later, ultimately ending up a part of Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal, which sold its U.S. holdings to Cleveland-Cliffs in 2020. Weirton is a city of 19,000 residents along the Ohio River about 40 miles (64 kilometers) west of Pittsburgh.
CrowdStrike CEO called to testify to Congress over cybersecurity’s firm role in global tech outage 2024-07-22 18:51:38+00:00 - WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. House leaders are calling on CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz to testify to Congress about the cybersecurity company’s role in sparking the widespread tech outage that grounded flights, knocked banks and hospital systems offline and affected services around the world. CrowdStrike said this week a “significant number” of the millions of computers that crashed on Friday, causing global disruptions, are back in operation as its customers and regulators await a more detailed explanation of what went wrong. Republicans who lead the House Homeland Security committee said Monday they want those answers soon. “While we appreciate CrowdStrike’s response and coordination with stakeholders, we cannot ignore the magnitude of this incident, which some have claimed is the largest IT outage in history,” said a letter to Kurtz from Rep. Mark E. Green of Tennessee and Rep. Andrew Garbarino of New York. They added that Americans “deserve to know in detail how this incident happened and the mitigation steps CrowdStrike is taking.” A defective software update sent by CrowdStrike to its customers disrupted airlines, banks, hospitals and other critical services Friday, affecting about 8.5 million machines running Microsoft’s Windows operating system. The painstaking work of fixing it has often required a company’s IT crew to manually delete files on affected machines. CrowdStrike said late Sunday in a blog post that it was starting to implement a new technique to accelerate remediation of the problem. Shares of the Texas-based cybersecurity company have dropped more than 20% since the meltdown, knocking off billions of dollars in market value. The scope of the disruptions has also caught the attention of government regulators, including antitrust enforcers, though it remains to be seen if they take action against the company. “All too often these days, a single glitch results in a system-wide outage, affecting industries from healthcare and airlines to banks and auto-dealers,” said Lina Khan, chair of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, in a Sunday post on the social media platform X. “Millions of people and businesses pay the price. These incidents reveal how concentration can create fragile systems.”
Business secretary confident of ‘market-led solution’ for Harland & Woolf 2024-07-22 18:43:00+00:00 - The business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, has said he is confident that the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast will continue to build ships for the Royal Navy, despite ruling out government support for the struggling company. Harland & Wolff is part of a consortium on a £1.6bn contract to build three naval fleet solid support ships to supply the Royal Navy’s aircraft carriers. However, it has faced months of uncertainty over its future. The government on Monday confirmed that it had refused to grant a £200m loan guarantee to help the struggling company to refinance. The shipbuilder had hoped to secure a guarantee of up to 80% of any loan value to help it avoid collapsing into administration for the second time in five years. But the guarantee would have put taxpayer money at risk if the shipyard fails. Harland & Wolff’s precarious finances add to a series of industrial policy challenges already mounting up for the Labour government, including the prospect of job losses at Tata Steel’s plant in south Wales, and the proposed takeover of Royal Mail’s owner by the Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský. Reynolds also revealed on Monday that the government was likely to call in Křetínský’s Royal Mail bid for a formal review. Speaking to reporters at the Farnborough international airshow in Hampshire, Reynolds said support for Harland & Wolff “would not have been a prudent use of government money”. However, asked if he was confident that Royal Navy ships would still be built in Belfast, he answered simply: “Yes.” His confidence will be a boost to the workforce of about 1,500 in Belfast and at H&W’s other shipyards in Devon and Scotland. Matt Roberts, national officer at GMB, a union representing workers at the yards, said that they must be saved. “These are worrying times for workers and their families in Northern Ireland, Scotland and the south-west,” he said. “These yards have been at the heart of UK manufacturing for centuries, from building the Titanic to the ships that defeated the Armada.” Reynolds said he expected a “market-led solution” to refinancing the company’s large debt load, and added that he thought the promise of government support had delayed efforts to find private sector lenders. The shipbuilder was forced to suspend its London-listed shares a fortnight ago, raising concerns about its future. Its chief executive, John Wood, left abruptly on Friday, his departure understood to be a condition imposed by lenders. The US investor Riverstone is reportedly considering a new loan. skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Business Today Free daily newsletter Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning 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 On Royal Mail, Reynolds said he would talk to Křetínský this week, after discussions on Monday between the investor and unions. “I think it would be reasonable to expect it to be called in,” he said, pointing to the previous review when Křetínský first increased his shareholding. He added that he would look at how the government could receive binding assurances that jobs and some crucial services could be retained. Reynolds and several other cabinet ministers were accompanying Keir Starmer on Monday to the Farnborough airshow, where executives from the aviation and weapons industries gather every two years.
Kamala Harris’ historic presidential bid cements rapid ascent in Democratic politics 2024-07-22 18:37:00+00:00 - Kamala Harris has already made history as the first woman, the first Black person and the first person of South Asian descent to serve as vice president of the United States. If she formally secures the Democratic presidential nomination and triumphs over former President Donald Trump in the November election, she would shatter the highest glass ceiling in all of American life. Harris marshaled overwhelming support from many party officials and raised $50 million after President Joe Biden abruptly withdrew from the race and endorsed her Sunday, but her quick ascent to the pinnacle of Democratic politics was not a foregone conclusion. In recent years, Harris has struggled to define herself on the national stage and drawn intense scrutiny from Republicans. The dramatically altered presidential race gives Harris, 59, a high-stakes opportunity to reintroduce herself to the country. The story she might tell is one of fierce ambition and a meteoric rise through the nation’s corridors of power. Early years Kamala Devi Harris was born on Oct. 20, 1964, in Oakland, California, to immigrant parents who first met as civil rights activists. She has recalled attending political demonstrations as a small child. “I like to joke,” she wrote in a tweet seven years ago, “my sister and I grew up surrounded by adults who spent their full time marching and shouting for this thing called justice.” Kamala Harris, left, with her sister and mother outside their apartment in California after her parents' separation in 1970. Kamala Harris campaign via AP Harris’ parents — Jamaica-born economist Donald J. Harris and Shyamala Gopalan Harris, a scientist who was born in India — divorced when she was young. Harris and her sister, Maya, were largely raised by their mother, a breast cancer scientist who came to the U.S. at 19 and earned her doctorate degree the same year the future vice president was born, according to a White House profile. (Gopalan died in 2009.) Harris attended Howard University, a historically Black college in Washington, D.C., and graduated in 1986 with a degree in political science and economics. She went back to the Golden State to attend what was then known as the University of California Hastings College of Law, earning her juris doctor in 1989. Following graduation, Harris became a prosecutor, serving as a deputy district attorney in Alameda County, where she specialized in prosecuting child sexual assault cases, and later as an assistant district attorney in San Francisco, one of the pillars of American progressivism. She cultivated a reputation for steely toughness — and soon, she worked to parlay that public persona into a career in elected office. Kamala Harris with her mother, Shyamala Harris, at a Chinese New Year parade in 2007. Kamala Harris campaign via AP Political rise Harris challenged incumbent San Francisco District Attorney Terence Hallinan in 2003, nabbing a commanding 56.5% of the vote in a runoff election and becoming the first person of color elected to the position. In the job, she established herself as a champion for LGBTQ rights and other progressive social causes, refusing to back Proposition 8, an initiative banning same-sex marriage that was overturned in 2010. Harris received criticism from the local police force early in her tenure after she declined to seek the death penalty for a man who had killed a police officer in 2004. She ran unopposed for re-election in 2007. Three years later, Harris ran a successful campaign for California attorney general, nabbing a key endorsement from former President Barack Obama, who a year earlier had become America’s first Black chief executive. (She narrowly defeated Republican candidate Steve Cooley.) She was dubbed “the female Obama” by some political analysts, a moniker that led some observers to speculate about her national ambitions. Barack Obama walks with Harris after arriving in San Francisco on Feb. 16, 2012. Paul Chinn / The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images file In 2014, Harris married Doug Emhoff, a Southern California attorney. She is stepmother to Cole and Ella Emhoff, her husband’s two children from a previous marriage. Harris, as attorney general of California, oversaw the largest state justice department in the country. She won a $20 billion settlement for Californians whose homes had been foreclosed on, as well as a $1.1 billion settlement for students and veterans who were allegedly preyed on by a for-profit education company. In the years ahead, Harris would point to these achievements to bolster her record as a champion of working people. Path to power In early 2015, Harris announced she was running for U.S. Senate after Democratic stalwart Barbara Boxer announced that she would retire following nearly a quarter-century in the seat. Harris proved herself to be an energetic campaigner and formidable fundraiser, snapping up endorsements from Obama and his vice president, Joe Biden. Harris won election to the U.S. Senate handily, taking 61.6% of the vote against fellow Democrat Loretta Sanchez and becoming only the second Black woman to reach the chamber. She was sworn into the Senate by Biden on Jan. 3, 2017 and quickly faced a national political landscape that had been rocked by Trump’s upset victory over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential contest. In short order, Harris styled herself as one of the Trump White House’s fiercest congressional critics, leaning on her legal skills to rhetorically prosecute the case against the new administration’s policies and political appointments. She made headlines with her tough questioning of Brett Kavanaugh during his Supreme Court confirmation hearings in 2018, and of former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Harris walks through the Senate Reception Room to the Senate chamber for the start of the Senate impeachment trial proceedings on Jan. 27, 2020. Bill Clark / CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images file Harris frequently went viral on social media with clips of those tense confrontations, strengthening her credibility with a Democratic voter base repelled by Trump and hungry for high-profile Democrats who could push back against his agenda as part of an aggressive “resistance” to the Republican president. The looming 2020 Democratic presidential primary gave the freshman lawmaker a chance to take that fight to the next level. She announced her presidential campaign in January 2019 in front of 20,000 cheering fans in Oakland. She was widely seen as a possible front-runner for the Democratic nod. She presented herself as a centrist alternative to Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, and a younger alternative to Biden, who was then in his late 70s. In the early months of her candidacy, Harris was dogged by questions from progressive activists about her years as a prosecutor — and whether she had been too zealous in cracking down on crime, including marijuana cases. She defended her record and attempted to reassure voters that she would advocate for racial justice. Biden listens as Harris speaks during the second of two Democratic presidential primary debates hosted by CNN on July 31, 2019, in Detroit. Paul Sancya / AP file Yet after a strong start, including a debate stage confrontation with Biden over his past opposition to busing, Harris’ campaign ultimately imploded. She was rapidly running out of money, struggled to form a cohesive campaign operation and lacked a clear-cut message. She dropped out in December 2019 before any primary votes were cast. But of course, that wasn’t the end of the story. The veep In early August 2020, Biden — who had publicly committed to selecting a woman for his running mate — announced that he had picked Harris. She became the first Black person, the first person of South Asian descent and only the third woman to be chosen as the vice presidential nominee for a major party ticket in U.S. history. Biden, introducing Harris to the country, spoke about what her historic nomination symbolized for “little Black and brown girls, who so often feel overlooked and undervalued in their communities.” Biden and Harris during a campaign event in Wilmington, Delaware, on Aug. 12, 2020. Carolyn Kaster / AP “Today, just maybe, they’re seeing themselves for the first time in a new way, as the stuff of presidents and vice presidents,” Biden said. In a presidential election defined by the Covid pandemic and calls for racial justice following the police murder of George Floyd, Harris worked to rally Democratic voters who were determined to take back the White House and faced off against former Vice President Mike Pence in a televised debate. Biden and Harris proved victorious and took office in the shadow of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Harris has stood by Biden’s side amid the triumphs and crises of the last three years, from bipartisan legislative victories and the appointment of the first Black woman to the Supreme Court to the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas war. Harris has sometimes struggled to distinguish herself on the national stage, occasionally drawing mockery for speeches or impromptu remarks her critics see as awkward. Yet these moments have also helped endear her to some younger voters who circulate memes and short video clips featuring the vice president. She has also attracted intense criticism from Republican lawmakers who have sought to link her to illegal border crossings — partly because Biden tasked her with leading the administration’s efforts to address the “root causes” of migration from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. GOP detractors have derisively referred to the vice president as the “border czar.” Biden and Harris at the White House on July 4. Mandel Ngan / AFP - Getty Images file Biden’s exit from the race and his endorsement of Harris put a bright international spotlight on the vice president, who quickly demonstrated she can galvanize the Democratic base with a massive fundraising haul and potentially broaden an electorate that wasn’t exactly thrilled about the prospect of a Biden-Trump rematch. The twists and turns following Biden’s disastrous debate performance last month have been stunning, but Harris has previously indicated that the question of succession was never far from her mind. “Every vice president — every vice president — understands that when they take the oath they must be very clear about the responsibility they may have to take over the job of being president,” Harris told The Associated Press in September. “I’m no different.”
Freight locomotive runs off tracks, flattens garage at home in Niagara Falls 2024-07-22 18:19:01+00:00 - NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (AP) — A freight locomotive ran off the end of its track and smashed into the side of a garage Monday at a home in the city of Niagara Falls. No one was injured, but the impact flattened the brick two-car garage, which had survived a previous train derailment decades earlier. “The whole house shook,” Lori Morreale Harris, who lives in the house, told The Buffalo News. She said the same garage was struck by a train in the late 1970s when her grandparents lived in the home. The detached garage sits just a few feet from the end of a short rail spur at a CSX Transportation rail yard. Only a small, metal bumper and two chain-link fences and a narrow, unpaved alley, separate the end of the tracks from Harr’s garage. Photos from the scene showed the blue engine up against the side of the collapsed garage. Some of the engine’s diesel fuel spilled during the collision, but it was contained and did not impact any waterways, CSX said in an emailed statement. The rail company said state and local authorities, along with the Environmental Protection Agency, were notified. “Our primary focus right now is the health and safety of onsite staff and personnel, the surrounding community, and mitigating risk to the environment,” the CSX statement said. It said the cause of the derailment was under investigation.
Carpetright rival buys 54 shops in rescue deal but more than 1,500 jobs will go 2024-07-22 17:59:00+00:00 - More than 1,500 jobs are to go at Carpetright as a rescue deal for the retailer by its rival Tapi Carpets & Floors saves only a fifth of its stores and 300 employee roles. The multimillion-pound deal, finalised on Monday, includes 54 stores but not Carpetright’s head office in Purfleet, Essex, while another 219 shops will close. The advisory firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has been looking for a buyer for Carpetright after it filed a notice of intention to appoint an administrator earlier in July. It said 1,018 jobs would go immediately in the pre-pack administration deal while a further 580 jobs, mostly at the group’s head office, are expected to go once the handover to Tapi is complete. Customers around the country will also face disappointment, as PwC said orders placed with stores not included in the deal could not be fulfilled. It suggested affected customers contact their payment card provider about the possibility of obtaining a refund. Zelf Hussain, a joint administrator, said: “Carpetright has fallen victim to challenges facing many retailers, especially those selling big-ticket items.” He said other factors including a big reduction in consumer spending due to cost of living pressures, lower home sales and a “debilitating cyber-attack” in April this year made it “impossible for the business to continue in its current form”. Tapi has been a bitter rival to Carpetright since it was co-founded in 2015 by Martin Harris, the son of the “carpet king” Lord Harris of Peckham. Harris launched Tapi a year after he and his father stepped down as directors of Carpetright, which Lord Harris founded in 1988. Martin Harris left Tapi earlier this year, while Lord Harris remains an investor and adviser to the business. The acquisition of Carpetright would enable Tapi to expand into a number of new areas, the company said. Lord Harris continues to have a role on the board of Tapi, which he co-owns with about 1,000 investors, the largest of which is the executive chair, Will Barker of the US investment firm Camelot Capital Partners. Tapi, which has 170 stores, said in a statement it was “desperately sad not to have been able to save more of the business and customer orders”. skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Business Today Free daily newsletter Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning 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 Jeevan Karir, the managing director of Tapi, added: “Our goal, initially, was to try to save all of Carpetright. However, as we looked into the details of the situation, we quickly established that saving the entire business was unviable. The business has been materially loss-making for a number of years and it has significant debt held by the owner.” The group said another reason it had not taken on more Carpetright stores was because it was “mindful of how the Competition and Markets Authority may view a larger deal”. Carpetright, which was once FTSE listed, was bought and taken private in 2019 by Meditor, the British hedge fund headed by the poker player Talal Shakerchi. Sales are understood to have fallen more than 45%, to £200m, in the past year, while losses have mounted to more than £25m in recent years along with more than £150m in external debt. Kevin Barrett, the chief executive of Nestware Holdings, the Meditor-controlled group that ran Carpetright, said: “We have tried everything to turn Carpetright around and I’m truly sorry that we were unable to save more jobs. The deal will not affect Carpetright in Europe or other brands within Nestware Holdings including Keswick and Trade Choice. “The Floor Room will continue to trade and serve customers via concessions at John Lewis and we will be working hard to secure job opportunities across these businesses to support Carpetright staff wherever we can.”
The salary you need to be considered middle class in the 25 largest U.S. cities—it can be over $250,000 in San Francisco 2024-07-22 17:57:00+00:00 - A middle class lifestyle can look different depending on where you are. It may mean owning a house and a car in one city and simply being able to rent a place on your own in another. In the San Francisco area, an annual income of $250,000 would classify your household as middle earners, based on 2022 Census Bureau American Community Survey data. The middle class is commonly defined as households earning between two-thirds and double the median income, which is $128,151 in the San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley, California metro area, the Census Bureau reports. That means middle class households there earn between $85,434 and $256,302 a year. DON'T MISS: Achieve Financial Wellness: Be Happier, Wealthier & More Financially Secure Another three U.S. metro areas include $200,000 households in their middle classes: Washington, D.C., Seattle and Boston. Median household incomes in each of these areas are over $100,000 a year. Like San Francisco, Seattle and Boston are two of the country's major tech hubs. Those often high-paying jobs can drive up local average wages. And the nation's capital is home to many high-paid lawyers, politicians and consultants. Here are the ranges of middle class incomes in the 25 biggest U.S. metros:
How Kamala Harris' presidential campaign is rapidly taking shape 2024-07-22 17:48:00+00:00 - WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris and her allies quickly leaped into action Sunday, spending hours calling Democratic leaders, donors and officials who may end up on the shortlist to become her running mate. Her most ardent supporters — many of them Black women — held organizing calls Sunday night to solicit donations, recruit volunteers and pray. And major liberal donors began talking about how to reactivate party coffers that had been nearly frozen amid the uncertainty over President Joe Biden’s future. The next weeks could be the most critical for Harris, not just to unify her party and gather the support needed to officially lock in the nomination but also to raise enough cash to power a campaign and map out a path to beating former President Donald Trump in November. It will also be a crucial moment to define herself to American voters, as her Republican opponents ramp up attacks against her. Her first big decision could be naming a running mate. A number of names were being floated by allies, including Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear. Allies are also vetting Sen. Mark Kelly or Arizona and retired Adm. William McRaven, a source said. Harris spent more than 10 hours Sunday placing calls to over 100 party leaders, members of Congress, governors, labor leaders and leaders of advocacy and civil rights organizations, according to a source familiar with her day. Harris also called her pastor, Amos Brown III, who, along with his wife, prayed over her. Throughout the day, Harris, wearing a hooded Howard University sweatshirt, workout sweats and sneakers, was surrounded by family members and staff at the vice president’s residence. “She let me know that she intends to earn it and to win it,” Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Nev., the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, said of his conversation with her on Sunday. “I took that to mean, she’s not going to take anything for granted or any constituency for granted, and she will win it. And we will work with her to make sure that is the case, not only winning the presidency, but winning the majority in the House.” Horsford, who along with the Congressional Black Caucus Political Action Committee endorsed Harris on Sunday, said in an interview that he was deeply moved by the possibility of Harris becoming the first Black woman to be a major party’s presidential nominee. “It’s emotional. When she called, I didn’t even really know how to acknowledge her. Madame Vice President? Madame nominee to our party?” Horsford said. “This is a significant day because of what it means for our daughters and our sons and the next generation of leaders that will come behind them.” Win With Black Women, a national networking and organizing group, held a call of its members Sunday night and more than 45,000 people joined. The group quickly shared a link to solicit donations from Black women for the Harris campaign. Within three hours after it was shared at around 10 p.m., organizers said more than $1.5 million had been raised via that link. “When you put strategy with the spirit of black women to organize — the spirit of black women to collectively build community, the spirit of black women to be resilient, the spirit of black women to actually win — when you combine those two things, we have always made remarkable change in this nation,” said LaTosha Brown, a co-founder of the voting rights group Black Voters Matter. “And so if there’s anybody who actually knows how to handle a racist, misogynist criminal, it would be a capable woman who happened to be a prosecutor.” Christopher Huntley, a strategist who has worked as a speechwriter for Harris, said he expects the Democratic convention to be a showing of unity. “We’ve had three weeks of chaos and division,” Huntley said. “Now it’s time for us to unite, to get behind Vice President Harris, and take the case to Donald Trump.” As Harris worked the phones on Sunday, the call list was long and included: former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton, former President Barack Obama, Shapiro, Beshear, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. She also spoke with Democratic Reps. Jim Clyburn, of South Carolina; Jasmine Crockett, of Texas; Pramila Jayapal, of Washington; Nanette Barragán, of California; and Judy Chu of California. In addition to shoring up her support, she also began weighing whom she would pick as a running mate. The source added that he and others have been quietly phoning delegates over the past week to see that, if Biden were to drop out, would they support Harris as his successor. The person said 95% said they would support Harris at the top of the ticket. In addition to organizing an operation, Harris must simultaneously hit the campaign trail running. “She’s really well positioned to prosecute the case against MAGA — to call out exactly who they are, as really wanting to push women’s rights back into past centuries,” Tory Gavito, president of Way to Win, a national strategy hub for donors aligned with Democratic causes that endorsed Harris. “So I am excited to see what comes next.” Democratic strategists appeared buoyed by the shift and pointed to a change in the party’s mood. “Kamala Harris will be the next president of the United States,” said Jamal Simmons, who worked for a year as Harris’ communications director. “She’s a better candidate than he was, positioned on abortion rights with the American public, and aligned with the majority of Americans who are anti-MAGA.” Billy Ray, a writer and film director, said Democrats can now focus on Trump — focusing on his age instead of shying from the subject. “The campaign is now going to be about age and confidence, and we win that argument,” said Ray. “You guys (Republicans) are now the ones running the old man who can’t put sentences together.” Ray said the response from donors he knows has been overwhelmingly positive. “Like 95 percent are saying, ‘All in. Let’s go. Tell me where you want me to be. Do we go to Nevada? Do we go to Arizona? What do we do?” he said. Doug Jones, former Democratic senator from Alabama who endorsed Harris and will be a delegate to the Democratic convention, said he sees the party unifying behind Harris. “I’m hoping that this convention will be a celebration of Joe Biden and a celebration of a passing the torch to Kamala Harris,” Jones said. Donna Brazile, a longtime Democratic strategist, said Harris is the “strongest candidate.” “She is battle-tested. She knows the job, and she also knows the pressures of a national campaign. You can’t teach that,” Brazile said. “She knows how to make a case and is ready to take it to Donald Trump. And, she can lean into a fight for the country in which people who work hard can get ahead.” Still, there could be a fight ahead — or at least a tense few days. Ray said he did not want to see Harris simply be anointed the party’s nominee without a process. “President Biden had to go from state to state. There was an official process that took place. She hasn’t done that,” he said. “And by the way, this is good for her, not bad for her. It would be unbelievably compelling television to have a convention in which there was actual doubt.” When asked what he thought about those calling for a mini-primary with multiple candidates competing, Horsford said: “We are not playing this game. The only person who is prepared and qualified to win this nomination to beat Donald Trump, and to become our next president is Kamala Harris, period. … There is a process within the convention and committee structure that allows her to earn it.”
Number of new UK buy-to-let mortgages halves in just over a year 2024-07-22 17:20:00+00:00 - The number of new UK buy-to-let mortgages granted by lenders has fallen by more than half in just over a year, while the sector has shrunk for the first time in almost three decades. New data issued by the banking body UK Finance underlines that higher mortgage costs, on top of broader cost of living pressures, have taken their toll on many landlords, prompting a growing number to sell up. Meanwhile, some people who might previously have opted to become landlord investors have turned their back on the sector because of tax changes that have made it less profitable. UK Finance said landlords with just one rental property “are more likely to feel the pinch from higher interest rates”. Its figures showed that the number of new buy-to-let mortgages granted fell from 25,280 in the final three months of 2022 to 12,422 in the first three months of 2024. “Rapidly rising interest rates played a major role in this trend, making it harder for those looking to buy a buy-to-let property to pass lenders’ affordability tests,” the organisation said. The landlord sector has been growing for nearly three decades, ever since the first buy-to-let products were launched in 1996, but has now shrunk for the first time, albeit only slightly, with the number of outstanding mortgages falling from 2.039m in the first three months of last year to 1.98m in the same period this year. The original boom in buy to let was triggered by legal changes relating to tenancies in the 1990s, plus a tax regime that favoured landlords. The sector enjoyed runaway growth, but in 2015 George Osborne, then chancellor, cut tax relief for property investors, and ditched a key landlord tax break. However, several more years of strong house price growth and growing demand for rental properties gave buy to let a fresh boost, until a string of mortgage rate rises from 2022 put the brakes on the sector. UK Finance said all these developments had made being a buy-to-let landlord “more challenging and less attractive … Despite rents increasing, the rising costs of being a landlord means that it’s not as profitable as it once was.” skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Business Today Free daily newsletter Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning 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 The number of buy-to-let landlords behind with their payments has also risen sharply. At the end of the first quarter of this year, 13,570 of the 1.98m outstanding mortgages were in arrears, – up 93% on the same three months a year earlier. However, the banking body said this was still only 0.68% of all buy-to-let mortgages, and that the number had not increased since the final three months of 2023.
U.S. Olympic team athletes make their debut on Roblox gaming platform 2024-07-22 17:06:00+00:00 - The Olympic world's ever-expanding quest to draw in young fans is meeting them where they are — on Roblox. The U.S. Olympic team and NBC are collaborating with the kid- and teen-friendly gaming platform to produce a new "Obby" — that's Roblox for obstacle course — and other features that include ways to interact with U.S. athletes while also checking out highlights from the Paris Games and making visits to a virtual Team USA House called "The Vibe House." This new Roblox feature debuting Monday includes animated versions of 20 U.S. Olympians, including a surfer, a skateboarder and two break dancers — all of whom represent sports that have been added recently to the Olympic program in hopes of driving young fans to the games. "My sister-in-law said my nieces are going to be more excited about me being in Roblox than me being in the Olympics," said one of the breakers, 35-year-old Sunny Choi. Sunny Choi, also known as B-Girl Sunny, is one of 20 U.S. Olympians whose animated versions will appear in a new Roblox feature debuting Monday. Andres Kudacki / AP Roblox says more than half of its 77.7 million daily active users are between 11 and 26. Choi and breaker Victor Montalvo will be featured in "Emotes" — animated versions of themselves that will feature some of their favorite dance moves. Four of their Emotes will be available for free, with the other available for purchase, and some of the proceeds going directly to the athletes. The company says these are the first "official" Emotes created in Roblox based on real athletes and their actual moves. "I did it because I just thought it was adorable and I'll take any opportunity to share breaking with the wider community," Choi said. "It's so great for kids. The messaging in the game, for me, is very much about 'Be you and do what makes you happy.' So hopefully, that resonates."
Intuitive Surgical Stock Outperforms Market: Highs on the Horizon 2024-07-22 16:35:00+00:00 - Intuitive Surgical Today ISRG Intuitive Surgical $461.12 +6.11 (+1.34%) 52-Week Range $254.85 ▼ $468.78 P/E Ratio 83.23 Price Target $438.74 Add to Watchlist Intuitive Surgical’s NASDAQ: ISRG stock bucked the broad-market selloff because of its operational quality, performance, outlook, and balance sheet, which has absolutely nothing wrong with it. The B/S highlights for Q2 include a 490 basis point increase in cash and securities and the net cash position. The net cash position is truly amazing because this company has zero debt: net cash is regarding the company’s total liability. Its $7.68 billion in cash and investments is more than 4.25x of total liabilities, leaving it in the strongest position it could be in to sustain its high double-digit growth pace. Get Intuitive Surgical alerts: Sign Up Intuitive Surgical Leads MedTech: Analysts Raise Targets Intuitive Surgical is thriving and leading the MedTech Industry. Its 14% top-line increase leads peers like Johnson & Johnson NYSE: JNJ and Abbott Laboratories NYSE: ABT, which also produced significant growth. More importantly, Intuitive’s $2.01 billion in revenue outpaced the consensus reported by MarketBeat and led analysts to raise their estimates and stock price targets. Revenue growth outpaced the consensus by 100 basis points on strength in system placement procedure volume and Instruments & Accessories growth. Procedures count grew by 17% on a 14% increase in installed machines, with strength seen in the da Vinci 5 offering. Sales of da Vinci 5 accounted for 20.5% of machines installed in the quarter. Sales of instruments and accessories, the company's recurring revenue stream, accounted for 62% of sales and is up 60 bps sequentially. There are some concerns that the procedure count is driven primarily by system installation, but headwinds include sluggishness in China and bariatric surgery. The analysts' chatter suggests that headwinds are expected to diminish and be offset by general surgical procedure volume growth and broadening acceptance of AI-powered surgical assistance. The long-term outlook includes a 17% to 18% top and bottom line forecast through 2028, and it may be cautious. The margin news is among the more impressive details. The company widened its margin on a GAAP and adjusted basis to drive robust increases in earnings. The GAAP net income rose by 25% and adjusted by 26% to leave adjusted earnings at $1.78, up 25% compared to last year and a quarter better than expected. The takeaway is that Intuitive had a cash-flow positive quarter despite CAPEX and increased shareholder equity by 10%. Intuitive does not give guidance but shows clear momentum and robust cash flows that sustain the strong balance sheet, setting the company up to potentially initiate dividend payments or buy back significant amounts of stock. Analysts Lead Intuitive Surgical Stock to New Highs Intuitive Surgical MarketRank™ Stock Analysis Overall MarketRank™ 4.59 out of 5 Analyst Rating Moderate Buy Upside/Downside 5.0% Downside Short Interest Healthy Dividend Strength N/A Sustainability -1.15 News Sentiment 0.66 Insider Trading Selling Shares Projected Earnings Growth 20.21% See Full Details The consensus price target reported by MarketBeat.com lags the ISRG stock price, but there is a high level of conviction in the Moderate Buy rating, and the price target is rising, providing support for the market. MarketBeat.com tracks 19 analysts with current ratings, and 10 of them revised their price targets following the release, leading to the range's high end. Their activity increased the consensus by nearly 10% compared to last month and included a new high price target of $525, a 15% upside to current price action. ISRG stock surged on the news and analysts' upgrades, rising more than 10% to set a new all-time high. The move shows strong support at the 30-day moving average and a trend-following signal compounded by bullish signals in the indicators. The MACD and stochastic align with a rising market, suggesting new highs are possible. Insiders have sold into the rally this year and are likely to continue. However, their activity is offset by robust institutional buying. The institutions own about 85% of the stock and have bought on balance this year, providing a strong tailwind for the market. Before you consider Intuitive Surgical, 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 Intuitive Surgical wasn't on the list. While Intuitive Surgical currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. View The Five Stocks Here
Hunter Biden Drops Lawsuit Against Fox News Over Nude Photos 2024-07-22 16:21:27+00:00 - Hunter Biden, President Biden’s son, withdrew a lawsuit against Fox News on Sunday that had accused the network of violating a revenge porn law by sharing explicit photos and videos of him without his permission. Mr. Biden’s decision to drop the lawsuit, in a one-page motion filed by his lawyers in New York Supreme Court in Manhattan, came on the same day that his father announced he would no longer seek re-election. The lawsuit involved “The Trial of Hunter Biden,” a mini-series that appeared in 2022 on the streaming service Fox Nation. The series imagined a prospective criminal trial of Mr. Biden that involved fictional charges, and it integrated actual images of Mr. Biden in the nude and engaged in sex acts that had been discovered on a laptop he abandoned at a repair shop in Delaware. “The Trial of Hunter Biden” was removed from Fox Nation in April after lawyers for Mr. Biden contacted the network demanding that it be taken down.
Has This Leading Tech Stock Halted the AI Surge? 2024-07-22 16:14:00+00:00 - ASML Today ASML ASML $941.26 +45.89 (+5.13%) 52-Week Range $563.99 ▼ $1,110.09 Dividend Yield 0.68% P/E Ratio 48.07 Price Target $1,147.80 Add to Watchlist ASML Holding N.V. NASDAQ: ASML designs and manufactures extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography machines that use light to precision print microscopic patterns on silicon wafers. These gigantic 330,000-pound machines are used to mass-produce the world’s computer chips. ASML is often the barometer of the health of the semiconductor industry. Their lithography machines must be ordered two years in advance, and they take nearly 250 shipping containers to deliver weighing as much as two Airbus A320s. The company just released its Q2 2024 earnings report with accompanying lowered Q3 2024 revenue guidance, sending shares lower by over 20% in the following days. This also caused the rest of the semiconductor stocks to sell off. Investors are mulling whether the sell-off will crimp the AI Boom. ASML operates in the computer and technology sector. The company is the apex predator with virtually no other competitors and a near-monopoly on EUV lithography machines. ASML supplies its machines to the world's leading chip manufacturers, including Intel Co. NASDAQ: INTC, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. NYSE: TSM, and Samsung Electronics Co. OTCMKTS: SSNLF. Get ASML alerts: Sign Up ASML Owns a Near-Monopoly in the Photolithography Market In the semiconductor industry, there are hands-down dominant players. For example, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., often referred to as just Taiwan Semi, has a 62% market share of the world’s computer chip production. NVIDIA dominates the AI chip market with nearly 90% market share. However, one company has an even tighter lock in its segment, EUV lithography. Thanks to the mind-numbing barriers to entry, ASML commands more than a 90% market share in the global photolithography market. This company is so dominant that it has to comply with various nations' export controls, especially those pertaining to Chinese sales. ASML Stock Triggers a Rising Wedge Breakdown The daily candlestick chart on ASML illustrates a rising wedge breakdown that was triggered on its Q2 2024 earnings release. The rising wedge is comprised of converging upper and lower trendlines. The breakdown occurs when shares fall below the lower ascending trendline. ASML triggered the gap down from $1,060 to $979.99 on July 17, 2024. Shares continued to sell off for the next two days as sellers continued to unwind positions amidst the macro market sell-off in technology stocks gathered steam. The daily relative strength index (RSI) is falling toward the oversold 30-band. Pullback support levels are at $880.59, $826.50, $778.67, and $751.69. ASML's Q2 Outperformance and Adjusted Q3 Expectations ASML reported a Q2 2024 EPS of $4.46, beating consensus estimates by 34 cents. Revenue fell 9.5% YoY to $6.91 billion, beating the $6.66 billion consensus estimates. Gross margin was 51.5%, and net income of $1.78 billion. ASML expanded its booking by 23.7% YoY to $6.06 billion. ASML issued weaker-than-expected downside revenue guidance for Q3 2024 of $7.44 billion to $8.11 billion versus $8.41 billion consensus estimates. Gross margins are expected to be between 50% and 51%. ASML expects R&D costs to be around $1.2 billion and SG&A costs to be around $322 million. However, ASML reaffirmed its outlook for the full year 2024. According to consensus estimates, it expects 2024 to see revenues of $30 billion versus $29.97 billion, similar to those in 2023. AI Is Not Slowing Down But Ramping Up ASML MarketRank™ Stock Analysis Overall MarketRank™ 3.72 out of 5 Analyst Rating Buy Upside/Downside 24.1% Upside Short Interest Healthy Dividend Strength Weak Sustainability N/A News Sentiment 0.38 Insider Trading N/A Projected Earnings Growth 55.35% See Full Details Investors fearing that AI has run its course can relax. ASML CEO Christopher Fouquet put those fears to rest as he commented, “Our outlook for the full year 2024 remains unchanged. We see 2024 as a transition year with continued investments in both capacity ramp and technology. We currently see strong developments in AI, driving most of the industry recovery and growth ahead of other market segments.” Fouquet also commented that overall semiconductor inventory levels continue to improve. AI is driving most of the industry’s recovery and growth. Memory end markets may see memory clients look to upgrade their systems in preparation for an anticipated surge in 2025. ASML Holding N.V. analyst ratings and price targets are at MarketBeat. There are 12 analyst ratings comprised of one Strong Buy, nine Buys, and two Holds, with a consensus price target 28% higher at $1,147.80. Before you consider ASML, 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 ASML wasn't on the list. While ASML currently has a "Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. View The Five Stocks Here
Darren Walker, Who Reoriented the Ford Foundation, Will Step Down 2024-07-22 16:00:20+00:00 - Darren Walker, the president of the Ford Foundation, one of the nation’s largest and most influential philanthropies, recently recalled the day his assistant excitedly told him that President Barack Obama wanted to meet him. He gently corrected her. “I said that President Obama wants to meet with the president of the Ford Foundation — he isn’t interested in meeting with Darren Walker,” he said. “It’s important to have that clarity so that when the day comes that you’re no longer president of the Ford Foundation, you can still find joy and happiness and satisfaction.” For Mr. Walker, who turns 65 next month, that day will soon arrive. He announced Monday that he would step down as the president of the Ford Foundation at the end of 2025 after what will have been a consequential 12-year tenure in which he shifted the institution’s focus to inequality and oversaw the distribution of $7 billion in grants. It is a momentous departure. In reorienting the Ford Foundation to address inequality, Mr. Walker was aiming to address “not just wealth disparities,” he wrote in 2015, “but injustices in politics, culture and society that compound inequality and limit opportunity.” He played a key role in getting Ford and other foundations to donate hundreds of millions of dollars to help the City of Detroit exit bankruptcy in a way that spared retirees from deeper pension cuts and safeguarded the collection at the Detroit Institute of the Arts.
McDonald's to extend $5 value meal in most U.S. markets as diners return to chain 2024-07-22 15:56:00+00:00 - McDonald’s will extend its $5 value meal beyond its initial four-week window in most of its U.S. markets as the fast-food giant says the offer is driving traffic back to restaurants. In a memo to the U.S. system obtained by CNBC on Monday, executives wrote that nearly every business unit, encompassing 93% of its restaurants, voted to extend the promotion past its original end date late this month. The memo said the majority of locations will extend through August, or plan to vote on whether to do so. The $5 value meal rolled out on menu boards beginning June 25 and was initially set to last roughly a month. It includes a McChicken or McDouble, four-piece chicken nuggets, fries and a drink. The combo costs substantially less than purchasing those items individually. “Our message is resonating with our millions of customers,” Myra Doria, national field president, and Tariq Hassan, U.S. chief marketing and customer experience officer, wrote in the memo. “When our customers are ordering the $5 Meal Deal, they aren’t visiting the competition, and early performance shows this deal is meeting the objective of driving guests back to our restaurants.” Bloomberg earlier reported the decision to extend the deal. The move comes as restaurants offer deals to boost sagging traffic, as consumers — particularly lower-income diners — balk at higher prices after years of inflation-fueled hikes. The meal has faced competition from other chains including Burger King, Wendy’s, Taco Bell and even Starbucks, which have offered deals ranging between $3 and $5, as companies look to bring in value-conscious consumers in a highly competitive environment. The memo went on: “We must remember that driving guest counts ultimately propels our business and is the key to sustained growth.” Coca-Cola kicked in marketing funds to make the initial value offer more appealing for franchisees, CNBC reported in May. Some franchisee advocates had pushed for future contributions from the company to make the discounted offering sustainable for operators in the long run. The company is set to report earnings July 29. McDonald’s declined to comment.
Revolutionary Battery Stock Gains Momentum with 3D Silicon-Anodes 2024-07-22 15:45:00+00:00 - Enovix Today ENVX Enovix $15.25 -0.33 (-2.12%) 52-Week Range $5.70 ▼ $23.90 Price Target $19.17 Add to Watchlist As promising as next-gen mobile technology is with the growth of the internet-of-things (IoT), edge artificial intelligence (AI), and autonomous electric vehicles (EVs), the limitations lie in the ability to power them. Current lithium-ion batteries are reaching their limits when it comes to performance. AI applications take considerably more electricity to operate. This limits the capacity to perform edge AI through portable devices like smartphones, tablets, laptops, and wearables. Enovix Co. NASDAQ: ENVX is looking to change that with its 3D silicon-anode batteries. Enovix operates in the oils/energy market, competing with battery makers QuantumScape Co. NYSE: QS, Energizer Holdings Inc. NYSE: ENR, and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. OTCMKTS: SSNLF. Get Enovix alerts: Sign Up Here’s How Enovix’s 3D Silicon-Anode Technology is Better Current lithium-ion batteries use graphite anodes. Silicon stores lithium much better than graphite and has 10x higher energy density. This enables faster charging and enhanced safety. However, the inherent problem is that silicon expands up 4x its size during charging cycles, causing it to crack. For this reason, silicon is used in small amounts mixed with graphite in current lithium-ion batteries, which are reaching their limitations. Enovix’s patented 3D silicon-anode batteries implement a structural constraint system that keeps the silicon particles under constant pressure to limit swelling and cracking. The Enovix battery minimizes swelling to less than 2% cell thickness after 500 cycles. This enables it to maintain electrical contact between components to improve the battery life cycle. Enovix's batteries have a 100% active silicon anode that provides high energy and high capacity. Its BrakeFlow technology, comprised of 100 micro-resistors in its 100-electrode stack to protect each Enovix cell, makes it safer to minimize battery heat and potential for explosions. ENVX Triggers a Rising Wedge Breakdown The daily candlestick chart for ENVX illustrates a rising wedge breakdown pattern. A rising wedge is comprised of converging rising trendlines with higher highs and lower lows. The breakdown was triggered when ENVX fell below the lower trendline at $17.68. The daily relative strength index (RSI) fell to the 52-band. Pullback support levels are at $14.78, $12.45, $10.12, and $8.13. Enovix Generates Revenues Enovix reported a loss of 31 cents in Q1 2024, which aligns with consensus estimates. Revenues surged 26,260% to $5.27 million, up from $21,000 a year ago, versus $3.7 million consensus estimates. Revenues were generated from battery sales to IoT customers. Stronger revenues and a favorable product mix enabled its first-ever positive non-GAAP gross margins. The company aims to reduce over a third of its fixed costs, amounting to more than $35 million annually, by the end of the year. A more efficient cost structure will reduce capital needs and accelerate the company's path to profitability. Enovix's Strategic Business and Factory Updates: Driving Growth and Innovation Factory acceptance testing (FAT) is complete for its Gen2 Agility line and nearing completion for its high-volume Gen2 Auto line. Site acceptance testing (SAT) has been underway for both lines, enabling the first samples of EX-1M batteries to be produced in Q2 2024 and the capacity to support qualifications for multiple leading customers. Enovix reached a development agreement with a top-5 smartphone original equipment manufacturer (OEM) by unit volume in the quarter. Enovix is building EX-1M battery cells in Fremont, aligned with specifications received from leading smartphone customers. Six of the top-8 smartphone OEMs in the world (by unit volume) will be receiving samples, which will begin shipping in Q2 2024. The company stated, “Our thesis with a Mobile-first approach to product development is that the smartphone sets the standard for battery technology in consumer electronics broadly, which should also allow us to translate success in smartphones to other areas. During our customer visits in the first quarter of 2024, including at the Mobile World Congress trade show, we received positive feedback of this approach as we saw interest in EX-1M for not only smartphones, but IoT products as well.” Enovix expects Q2 2024 revenues between $3 million to $4 million and an adjusted EBITDA loss of $26 million to $32 million. Non-GAAP EPS loss of 22 cents to 28 cents is expected in Q2 2024. Key Agreements and Partnerships: Driving Enovix's Expansion Enovix MarketRank™ Stock Analysis Overall MarketRank™ 3.30 out of 5 Analyst Rating Buy Upside/Downside 25.7% Upside Short Interest Bearish Dividend Strength N/A Sustainability N/A News Sentiment 0.60 Insider Trading Selling Shares Projected Earnings Growth Growing See Full Details On June 25, 2024, Enovix signed an agreement with a technology company to provide its silicon batteries and packs for a mixed-reality headset. The company will receive an immediate one-time payment for the tooling to support battery pack specifications and follow-up payments upon the delivery of samples and production quantities. There is speculation that the unnamed technology company could be Apple Inc. NASDAQ: AAPL or Meta Platforms Inc. NASDAQ: META, both of which have headquarters in California. On June 26, 2024, Enovix signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Elentec, a globally trusted battery manufacturing partner, to support its growth with target customers worldwide. Enovix can fast-track and utilize Elentec's battery pack design and high-volume manufacturing capability through a strategic partnership. Contingent on the continued success of business and technical negotiations, the companies will collaborate in forming custom development of Enovix battery cells into multiple battery packs for consumer, military, and industrial applications. Enovix analyst ratings and price targets are at MarketBeat. There are seven analyst ratings, including one Strong Buy, five Buys, and one Hold rating. Before you consider Enovix, 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 Enovix wasn't on the list. While Enovix currently has a "Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. View The Five Stocks Here
SoftBank’s Chief Pitches a New Path for Self-Driving Cars 2024-07-22 15:40:42+00:00 - Masayoshi Son has long prided himself on his ability to detect big shifts in technology early on. During his four decades leading SoftBank, a free-spending Japanese investment group, the billionaire has made some spectacularly successful investments. And some epic flops. In recent months, Mr. Son has been laying out plans for a new big bet: self-driving cars. Befitting his maverick approach, Mr. Son’s pitch does not resemble other efforts to develop autonomous vehicles. He is trying to convince automakers from around the world, rivals under most scenarios, to work together to use artificial intelligence to accelerate autonomous driving advances. That way, the thinking goes, they will be able to overcome the challenges that have led some to abandon self-driving car efforts. In recent months, Mr. Son, 66, has summoned automotive executives to a tatami-mat-floored room at the top of a skyscraper in Tokyo Bay to discuss the idea, including the chief executives and autonomous-driving leaders of Honda Motor and Nissan Motor. He has also spoken with the chief executive of Uber. Mr. Son’s vision is to assemble a group of auto companies across the United States, Japan and Europe that would pool resources, including the vehicle-driving data crucial to autonomous-driving systems, according to five people briefed on his plans who were not authorized to speak publicly.
Top 4 High-Yield Dividend Stocks to Add to Your Portfolio 2024-07-22 14:42:00+00:00 - As market volatility and uncertainty increase and the likelihood of a September rate hike looms, some investors are paying attention to high-yield dividend stocks. These stocks provide steady income and offer the potential for capital appreciation. Here's a look at four top-rated, high-dividend-yielding stocks that could be attractive in the current market environment. Get VICI Properties alerts: Sign Up VICI Properties: Bullish Analyst Sentiment and Growth Potential VICI Properties Dividend Payments Dividend Yield 5.45% Annual Dividend $1.66 Annualized 3-Year Dividend Growth 13.58% Dividend Payout Ratio 65.61% Recent Dividend Payment Jul. 3 See Full Details VICI Properties Inc. is a prominent real estate investment trust (REIT) specializing in owning, acquiring, and developing gaming, hospitality, and entertainment properties. With a market capitalization of $31 billion, VICI offers an impressive 5.49% dividend yield and has an attractively low P/E ratio of 11.96. Analysts are bullish on VICI, giving it a consensus Moderate Buy rating based on nine analyst ratings and a consensus price target of $33.44, which suggests a potential upside of 10.56%. Despite being down nearly 5% year-to-date, the stock has risen over 7% this month and recently broke out of a consolidation phase, indicating a possible shift in momentum. VICI has significant institutional ownership of almost 98% and has seen total institutional inflows over the previous twelve months of $3.94 billion compared to $2.3 billion in outflows. Energy Transfer: An Attractive Value and Income Play Energy Transfer Dividend Payments Dividend Yield 7.75% Annual Dividend $1.27 Annualized 3-Year Dividend Growth 4.98% Dividend Payout Ratio 116.51% Recent Dividend Payment May. 20 See Full Details Energy Transfer LP operates midstream energy assets in the US, focusing on natural gas, crude oil, and their derivatives. With a dividend yield of 7.75%, an annual dividend of $1.27, and a P/E ratio of 15.04, ET is highly regarded among dividend stocks and remains an attractive value and income play. Eight Wall Street analysts gave ET a consensus rating of Moderate Buy, with one hold rating and seven buy ratings, forecasting a 17.4% upside. Year-to-date, the stock has performed well, up 18.4% and trading at its 52-week highs. Energy Transfer is set to report its next earnings on August 7, following a previous quarter where it reported $0.32 EPS, missing the consensus estimate of $0.36, but with revenue up 13.9% year-over-year to $21.63 billion. The company has projected earnings growth of 13.01% for the full year. Value and Income Play: British American Tobacco's Investment Appeal British American Tobacco Dividend Payments Dividend Yield 8.74% Annual Dividend $2.93 Annualized 3-Year Dividend Growth 1.45% Next Dividend Payment Aug. 7 See Full Details British American Tobacco p.l.c., one of the world's largest tobacco manufacturers, offers an 8.83% dividend yield and a forward P/E ratio of 6.63, making it a desirable value and income play based on those metrics alone. Year-to-date, the stock is up over 13%, maintaining a steady uptrend and currently about 3% away from its 52-week high. Based on ratings from three analysts, BTI has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy, with one hold rating and two buy ratings. Notably, British American Tobacco's non-combustible segment, which includes e-cigarettes and tobacco heating products, contributed 16.5% of the company's revenue last year, highlighting its successful business transformation. The company is expected to grow earnings by 7.10% for the full year, from $4.65 to $4.98 per share. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners' Global Reach and Diversification Brookfield Infrastructure Partners Dividend Payments Dividend Yield 5.23% Annual Dividend $1.62 Dividend Increase Track Record 17 Years Annualized 3-Year Dividend Growth 4.82% Dividend Payout Ratio 522.58% Recent Dividend Payment Jun. 28 See Full Details Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. owns and operates utilities, transport, midstream, and data businesses across the Americas, Europe, and the Asia Pacific. The stock is top-rated among dividend stocks, offering a 5.33% dividend yield. Ten Wall Street analysts have given BIP a consensus rating of Moderate Buy, with a price target forecasting a 25.5% upside. This diversified infrastructure company is well-positioned to benefit from global growth in infrastructure spending. The company has been growing despite higher interest rates, and its attractive valuation and dividend yield make it a compelling investment. With expected interest rate cuts later this year, the stock could begin to gain its footing and stage a rally in the latter part of the year. High-Yield Dividend Stocks: Stability and Income in Uncertain Markets High-yield dividend stocks can provide stability and income in an uncertain market environment. VICI Properties, Energy Transfer, British American Tobacco, and Brookfield Infrastructure Partners are four top-rated dividend stocks that offer attractive dividends and potential for capital appreciation. While each stock has its unique strengths and risks, they all might present compelling opportunities for income-focused investors. Before you consider VICI Properties, 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 VICI Properties wasn't on the list. While VICI Properties currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. View The Five Stocks Here
In Silicon Valley, Where Trump Made Inroads, Democrats Are Now Invigorated 2024-07-22 14:34:58.495000+00:00 - In recent weeks, many Democrats in Silicon Valley had kept uncharacteristically quiet as prominent technology leaders — including Elon Musk and the investors Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz — endorsed Donald J. Trump for president. Even though Democrats had long been a dominant force in Silicon Valley, some were unenthusiastic about supporting President Biden, who was unpopular in the tech industry. They wanted to see if Mr. Biden could change the narrative around his struggling campaign. And those who were vocal in their support — such as the tech investor Reid Hoffman — faced attacks. But that reluctance to speak up changed when Mr. Biden announced on Sunday that he would drop out of the presidential race, paving the way for a new Democratic ticket. Across the tech industry, the floodgates immediately reopened. “People are fired up,” said Nihal Mehta, an investor at Eniac Ventures, a New York venture capital firm, pointing to an outpouring of excitement online and in group chats around the industry.