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How to Play Intuitive Surgical Ahead of Q2 Earnings? - Intuitive Surgical (NASDAQ:ISRG), DexCom (NASDAQ:DXCM) 2024-07-16 18:50:00+00:00 - Loading... Loading... Intuitive Surgical, Inc. ISRG will report second-quarter 2024 earnings on Jul 18. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for sales and earnings is pegged at $1.97 billion and $1.53 per share, respectively. Earnings per share estimates for ISRG have remained stable at $6.26 and $7.32 for 2024 and 2025, respectively, over the past 60 days. Estimate Movement Image Source: Zacks Investment Research In the last reported quarter, ISRG delivered an earnings surprise of 8.84%. Its earnings beat estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, delivering an average surprise of 5.83%. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Earnings Whisper Our proven model does not conclusively predict an earnings beat for ISRG Holding this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. This is not the case here. ISRG has an Earnings ESP of 0.00% and a Zacks Rank #2 at present. Factors to Note The Instruments & Accessories segment is likely to report robust second-quarter results on the back of rising da Vinci procedure volume as seen in the past few quarters. However, an unfavorable currency movement is expected to have partially offset the gains from recovering demand in procedures. Meanwhile, a rise in the proportion of recurring revenues buoys well for ISRG. Moreover, the recovery in China on the back of strong procedure growth following COVID-related setbacks in the past year is likely to have boosted sales in the soon-to-be-reported quarter. ISRG reported sales of $1.89 billion in the first quarter, indicating growth of 11% year over year. Per management, da Vinci procedures grew approximately 16% worldwide in the to-be-reported quarter. The company recorded first-quarter sales of $1.16 billion from instruments and accessories, implying a year-over-year improvement of 18%. However, Intuitive Surgical's da Vinci capital placements are likely to have been on the lower side due to continued supply-chain challenges adversely impacting the availability of semiconductor components and growing capital spending pressure on hospitals amid rising inflationary pressure. The FDA's approval for the use of ISRG's next-generation da Vinci 5 robotic system in March is likely to have brought additional revenues during the second quarter. On its second-quarter earnings call, the company may provide an update on the launch uptake. During the first quarter, the company placed 313 systems compared with 312 in the prior-year quarter. Intuitive Surgical's da Vinci capital placements are likely to have benefited from rising demand outside the country. The company placed 165 systems in the first quarter compared with 171 in the prior-year quarter in ex-U.S. markets. The single port platform's growth is expected to have been driven by additional clinical indications and clearances in markets beyond the United States and Korea. However, System revenues decreased 2.1% to $418 million during the first quarter. Intuitive Surgical launched its Ion in 2023, beginning with the United Kingdom. The availability of Ion catheters in Europe is likely to have brought additional revenues during the second quarter. The company may also provide a view on the uptake in the region. ISRG's digital products, like the Intuitive Hub and the recently launched Case Insights, are likely to have shown rising adoption. However, increased robotic competition and government policy changes in China, higher logistics costs amid supply-chain challenges and rising inflationary pressure are likely to have hurt sales and increased expenses in the to-be-reported quarter. Price Performance & Valuation Intuitive Surgical's shares have appreciated 29.6% on a year-to-date basis, significantly above the industry's 4.3% growth. Meanwhile, the company's shares have outperformed the S&P 500 Index's rise of 17% and Zacks Medical sector's growth of 5.8%. ISRG has also outperformed Thermo Fisher Scientific's TMO 2.6% return and DexCom's DXCM 8.9% decline year to date. Year-to-Date Price Performance Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Now, let us look at the value Intuitive Surgical offers to its investors at current levels. Currently, ISRG is trading at a premium, with a forward 12-month P/E of 64.01X compared with the industry's 32.73X but slightly lower than the median of 67.53X, reflecting a moderately high valuation. ISRG's P/E F12M Graph Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Investment Thesis Intuitive Surgical is likely to continue with its strong performance in 2024 on the back of continued growth in the company's da Vinci procedure volume, coupled with strong Ion procedure growth. ISRG is also increasing the pricing of procedures that should aid in 2024 sales growth. Improving procedure volume, along with better system placements and services across all markets, should drive top-line growth this year. The launch of da Vinci SP in Europe and da Vinci 5 in the U.S. market should drive system placements higher. However, ongoing supply-chain constraints, although easing, are likely to hurt the availability of devices. Weakness in bariatric procedures and challenges in China are likely to offset growth in the upcoming quarters. Conclusion ISRG's unfavorable Earnings ESP does not indicate any significant move following the earnings result. We believe that investors should not rush into buying the stock now. Although ISRG has a favorable Zacks Rank, the Style Score of D does not reflect a major strength in the stock. The company's high valuation may have factored in the strong fundamentals, including growth in procedures and installed base. Investors should add the stock to their watchlist and track it for cheaper valuation. While current shareholders should hold their position, new investors should wait for the stock to retract some of its recent gains, providing a better entry point. To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Ingrid Andress says she was drunk while performing at the Home Run Derby and will go to rehab 2024-07-16 18:43:00+00:00 - Country artist Ingrid Andress confessed on social media that she was drunk while singing the national anthem Monday night at MLB's Home Run Derby, and says she will be seeking help. "I'm not gonna b....... y'all, I was drunk last night. I'm checking into a facility today to get the help I need. That was not me last night. I apologize to MLB, all the fans, and this country I love so much for that rendition," she posted on her social media accounts. Andress' performance quickly went viral on social media, drawing widespread criticism with some calling it "one of the worst national anthem renditions ever." Before the performance, Andress had announced the upcoming release of her new single, "Colorado 9," along with two shows. The first is scheduled for tomorrow in Nashville, and the other next week in Denver. It was unclear whether she would perform as planned. Andress released her debut album "Lady Like" in 2020 and has been nominated for four Grammys, most recently in 2023 for her performance of "Wishful Drinking" with Sam Hunt.
Larry Light, Marketer Behind Revival of McDonald’s, Dies at 83 2024-07-16 18:42:06+00:00 - Larry Light, a McDonald’s executive who oversaw a worldwide marketing campaign in the early 2000s that was built around the slogan “I’m lovin’ it,” which revived that fast-food chain when it was in the doldrums, died on June 24 in Boca Raton, Fla. He was 83. His daughter Laura Light said the cause was aspiration pneumonia, adding that Parkinson’s disease was listed as a secondary cause. When he was hired in 2002 as the global chief marketing officer of McDonald’s, Mr. Light was a consultant who had built his expertise in branding over more than 20 years as an advertising executive. At McDonald’s, he found a corporate colossus that had lost its way with some consumers, especially young ones. Earnings were falling. The stock price was down. Its advertising was uninspired.
Carlos Watson, Ozy Media Founder, Is Found Guilty of Fraud 2024-07-16 18:41:05+00:00 - A federal jury on Tuesday found Carlos Watson and Ozy Media, the digital media company he co-founded, guilty of trying to defraud investors and lenders to promote the start-up venture. The jury deliberated for three days after an eight-week trial in which the prosecutors accused Mr. Watson of conspiracy to commit securities and wire fraud. Many of the government’s witnesses revealed new details about deception at the company, including an impersonated phone call, fabricated contracts and misleading claims about Ozy’s earnings. “Watson knew the company was failing, but he was determined to turn Ozy and himself into the next big thing, and he wasn’t going to let the truth stand in his way,” Gillian Kassner, a prosecutor, said during closing arguments in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of New York. Mr. Watson now faces up to 37 years in prison. During the trial, Mr. Watson’s lawyers blamed other Ozy employees for any allegedly fraudulent activity, arguing that Mr. Watson’s representations to investors were based on good-faith assessments of Ozy’s finances. Mr. Watson made similar arguments from the stand, claiming that he did not intentionally inflate revenue estimates, but rather presented the types of service-based income typical for a “scrappy young company” in its early years.
Ex-TV host Carlos Watson convicted in trial over collapse of startup Ozy Media 2024-07-16 18:40:23+00:00 - NEW YORK (AP) — Former TV personality Carlos Watson was convicted Tuesday in a federal financial conspiracy case about Ozy Media, an ambitious startup that collapsed after another executive impersonated a YouTube executive to hype the company’s success. Watson, 53, had been free on bail but was taken into custody to await sentencing. Brooklyn-based U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said the verdict held Watson accountable for “brazen crimes” that were meant to keep cash-strapped Ozy afloat but ultimately sank it. “The jury found that Watson was a con man who told lie upon lie upon lie to deceive investors into buying stock in his company,” Peace said in a statement, adding that the company “collapsed under the weight of Watson’s dishonest schemes.” Peace’s office said a jury found Watson guilty of all the charges against him: conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Ozy Media also was convicted of the same conspiracy offenses, the only charges the company faced. Watson and Ozy had pleaded not guilty and denied the allegations. He testified that Ozy’s cash squeezes were standard startup speed bumps and that materials given to investors noted that the information wasn’t audited and could change — “like ‘buyer beware,’” he said. The defense blamed any misrepresentations on Ozy co-founder and chief operating officer Samir Rao, who has pleaded guilty. Watson and Ozy plan to appeal, lawyers Ronald Sullivan, Janine Gilbert and Shannon Frison said in a statement. Watson’s relatives and supporters left court without commenting, but wearing black shirts emblazoned with, “Whose son is next?” Watson could face decades in prison, though sentencing guidelines for individual defendants vary. Now-defunct Ozy faces potential financial penalties. Watson, a cable news host who’d worked on Wall Street and sold his own education-related startup, conceived of Ozy in 2012. The Mountain View, California-based company produced shows and gave “Ozy Genius” awards to college students. It interviewed former President Bill Clinton, won an Emmy Award and produced an annual music-and-ideas festival that President Joe Biden attended in 2017, when he was a former VP. But prosecutors said that underneath Ozy’s hip public profile, the company was tottering financially from 2018 on. It routinely ran short of money to pay vendors, rent and even employees and took out expensive loans against future receipts to cover its bills, former finance Vice President Janeen Poutre testified. The prosecution and its key witnesses said Ozy, with Watson’s blessing, began floating increasingly audacious lies to try to snag a lifeline from investors. “Survival within the bounds of decency, fairness, truth, it morphed into survival at all costs and by any means necessary,” Rao told jurors, saying that Watson had sanctioned all his falsehoods. Ozy gave much bigger revenue numbers to its prospective backers than to its accountants, with the discrepancy widening to $53 million versus $11.2 million for 2020, according to testimony and documents shown at trial. Prosecutors said that the company claimed deals and offers it hadn’t really secured — for example, that Watson told a prospective investor that Google was willing to buy Ozy for hundreds of millions of dollars. Ozy’s lawyer said Watson never made that claim. Google CEO Sundar Pichai testified there was no such offer, though he did contemplate hiring Watson and providing $25 million to help Ozy move on if he took the Google job. To woo potential corporate suitors and lenders, Rao forged some terms of contracts with a network for one of Ozy’s TV shows. Then, when a bank wanted to check with the network, Rao set up a fake email account for an actual network executive and sent a message offering information. The bank loan didn’t happen. Rao went on to pose as a YouTube executive on a phone call with investment bankers, in a bizarre effort to back up a false claim that Rao had made about YouTube paying for another Ozy show. The bankers got suspicious, their potential investment evaporated and the real YouTube exec soon learned of the ruse. Watson’s lawyers hammered on Rao’s admissions about his own conduct to try to portray him as a liar trying to avoid prison by pleasing prosecutors. Rao is awaiting sentencing. Watson, who hosted multiple Ozy shows and podcasts, told jurors he concentrated on the company’s content, staff, vision and partnerships more than on “making sure that every decimal is in the right place.” He said he traveled about four days a week and left finance and operations largely to Rao and others. “I couldn’t be as hands-on as I probably wanted to be,” he testified. Ozy rapidly unraveled after The New York Times revealed Rao’s faux call in a September 2021 column that also questioned the start-up’s claims about its audience size. ___ Associated Press writer Philip Marcelo contributed to this report.
Hackers claim Disney data theft in protest against AI-generated artwork 2024-07-16 18:32:00+00:00 - Hacktivists claim to have stolen more than a terabyte of data from Disney’s internal chat platform and are leaking the information online in a protest against what they say is the company’s anti-artist stance. The group, which calls itself NullBulge, has been active since at least May. It claims to be motivated by a desire to “protect artists’ rights and ensure fair compensation for their work”. On Friday, it published the entirety of Disney’s internal Slack channel online through the decentralised BitTorrent filesharing platform. Unlike many corporate hackers, NullBulge seems not to be interested in financial rewards. The group did not publicly request a ransom from Disney, and posted the first selection of files from its stolen dataset almost immediately. “Here is one I never thought I would get this quickly,” the group’s anonymous spokesperson said alongside the initial release. “Disney. Yes, that Disney. The attack has only just started, but we have some good shit.” Others question the group’s motivations, however. Ilia Kolochenko, the chief executive of the cybersecurity firm ImmuniWeb, said the claims could simply be “a well thought-out smokescreen to mask the true identities and real motives of the hackers”. “Hacktivists are highly unlikely to run operations of such scale to protect intellectual property and the rights of artists,” Kolochenko added. skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to TechScape Free weekly newsletter Alex Hern's weekly dive in to how technology is shaping our lives 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 View image in fullscreen NullBulge said it had breached the Disney network via a video game modification tool. Photograph: NullBulge Nonetheless, NullBulge’s methods have previously been in tune with its stated ideology. In June, a popular plugin for the AI image generator Stable Diffusion was found to have been compromised by the group. That tool, which provided an easy to use interface for the image generator, was updated to include malware from the hackers, which they used to steal further login credentials and extend their footprint in turn. The group says it breached the Disney network through a developer who installed another tool it had compromised, a video game mod. Its website features something close to a mission statement. “You Hacked Me Why?”, it asks. “We are sorry we had to do that to you, but we only do it if you have committed one of our sins. “Crypto Promotion: We do not condone any form of promoting crypto currencies or crypto related products/services. AI artwork: We believe AI-generated artwork harms the creative industry and should be discouraged. Any form of Theft: Any theft from Patreons, other supportive artist platforms, or artists in general.” Even the name of the group is evocative: NullBulge’s mascot is an anthropomorphic – “furry” – lion, covered in blue slime, with a noticeable bulge in its crotch. In a statement to the Wall Street Journal, NullBulge added that it released the data immediately because it felt it would be “ineffective” to make demands of Disney: “If we said ‘Hello Disney, we have all your slack data’ they would instantly lock down and try to take us out. In a duel, you better fire first.”
Bob Menendez verdict undermines Republican conspiracy theories 2024-07-16 18:06:10+00:00 - The evidence prosecutors compiled against Sen. Bob Menendez was rather dramatic. With this in mind, few observers were shocked by the outcome of the New Jersey Democrat’s criminal trial. My MSNBC colleague Jordan Rubin explained: Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., was found guilty on all 16 counts on Tuesday in his criminal corruption trial of bribery, acting as a foreign agent and other charges. The jury deliberated for 12.5 hours over three days. The senator — who, as of today, is still running for re-election in the Garden State — does not appear to have a bright political future. Menendez will no doubt appeal the verdict, but in the meantime, Senate Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, have begun calling for him to resign. What’s more, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy issued a statement Tuesday afternoon that went a little further. “If he refuses to vacate his office, I call on the U.S. Senate to vote to expel him,” the Democratic governor said. We’ll learn soon enough what course Menendez intends to take, but in the meantime, it’s also worth pausing to appreciate the larger pattern that’s unfolded in recent months. The Justice Department, under the leadership of Attorney General Merrick Garland, has: For good measure, it’s probably worth mentioning that the Justice Department also appears to be investigating Eric Adams, the high-profile Democratic mayor of New York City. And did I mention that Biden’s Justice Department dropped its investigation into Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, rather than file charges? Because that happened, too. A neutral political observer might see this and be tempted to conclude that Biden’s Justice Department is unfairly targeting Democrats. And yet, one of the animating concepts in contemporary Republican politics is that rascally Democrats have “weaponized” federal law enforcement to punish GOP figures and shield Democrats from accountability. The Justice Department and the FBI, leading Republican voices insist, are little more than political tools for the Biden White House and its fiendish allies. As we’ve discussed, Republicans don’t just want their conspiracy theory to be true; they need it to be true. This simple, ridiculous idea is at the center of the party’s Trump defense, fundraising, stump speeches, cable news segments, and even legislative campaigns on Capitol Hill. In 2024, assertions about a “two-tiered” justice system are foundational to Republican politics. They’re also routinely discredited by real-world events. Indeed, if Biden and his team were trying to weaponize federal law enforcement to benefit Democrats, they’ve proved themselves to be incredibly bad at it. This post updates our related earlier coverage.
How Labour can achieve its target of 1.5m new homes 2024-07-16 18:03:00+00:00 - Regarding your article on the greenfield land needed to meet Labour’s promise of 1.5m homes in its first term (Labour’s housing plans will use land twice size of Milton Keynes, expert says, 8 July), it is common knowledge that 70% of the value of the average home is the value of the site. The government should urgently legislate to pre-empt the profiteering of speculators who are no doubt scanning the country in search of agricultural land close to highways or rail networks, in the expectation of making a killing with an uplift in value by as much as 275% through consent for change of use. Labour should emulate the Attlee government, which passed the New Towns Acts in 1946, obliging landowners to sell to the state at existing-use value. The act set up development corporations that oversaw the planning, design and construction of the new towns, with in-house teams of professionals, ensuring jobs and infrastructure for their populations. This will not be achieved by handing sites to volume housebuilders, who will continue to resist providing social homes at any scale as their primary objective is to maximise returns for their shareholders. The quality of their homes has led to a record 33% of buyers reporting more than 15 basic defects this year. Kate Macintosh Winchester Re your article (Four ways Labour could deliver on pledge to build 1.5m new homes, 8 July), there is a fifth way: the opportunity to build on top of existing buildings, referred to in Europe as the Optoppen movement. The real estate consultant Knight Frank suggests that there is scope to build 41,000 rooftop homes in central London, and, according to joint research by the engineering firm WSP and University College London, there is capacity to build 630,000 new homes on top of London’s municipal buildings. In the Netherlands, the ministry of internal affairs estimates that by 2030, about 66,000 additional homes could be added by topping up multifamily housing built in 1965 or later, as these are structurally suitable. In Spain, research on the Eixample area of Barcelona shows that about 2,500 buildings could accommodate vertical extensions. Such an approach has the green bonus of avoiding demolition. But the key is to use timber as the primary structural material, as its relative lightness enables several storeys to be added rather than one or two if concrete and/or steel were used. In addition, timber has a lower carbon footprint than concrete and steel. Paul Brannen Former MEP and author of Timber! How Wood Can Help Save the World from Climate Breakdown Ray Corbett ((Letters, 9 July) urges a return to the system whereby the uplift in land values from planning permission was shared between landowners and local councils. Labour should go further. Land values are not created by landowners; they reflect the public demand for different locations, further enhanced by the provision of publicly funded infrastructure and by planning decisions taken in the public name. They are publicly generated values and should belong in the public purse. Rather than one-off payments when planning permission is granted, we need an ongoing system of land value taxation, charged annually and based on optimum permitted use. Hoarding would then be a financial burden and the incentive would be to release surplus land, especially where demand is high. Crucially, it would provide a huge source of public revenue. Those who claim to own the country would be responsible for its running costs. This is the route Labour should be taking. John Digney Buchlyvie, Stirling
Where does JD Vance stand on key economic issues? 2024-07-16 18:01:00+00:00 - JD Vance's career has followed a classic American rags-to-riches trajectory: After growing up in poverty in rural Ohio, he was accepted at an Ivy League university, finished a law degree, and leveraged his new connections into wealth and a seat in the U.S. Senate. While that part of Vance's biography may be familiar to voters, thanks to his best-selling 2016 memoir "Hillbilly Elegy" and frequent media appearances as a senator, his economic views are less well known. But with former President Donald Trump having picked him as his running mate for November, Vance's economic views on everything from trade to tech are drawing scrutiny. While Vance, 39, is known for changing his views – he once called Trump "cultural heroin" — he's long espoused the idea that Americans in economically struggling regions of the country need to exercise willpower to improve their lives, rather than rely on government programs. At the same time, Vance has also championed trade policies that align with Trump's "America first" vision, which include imposing tariffs on imports from China and other nations as a way to promote U.S. manufacturing and project American jobs. "Given that Vance is a true believer in Trump's protectionist trade policies, this pick is just the latest sign that trade will be near the top of Trump's agenda if he returns to the White House," Isaac Boltansky, director of policy research at investment bank BTIG, said in a report on Tuesday. Support for protectionist policies helped Vance win his Senate seat in Ohio, and should be popular with the Great Lakes battleground states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, Boltansky added. Here's what to know about Vance's career and economic views. Trump praised Vance's business career In announcing Vance as his running mate, Trump highlighted what he called "a very successful business career in technology and finance." That career has made Vance a multimillionaire, according to his 2022 Senate financial disclosure form. He's worth at least $4 million thanks to investments in public companies such as Walmart, as well as bitcoin and real state. That career came about at least in part because of an encounter with right-leaning billionaire Peter Thiel in 2011, when Vance was attending Yale Law School. In a 2020 essay, Vance writes about how Thiel condemned an obsession with achievement among elite students because he believed they tended to lose sight of investing time on worthwhile projects in favor of chasing status. "He articulated a feeling that had until then remained unformed: that I was obsessed with achievement in se — not as an end to something meaningful, but to win a social competition," Vance wrote. Thiel's talk spurred Vance to begin "immediately planning for a career outside the law," he wrote. In 2016, Vance got into venture capital, joining Thiel's firm Mithril Capital that year. In 2017, he joined Revolution, a venture fund started by former AOL executive Steve Case, where Vance was charged with finding startups in "left behind" cities. Vance then struck out on his own by creating his own fund, Narya, an early-stage venture firm that invests in startups including conservative social media site Rumble and a prayer app called Hallow. Some venture capital executives praised Vance's pick as Trump's running mate, with Delian Asparouhov, a partner from the Thiel-based Founders Fund, writing on social media, "WE HAVE A FORMER TECH VC IN THE WHITE HOUSE. GREATEST COUNTRY ON EARTH BABY." What are Vance's views on tech? Although some denizens of Silicon Valley see Vance as one of their own, he has championed some views that run counter to the interests of the country's most dominant tech businesses. While Vance's tech experience "is a clear positive, and his comments on innovation should be heartening to the industry, it is important to note that Vance has regularly chastised the 'Big Tech oligarchy' and called for breaking up Alphabet's Google," Boltansky wrote. Notably, Vance has also praised Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan, who is known for stiffening antitrust enforcement under the Biden regime and taking on tech giants like Microsoft, which the agency sued to block its acquisition of Activision. Khan is "doing a pretty good job," said earlier this year. Vance's antitrust views mean that Big Tech may continue to see "headwinds" if Trump wins in November, although there may be "an overall thawing in the M&A regulatory landscape that proves beneficial for deal activity," Boltansky said. What does Vance say about trade and tariffs? Vance supports Trump's protectionist trade policies, including tariffs on Chinese goods, which indicates that this could be a priority for a second Trump administration. "I certainly agree that we need to apply some broad-based tariffs, especially on goods coming in from China and not just solar panels and EV stuff," Vance told CBS News' "Face the Nation" in May. "We need to protect American industries from all of the competition." However, economists point out that tariffs effectively act as consumption taxes on U.S. consumers, because they raise the cost of imported goods, while domestic manufacturers tend to boost their prices to maximize their profits. Vance told "Face the Nation" he doesn't agree with the premise that tariffs increase costs for consumers, but didn't elaborate. What are Vance's views on energy and climate change? Vance has expressed doubts about climate change, and is a strong supporter of the fossil fuel industry. In an interview with Fox News Channel's Sean Hannity on Monday, Vance said, "[Y]ou've got to unleash American energy. President Trump is so strong and as we had energy independence, Joe Biden has destroyed it." He's also criticized the Inflation Reduction Act, the Biden administration's push to encourage Americans to replace their gas-powered cars with electric vehicles through tax credits to buy EVs, as well as to electrify their homes as a way to lower dependence on fossil fuels. Has Vance said anything about Project 2025? Project 2025, overseen by the conservative Heritage Foundation, is a detailed blueprint for the next Republican president that would overhaul the executive branch, as well as touch on economic issues including taxes and the Federal Reserve. Trump has sought to distance himself from the project, claiming this month that he knows "nothing" about the project. In an interview earlier this month that asked about Project 2025, Vance noted, "There are some good ideas in there," but also claimed the project has no affiliation with the Trump campaign. The project is spearheaded by ex-Trump administration officials, including project director Paul Dans, who was chief of staff at the Office of Personnel Management. What other financial issues are important Vance? Vance is a major supporter of digital currencies, and as a senator has co-sponsored legislation "aimed at preventing the banking regulators from forcing banks to stop serving disfavored industries such as crypto," Boltansky wrote. "A Trump victory would lead to the regulatory landscape for digital assets becoming more supportive almost immediately at the market regulators and some bank regulators, but there is always some lead time to get people in place and actually shift policy," he added.
The billionaire who fueled JD Vance's rapid rise to the Trump VP spot — analysis 2024-07-16 17:31:00+00:00 - Former President Donald Trump's selection of Ohio GOP Sen. JD Vance to be his running mate shows one thing remains constant, even in a presidential race upended by an attempt to assassinate one candidate and doubts about whether the other is fit to run: money in presidential politics is still king. Vance, a relative newcomer to national politics, has assiduously courted billionaires and Silicon Valley titans to bankroll his unlikely rise from bestselling memoirist of despair, drugs and generational poverty in Appalachia to a ticket that could seat him a heartbeat away from the presidency. During his rapid rise, he has emerged as an ardent and effective defender of Trump, putting an intellectual gloss on the former president's raw MAGA populism. But Vance may never have been in serious consideration for the No. 2 spot on the ticket had he not won elective office in a major Rust Belt state in the first place. And big donors, particularly from the tech sector, provided the rocket fuel he needed to advance in electoral politics. Vance's most prominent benefactor over the years is Peter Thiel, the iconoclastic tech pioneer and investor. Thiel hired Vance at his global investment firm in 2017, and then nurtured Vance's political rise, donating $15 million to his 2022 Ohio Senate campaign and helping him win a closely fought GOP primary before going on to capture the seat in the general election. File: Peter Thiel, co-founder and chairman of Palantir Technologies Inc., speaks during a news conference in Tokyo, Japan, on Nov. 18, 2019. Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg via Getty Images Since then, Vance has received entrée to other tech mega-investors and was instrumental in organizing a $12 million fundraiser for Trump in June that included venture capitalists Chamath Paldihapitiya, an early senior executive at Facebook, and David Sacks, who was a key figure in developing Paypal, served as its COO and later founded the social networking service Yammer. Sacks previously chipped in $1 million of his personal fortune to a pro-Vance super PAC, according to FEC records. But it's the relationship with Thiel that has been the most consequential for Vance. Their personal and financial ties formed long before Vance formally entered politics. At Yale Law, Vance attended a talk by Thiel about technological stagnation and the decline of American elites. "He saw these two trends … as connected," Vance later wrote about his first encounter with Thiel in a 2020 blog post in the Catholic journal The Lamp Magazine. "If technological innovation were actually driving real prosperity, our elites wouldn't feel increasingly competitive with one another over a dwindling number of prestigious outcomes." Vance called Thiel's talk "the most significant moment" of his time at Yale. After Yale Law and a short stint at a corporate law firm, Vance moved to San Francisco to work as a venture capitalist. Thiel hired him to join his tech fund, Mithril Capital — all while Vance continued to work on his memoir, "Hillbilly Elegy." In 2019 Vance moved back to his native Ohio, where he started his own venture capitalist firm, heavily backed by Thiel and other elite tech investors. By then he was flirting with a potential run for elective office, and Thiel was encouraging him. By the time Vance finally took the plunge in 2021, he had been transformed from one of Trump's most vitriolic critics (he once called Trump "an American Hitler" in a private message to a friend) into one of his most effective defenders and fundraisers. Thiel brought Vance to his very first meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in February 2021, according to the New York Times. In the 2022 campaign, Thiel made $15 million in donations to Vance's SuperPAC, Protect Ohio Values, a staggering amount from a single individual for a Senate race, according to OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan group that tracks the influence of money on politics. But that wasn't all. Thiel also steered at least $200,000 to Vance's super PAC from a group he controlled called Per Aspera Policy, according to the Kansas City Star and OpenSecrets. Per Aspera is a dark money nonprofit, which means that its spending is used to influence elections, but it is not required to disclose its donors. In the same cycle, Vance's super PAC also received hundreds of thousands in contributions from the Mercer, Uihlein and Lindner families, all staples of mega-conservative political giving in recent years. It is not entirely clear what Thiel may have wanted in exchange for his largesse. (Thiel declined comment for this story.) Thiel's philosophy has been described as "techno-libertarian," but critics say it veers toward authoritarianism, and even fascism (he wrote in an article in a libertarian journal in 2009, "I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible"). A co-founder of PayPal and Palantir Technologies, and an early investor in Facebook, Thiel also has business interests with the U.S. government, which may be especially important at a time when the tech sector is under intense scrutiny from both Democrats and Republicans. Whether his goals are ideological or financial, government watchdogs are watching closely. "We've seen this long history of financial entanglements between Thiel and Vance," said Anna Massoglia, editorial and investigations manager at OpenSecrets. "Thiel's interests in having Vance in office are not explicit, but there's no question he has business interests that could be benefited by having someone like JD Vance in his corner." There are at least some indications that Thiel's political generosity has translated into influence. In 2016, Thiel helped bail out Trump financially at a time when he most needed it: after the release of the "Access Hollywood" tape. He gave $1.25 million, and shortly after Trump's 2016 victory, Thiel was given an office at Trump Tower where he recommended candidates for jobs in the incoming administration, according to The Atlantic's Barton Gellman. In short order, two close associates of Thiel's won plum positions in the Trump administration. One was tapped to be chief technology officer; another was named to the senior staff of the National Security Council. But after years of handing tens of millions to Vance, Trump and other Republicans, Thiel told Gellman that he's not giving to any politician in 2024. In his view, they failed to make the changes he hoped to see, and he now thinks it matters little who's in power. In April, Trump called him to ask for $10 million. Thiel said in the Atlantic interview that he turned him down, and Trump told him he was "very sad, very sad to hear that."
Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez found guilty on all counts in corruption trial 2024-07-16 17:00:00+00:00 - Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., was found guilty on all counts Monday after being tried on charges of accepting bribes, including cash and gold bars, to benefit the governments of Egypt and Qatar. Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York whose office prosecuted the case, hailed the verdict, saying Menendez’s “years of selling his office to the higher bidder have finally come to an end.” Menendez had his hands crossed and his chin resting on his hands as some of the verdict was read and didn’t display any emotion. He then shook his head in disagreement as the jurors were polled about the verdict. Some of his family members broke down in tears. He’ll be sentenced Oct. 29. Menendez told reporters outside the courthouse he was "deeply, deeply disappointed by the jury’s decision" and predicted, "we will be successful upon appeal." "I have never violated my public oath," he said. He did not answer questions about whether he would resign. Menendez was charged with 16 counts, including bribery, extortion, acting as a foreign agent, obstruction of justice and several counts of conspiracy. He had pleaded not guilty in the case, as did his wife, Nadine Menendez, whose trial was delayed indefinitely following her surgery after a breast cancer diagnosis. The jury deliberated for about 12 1/2 hours over three days before returning the verdicts. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called on Menendez to resign after the jury’s decision. “In light of this guilty verdict, Senator Menendez must now do what is right for his constituents, the Senate, and our country, and resign,” said Schumer. Schumer had previously said he was disappointed in his colleague and that Menendez hadn’t lived up to the high standards expected of a senator, but had stopped short of calling for his resignation. Prosecutors said three businessmen paid bribes to Menendez and his wife in exchange for the senator taking actions to benefit them and the governments of Qatar and Egypt. According to prosecutors, those bribes included gold bars, a Mercedes-Benz given to Nadine Menendez and more than $480,000 in cash, which the FBI found stuffed into closets, jackets bearing Menendez’s name and other clothing when the bureau searched his New Jersey home in 2022. Two of those businessmen, Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, faced trial alongside Menendez and were convicted on all counts as well. The third businessman who was charged, Jose Uribe, pleaded guilty and testified during the trial, which lasted nine weeks before going to the jury Friday. Menendez did not testify in his own defense; his team argued that he was acting on behalf of his constituents, as any senator should, and that the government had not proven that the cash or gold bars were given as bribes. The senator’s sister, Caridad Gonzalez, testified for his defense that their parents were Cuban immigrants and their father discouraged them from trusting banks, so she was not surprised when in the mid-1980s her brother asked her to grab $500 from a shoe box in a bedroom closet. “It was normal. It’s a Cuban thing,” she said. Prosecutors noted that some of the envelopes of cash in the Menendezes’ home had Daibes’ fingerprints, while others had associates of Hana’s. Prosecutor Paul Monteleone told jurors in his closing statement that Menendez was “desperately trying to pass the buck” for the hundreds of thousands of dollars found in the house. “The thousands and thousands of bucks stop here,” he said. The verdict lands just months before Menendez’s Senate seat comes before New Jersey voters this fall. Menendez decided months ago, as his popularity took a hit, that he wouldn’t seek the Democratic nomination. But he filed to run as an independent, a move that threatened to complicate the dynamics in a race that would ordinarily be a layup for Democrats in the liberal state. The Democratic nominee for the seat is Rep. Andy Kim and the Republican nominee is Curtis Bashaw. Menendez must now decide whether to continue pursuing that run. In March, he had indicated in a video statement that his candidacy could hinge on whether he’s exonerated of the charges. “I am hopeful that my exoneration will take place this summer and allow me to pursue my candidacy as an independent Democrat in the general election,” Menendez said at the time. Kim said after the verdict that it was "a sad and somber day for New Jersey and our country." "I called on Senator Menendez to step down when these charges were first made public, and now that he has been found guilty, I believe the only course of action for him is to resign his seat immediately. The people of New Jersey deserve better,” Kim said. It was the second corruption trial of Menendez’s 18-year career in the Senate — the previous one resulted in a mistrial due to a hung jury in 2018, and the Justice Department subsequently dropped the charges against him; Menendez had also denied wrongdoing in that case. Menendez previously served for 13 years in the House and was elected to the Senate in 2006, eventually rising to become the chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee. His political career dates back nearly four decades to the mid-1980s, when he became mayor of Union City. The outcome could affect whether he serves out his term. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., has led the charge to push Menendez out for months, disparaging and mocking him as too corrupt to serve. A majority of Senate Democrats, including Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., as well as most of the state’s Democratic House delegation, had also called for Menendez to resign even before the trial. Though Menendez stepped aside as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee after the charges were brought, he has stayed on as a voting member of the committee and the Senate. There is no provision barring a senator who's been convicted of a felony from serving out his term. If he does not resign, the Senate could move to expel, a process that would start with an Ethics Committee investigation. The committee said Tusday it will complete that investigation “promptly” and consider the “full range of disciplinary actions” available. If the panel recommended his expulsion, it would take a two-thirds vote of the entire Senate — 67 votes — to do so. Thirty-one Democratic senators had already called for him to resign before the conviction. Since 1789, the Senate has expelled only 15 members, with 14 of them ousted for their role in the confederacy. The last time a senator was expelled was in 1862. Six senators have been convicted of crimes since that time; three wound up resigning, two served out their terms and one died before the Senate could act.
World needs economic stability after a tough few years, but if Trump wins we’re unlikely to get it | Larry Elliott 2024-07-16 16:57:00+00:00 - Opinion polls conducted since the weekend suggest Donald Trump’s narrow escape from the attempt on his life in Pennsylvania has made his return to the White House more likely. Until now, little attention has been paid to what Trump 2.0 would mean for the US and wider global economy. That will now change. What the world needs is a period of stability after the repeated blows of recent years. Were Trump to avenge his 2020 defeat at Joe Biden’s hands come November, it would mean the opposite. Sure, there are other reasons for being anxious about a second Trump presidency, but anybody wondering what the next big economic shock might be after the pandemic and the war in Ukraine need look no further than the frontrunner to be in charge of the world’s biggest economy in six months’ time. In its latest health check on the global economy on Tuesday, the IMF highlighted the risks of big swings in economic policy as a result of elections this year. It did not mention the US by name but the implication was clear enough. Unaffordable tax cuts could lead to bigger debt problems, push up long-term interest rates and ratchet up protectionism. The IMF said: “Trade tariffs, alongside a scaling up of industrial policies worldwide, can generate damaging cross-border spillovers, as well as trigger retaliation, resulting in a costly race to the bottom.” Trump’s economic strategy is highly protectionist, it is also incoherent and dangerous. It is incoherent because he appears to think the tariffs he intends to impose on goods entering the US from China (and other countries) will pay for cuts in income tax. In reality, tariffs mean higher prices for US consumers, which will hurt those on low and middle incomes the most. The tax cuts will mostly benefit corporations and better-off individuals. It is dangerous in a number of ways. For a start, there is the risk of prompting a full-blown trade war with China. Then there is the threat that higher prices for imports will drive up US inflation, leading to higher interest rates. Tough curbs on immigration are promised, and these will have the effect of reducing labour supply and adding to the upward pressure on wages. Finally, there are likely to be consequences should Trump go ahead with his isolationist diplomatic policy: more expensive commodities and more jittery financial markets. Trump likes a weak dollar, but in the past the dollar has strengthened in times of heightened global instability, something a Trump presidency makes far more likely. The possible consequences of all this are obvious: stagflation; attempts to strong arm the Federal Reserve into cuts in interest rates; an even bigger crisis for the heavily indebted poor countries that have borrowed in dollars; the further retreat of globalisation. And that’s not even taking into account the risk that the cold war with China could turn hot. Pressure was already mounting on Biden to withdraw from the race before the Pennsylvania shooting and he was already facing a tougher struggle than looked likely six months ago. Then the US was booming, but it is now slowing down and unemployment is on the rise. That’s never a good sign for incumbents in the Oval Office. That said, the US has been by far the best performing economy in the G7 since the end of the Covid pandemic. Inflation rose – as it did across the developed world – in 2021 and 2022, but not to the levels seen in Europe. Biden has delivered on infrastructure and provided a boost to manufacturing, and the subsidies contained in the Inflation Reduction Act represent a more interventionist industrial strategy designed to stimulate green growth. He has delivered for working Americans. However, Biden has the same problem that Rishi Sunak had during the UK general election: voters feel poorer even though they are better off. In the half-dozen or so swing states that will decide who wins in November Trump is ahead. These are not insurmountable leads and in normal circumstances a sitting president would still be reasonably confident of victory at this stage of the campaign. These, though, are not normal times. skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Headlines US Free newsletter Get the most important US headlines and highlights emailed direct to you 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 Trump has been successful in convincing large numbers of voters that the US is doing worse than it actually is. Indeed, he spotted the potential to tap into the discontent of hollowed-out middle America long before his political opponents did. That sense of decline lives on, especially among Republicans. Americans are far more positive about the state of their own finances than they are about the economy in general. The fact that growth is now slowing under the weight of higher interest rates makes it far harder for Biden to counter Trump’s narrative that things have taken a turn for the worse since he was defeated in 2020. The Fed now appears to be gearing up to cut interest rates in September but by then it may be too little, too late for Biden. The state of the economy is no longer Biden’s biggest problem. Sure, the latest unemployment figures showed the US jobless rate rising from 4% to 4.1% in June but by historical standards that is still low. What concerns voters is whether Biden is fit to be president right now, let alone for another four years, and the indications are that he is not. Mistaking Volodymyr Zelenskiy for Vladimir Putin at last week’s Nato summit was merely the latest damaging gaffe. Trump is not exactly a model of cogency either but that’s not the point. He appears to many Americans to be more capable than Biden, particularly after last month’s disastrous head-to-head debate. It boils down to this: would an alternative Democrat candidate be able to flip the campaign so that it focuses on the economic successes of the past four years rather than Biden’s frailty? Would it mean more attention was paid to Trump’s character and his policies? Would it give the Democrats a better chance of winning? The answers to those three questions are yes, yes and yes.
Microsoft deal with AI startup to be investigated by UK competition watchdog 2024-07-16 16:49:00+00:00 - The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched a full investigation into Microsoft’s deal with AI startup Inflection. Earlier this year, Mustafa Suleyman – who started Inflection in January 2022, two months after leaving Google – and a number of his colleagues were hired by Microsoft to lead the tech company’s new AI division. At the same time, Microsoft signed deals with Inflection to access its AI models. The arrangement was criticised by regulators at the time as it avoided the regulatory attention of an outright acquisition. In April, the UK regulator said it was “considering whether it is or may be the case that the transaction has resulted in the creation of a relevant merger”, and opened a three-month comment period. It now has enough evidence to begin a full investigation, it said, with a decision on whether to progress to the next stage due by 11 September. A Microsoft spokesperson said: “We are confident that the hiring of talent promotes competition and should not be treated as a merger. We will provide the UK Competition and Markets Authority with the information it needs to complete its inquiries expeditiously.” At the time of the Microsoft and Inflection AI tie-up, the EU antitrust chief, Margrethe Vestager, said: “We have registered that this is happening and also registering that it’s happening in a way so that it escapes our scrutiny from our usual boxes.” The CMA’s move comes amid broader concerns about competition in the AI sector. Another deal involving Microsoft and French AI startup Mistral was investigated by the CMA at the same time as the Inflection inquiry, though the regulator later dropped its investigation. A deal between Amazon and AI lab Anthropic is also being investigated by the CMA as a potential merger. Anthropic has committed to using Amazon Web Services as its primary cloud provider, while Amazon has taken a $4bn (£3.1bn) stake in the company, which develops the Claude LLM (large language model). Meanwhile, ChatGPT maker OpenAI took a substantial investment from Microsoft in 2019. This was paid in part in credits for its cloud computing service. 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 Last week, Microsoft dropped its “observer” seat on the board of OpenAI. Instead, Microsoft and Apple, which had been about to take up a similar role, will attend “regular stakeholder meetings”, an OpenAI spokesperson said. The CMA is also investigating the relationship between Microsoft and OpenAI, after the former took a substantial stake in the latter’s for-profit arm. OpenAI once described the stake as making Microsoft the “minority owner” but this was quietly updated to note the company simply had a “minority economic interest”.
U.S hits Mexican accountants and firms with sanctions for timeshare scams that support drug cartel 2024-07-16 16:43:50+00:00 - WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. on Tuesday imposed sanctions on a group of Mexican accountants and firms allegedly linked to a timeshare fraud ring run by the Jalisco New Generation drug cartel. Three accountants were hit with sanctions, along with four Mexican real estate and accounting firms. In addition, Treasury and the FBI issued a notice to banks with a reminder to be vigilant in detecting and reporting timeshare fraud perpetrated by Mexico-based transnational criminal organizations. Time share fraud targeting Americans results in tens of millions of dollars in losses annually. In 2022, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received over 600 complaints with losses of roughly $39.6 million from victims contacted by scammers regarding timeshares owned in Mexico. The new sanctions come after the U.S. in April 2023 sanctioned members or associates of the Jalisco New Generation drug cartel for timeshare fraud that allegedly targeted elderly Americans. “Cartel fraudsters run sophisticated teams of professionals who seem perfectly normal on paper or on the phone – but in reality, they’re money launderers expertly trained in scamming U.S. citizens,” said Treasury Undersecretary Brian Nelson. “Unsolicited calls and emails may seem legitimate, but they’re actually made by cartel-supported criminals. If something seems too good to be true, it probably is.” The FBI shares tips on how to avoid timeshare fraud: Be cautious of uninvited calls, texts, or emails from anyone interested in a timeshare. Be wary of high-pressure and time-sensitive offers that require an immediate response, research everyone you are in contact with, and contact offices independently to confirm that you’re talking with a real company representative, and hire a real estate agent or lawyer you trust.
Traders see the odds of a Fed rate cut by September at 100% 2024-07-16 16:34:00+00:00 - Traders are now 100% certain the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by September. There are now 93.3% odds that the Fed’s target range for the federal funds rate, its key rate, will be lowered by a quarter percentage point to 5% to 5.25% in September from the current 5.25% to 5.50%, according to the CME FedWatch tool. And there are 6.7% odds that the rate will be a half percentage point lower in September, accounting for some traders believing the central bank will cut at its meeting at the end of July and again in September, says the tool. Taken together, you get the 100% odds. The catalyst for the change in odds was the consumer price index update for June announced last week, which showed a 0.1% decrease from the prior month. That put the annual inflation rate at 3%, the lowest in three years. Odds that rates would be cut in September were about 70% a month ago. The CME FedWatch Tool computes the probabilities based on trading in fed funds futures contracts at the exchange, where traders are placing their bets on the level of the effective fed funds rate in 30-day increments. Simply put, this is a reflection of where traders are putting their money. Actual real-life probability of rates remaining where they are today in September are not zero percent, but what this means is that no traders out there are willing to put actual money on the line to bet on that. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s recent hints have also cemented traders’ belief that the central bank will act by September. On Monday, Powell said the Fed wouldn’t wait for inflation to get all the way to its 2% target rate before it began cutting, because of the lag effects of tightening. The Fed is looking for “greater confidence” that inflation will return to the 2% level, he said. “What increases that confidence in that is more good inflation data, and lately here we have been getting some of that,” added Powell. The Fed next decides on interest rates on July 31 and again on Sept 18. It doesn’t meet on rates in August.
Cumbria project will be ‘net zero’, coalmine firm tells high court 2024-07-16 15:59:00+00:00 - The company behind the first new coalmine in the UK for 30 years has argued in the high court on Tuesday that it would be a “unique net zero” mine. West Cumbria Mining (WCM) continued to defend the legality of its mine, which will produce 60m tonnes of coking coal in its lifetime, in the court days after the government said its planning permission was unlawful because it had not taken into account downstream emissions from using the coal. Lawyers acting for Angela Rayner, the secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, said last week that there had been an “error in law” in the decision to grant planning permission for the Cumbrian mine in December 2022. Withdrawing its defence against two legal challenges by Friends of the Earth and South Lakes Action on Climate Change (Slacc), the government instead informed the court that the planning permission should be quashed. The new Labour government withdrew after a landmark supreme court decision quashed planning permission granted for an oil drilling well at Horse Hill, on the Weald in Surrey. The judgment found the climate impact of burning coal, oil and gas must be taken into account when deciding whether to approve projects, and was predicted to have a knock-on impact on all other fossil fuel projects in the UK. On Tuesday, WCM continued to argue that the new mine in Whitehaven was legal and denied that the decision in the Surrey case had any impact on the lawfulness of its planning permission. Lawyers for WCM said the project was a “unique net zero” mine that would provide coking coal for high-quality steel that would be vital in the country’s net zero-emissions future – for example, to build wind turbines, electric vehicles or trains. The company said in documents submitted to the hearing: “The extraction and use of this metallurgical coal in the steel production process will not lead to any increase in the amount of coking coal consumed and so no net increase in GHG emissions will occur.” They argued that the Surrey case had no bearing on the lawfulness of the planning permission granted for the Cumbrian mine. Friends of the Earth said the permission had been granted unlawfully because there had been a failure to take account of the downstream emissions as required under environmental impact assessment legislation. Lawyers for FoE said that given the decision by the supreme court in the Surrey case, the climate impact of burning coal, oil and gas should have been taken into account when deciding whether to approve the project. “WCM … failed to quantify or assess the downstream combustion emissions from the coal extracted from the mine,” FoE lawyers said. The International Energy Agency has said no new oil and gas exploration should take place if the world is to limit global heating to 1.5C (2.7F) above preindustrial temperatures. FoE said the approval of the mine by the then secretary of state, Michael Gove, was hypocritical. Planning permission was given by Gove a month after the UK had held the presidency of the Cop26 climate conference, and in that global leadership role had pushed to phase out fossil fuels and coal. They pointed out that the UK’s steel plants in Port Talbot and Scunthorpe had both announced the closure of their blast furnaces, undermining WCM’s claim that the coal would be used domestically to make steel. FoE argues the mine’s total lifetime emissions, including from the burning of the coal, would exceed 220m tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. “That is more than half of the UK’s total emissions for 2022,” FoE said. “Ninety-nine per cent of these emissions are from the use of the coal. Less than 1% are the emissions from the mining process itself.” Slacc, which took the second legal challenge to the legality of the mine, said the operational emissions alone of the mine would amount to 8.2m tonnes of CO2 equivalent – “about the same as burning 788m litres of petrol”. The hearing continues.
How Outlets on the Right and Left Covered Trump’s Pick of J.D. Vance 2024-07-16 15:58:03+00:00 - After former President Donald J. Trump announced his vice-presidential pick, Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio, partisan media focused on two different versions of Mr. Vance — both of which have defined his time on the national stage. Many conservative commentators and outlets applauded the former president’s choice, focusing on Mr. Vance’s conservative credentials as a senator and his loyalty to Mr. Trump, both in his policy positions and his efforts to downplay Mr. Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Some conservative publications, however, saw the choice as a boon to Democrats. Most liberal sites characterized Mr. Vance as an opportunist by focusing on his past status as a prominent critic of Mr. Trump, highlighting Mr. Vance’s denunciations of Mr. Trump during his first presidential campaign. They also showcased the senator’s turn toward Mr. Trump, including his hard-line positions on abortion and the Jan. 6 attack, to paint him as a political extremist.
Could the Economy be Bottoming? Major Bank's Earnings Say Yes 2024-07-16 15:48:00+00:00 - Earnings season is here again, and kicking it off are financial stocks like the commercial and investment banks that most people avoid due to their complex business models. However, as these banking stocks start to report their quarterly figures, investors can get a feel for how the sector is doing and gain insight into how the rest of the economy is doing as a whole. Bank of America Today BAC Bank of America $44.13 +2.24 (+5.35%) 52-Week Range $24.96 ▼ $44.40 Dividend Yield 2.18% P/E Ratio 15.27 Price Target $40.41 Add to Watchlist Last week, banks like Citigroup Inc. NYSE: C and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. NYSE: JPM reported their earnings, showing Main Street a common trend. First, net interest income (NII) falls as consumers walk away from today’s high interest rates, hurting demand for products like mortgages and credit cards. Speaking of which, these banks also reported rising delinquencies in their credit card departments. Get TLT alerts: Sign Up These trends show a weakening environment for the U.S. consumer, who is now choked by inflation pressures. Still, investors will soon find out how this is more of a lagging indicator rather than a leading one for the economy. Today, Bank of America Co. NYSE: BAC is adding to these insights so that investors can consider the changing trends on the corporate side of the banks, which always act as a leading indicator of where the rest of the market may go. Bank of America's Diverging Businesses: The Ultimate Economic Indicator Whenever the commercial and corporate sides of the banks start to diverge, it typically signals a pivoting moment for the economy and, in the same way, a pivoting moment for the stock market. Investors can consider the commercial side as the lagging (or present) state of affairs. At the same time, the corporate department (trading and investment banking) is considered to be the leading indicator. Bank of America MarketRank™ Stock Analysis Overall MarketRank™ 4.80 out of 5 Analyst Rating Moderate Buy Upside/Downside 8.6% Downside Short Interest Healthy Dividend Strength Moderate Sustainability -0.50 News Sentiment 0.75 Insider Trading Selling Shares Projected Earnings Growth 10.56% See Full Details As investors know, banks are all reporting higher charge-offs in credit cards and lower NII due to less commercial activity and consumer confidence. These trends reflect where consumers are today, a worrisome state of worrying about inflation and future prospects. But, the investment banking side of the business is coming back to life, not only at Citigroup and J.P. Morgan Chase. Bank of America’s $13.7 billion in NII, which fell short of analyst expectations for $13.8 billion, is more than offset by trading and investment banking revenues. Trading departments brought in $1.9 billion in revenue, an advance of 20% from a year prior. Considering that the volatility index (VIX) is at its lowest level since 2018, the only driver for trading revenue is not in-house trading but client trading, which signals a rising interest in exposure to stocks and fixed-income (bonds) products. With this in mind, investors can double-check deal-making (mergers and acquisitions) activity, which brought in $1.6 billion, or a 29% jump over the past 12 months. So, what does this divergence really mean? How Bank of America's Earnings Signal a Bet on Interest Rate Cuts Typically, the businesses carrying Bank of America’s earnings forward are highly dependent on a lower interest rate environment since flexible financing and cheaper debt are usually the foundation for corporate banking activity. So, if markets are switching to trading and dealmaking, it is because they fully expect to see interest rate cuts coming in the following quarters. According to the CME’s FedWatch tool, these interest rate cuts could be here as soon as September 2024, with over 90% certainty today. Other side bets will be made on the revealed sentiment on these interest rate cuts, primarily around bonds and small-cap stocks, otherwise known as growth equity businesses (which are also dependent on low interest rate environments). Stanley Druckenmiller – the guy who traded shoulder to shoulder with George Soros – already sold out of NVIDIA Co. NASDAQ: NVDA and reallocated his profits into the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF NASDAQ: TLT as well as the iShares Russell 2000 ETF NYSEARCA: IWM to make these bets into small caps and bonds. Bank of America Dividend Payments Dividend Yield 2.18% Annual Dividend $0.96 Annualized 3-Year Dividend Growth 8.51% Dividend Payout Ratio 33.22% Recent Dividend Payment Jun. 28 See Full Details Why bonds? Prices on treasuries move opposite to interest rates so that rate cuts could – and should – bring investors into a profitable situation if they are caught holding bond positions. More than that, here’s one last take investors can walk away with when looking into Bank of America. Despite falling NII, the bank’s financials are still strong, so management could afford a $0.96 share dividend payout, translating into an annual dividend yield of 2.2%. While this yield is below inflation, the upside in Bank of America stock offsets this. Others on Wall Street may want to revisit their price targets on Bank of America stock, especially after today’s results, and adding the technical factor leaning on short interest collapsing by 17.3% over the past month to show another vote of confidence coming from the rest of the stock market. Before you consider iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF, 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 iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF wasn't on the list. While iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF currently has a "hold" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. View The Five Stocks Here
Is It Silicon Valley’s Job to Make Guaranteed Income a Reality? 2024-07-16 15:27:56+00:00 - For the last couple of years, the tech community has tested no-strings-attached payments of $500 or $1,000 a month to those in dire need. Some of these experiments have happened in the heart of Silicon Valley, where a one-bedroom apartment rents for $3,000 a month and a modest house is often an unaffordable luxury. Silicon Valley’s backing of these efforts has propelled the idea of a guaranteed income — also known as cash transfers, unconditional cash and, in its most utopian form, universal basic income — into the mainstream. But a bipartisan political consensus around the movement is fracturing even though the data seems to show that the programs are effective. In recent months, the Texas attorney general went to court to prevent public funds from being used in a basic income program in Houston. Republicans in Iowa, Idaho and South Dakota banned similar programs. A ban in Arizona was vetoed by the governor. The movement has scored a few victories, too. A proposal for a statewide basic income program is likely to be on the ballot in Oregon this fall. The measure would give $750 to each state resident annually, funded by a 3 percent tax on corporations with revenue over $25 million.
Crypto Stocks Back on the Radar: Top Picks to Watch 2024-07-16 15:04:00+00:00 - Typically, cryptocurrency-related stocks aren’t the first ones that come to mind for investors looking to diversify their portfolios and align themselves with the best potential upside in the coming months. However, outperforming the market involves recognizing shifts and making adjustments that align with these changes. One pattern that goes a long way is the changing risk perception, which is now becoming an actual ‘risk off’ policy for most investors in the market today, with Wall Street at the helm of this tide. Earlier this week, BlackRock Inc. NYSE: BLK released its second quarter 2024 earnings report, showing Main Street that its clients were advised to allocate into stocks, with a secondary wave being rotated into fixed-income (bonds). However, one-third of the asset class is something that investors need to watch. Get MicroStrategy alerts: Sign Up After a 10% rally within the past five days, the price of Bitcoin is starting to grab the attention of many out there. Still, investing directly in Bitcoin does have its risks, as the asset is still not as regulated as stocks and bonds are. Still, there’s a way for investors to get around this caveat. By looking into stocks like CleanSpark Inc. NASDAQ: CLSK, Coinbase Global Inc. NASDAQ: COIN, and even MicroStrategy Inc. NASDAQ: MSTR, investors have a new way to invest in the latest crypto cycle. CleanSpark Receives Upgrade Ahead of Bitcoin Harvest CleanSpark Today CLSK CleanSpark $19.79 +1.49 (+8.14%) 52-Week Range $3.38 ▼ $24.72 Price Target $20.13 Add to Watchlist Within the company's investor relations website, CleanSpark management has updated investors on the current Bitcoin mining rates, which are accurate to June 2024. To this year, CleanSpark has mined up to 3,614 Bitcoin, which would translate into assets on hand of $220 million at today's Bitcoin price. More than that, June alone reports mining of up to 445 Bitcoin, or $27 million in added assets on hand for the month alone. These mining rates are behind the company's financials, which have been stellar during the past year. CleanSpark MarketRank™ Stock Analysis Overall MarketRank™ 0.43 out of 5 Analyst Rating Moderate Buy Upside/Downside 1.7% Upside Short Interest Bearish Dividend Strength N/A Sustainability N/A News Sentiment 0.89 Insider Trading Selling Shares Projected Earnings Growth Growing See Full Details Investors should consider revenues' 163% growth rate for the past 12 months when conducting research. This massive revenue growth translated into a net income of $126.7 million, up from a net loss of $18.4 million a year prior. This momentum led analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald to push CleanSpark stock's price target up to $28 a share, daring it to rally by 53% from where it trades today. More than that, knowing that Bitcoin could reach new highs on this new risk-on attitude, Wall Street as a whole forecasts triple-digit earnings per share (EPS) growth for the next 12 months. One stamp of quality coming from an unlikely player is the 58.5% boost in allocation from the Vanguard Group, bringing the asset manager's net investment in CleanSpark stock to $270.5 million to own 6.4% of the entire company. Diversification Fuels Financial Growth for Coinbase Stock Coinbase Global Today COIN Coinbase Global $251.49 +8.64 (+3.56%) 52-Week Range $69.63 ▼ $283.48 P/E Ratio 50.20 Price Target $220.65 Add to Watchlist It is one thing for CleanSpark to go all in on Bitcoin, but there are other worthy cryptocurrencies in the market that investors should have exposure to if they are looking to potentially diversify their portfolios. Coinbase offers its shareholders diversification between Bitcoin and Ethereum, the largest cryptocurrencies based on market capitalization. Coinbase Global MarketRank™ Stock Analysis Overall MarketRank™ 2.71 out of 5 Analyst Rating Hold Upside/Downside 12.3% Downside Short Interest Healthy Dividend Strength N/A Sustainability N/A News Sentiment 0.63 Insider Trading Selling Shares Projected Earnings Growth -32.40% See Full Details This is why revenues at Coinbase also broke the triple-digit rate status, going from $736 million in 2023 to $1.6 billion as of the first quarter of 2024. Rising by 116% over the year, these revenues translated into a net income of $1.1 billion for the first quarter of 2024, compared to a net loss of $78.9 million last year. These massive turnarounds caught Wall Street’s attention, particularly for those analysts at HC Wainwright now that they see a valuation of $315 a share for Coinbase stock, calling for a rally of 29.7% from where the stock trades today. Feeling the heat of the risk-on rotation for cryptocurrency, short sellers have also decided to step away from the game. Coinbase stock’s short interest declined by 1.1% over the past month, opening some room for the Vanguard Group to boost their positions by 18.4%, translating into a net investment of $4.5 billion today. How Acquisitions are Propelling MicroStrategy Stock Higher MicroStrategy Today MSTR MicroStrategy $1,664.30 +53.02 (+3.29%) 52-Week Range $307.11 ▼ $1,999.99 Price Target $2,017.67 Add to Watchlist Following the same trend that CleanSpark is moving toward, MicroStrategy ensures that its Bitcoin holdings reflect its bullish view of what could come for the cryptocurrency in the coming quarters. In the company’s first quarter 2024 earnings results, investors can find that MicroStrategy has acquired up to 25,250 Bitcoins since the end of the fourth quarter of 2023. Translating this holding into dollar terms, as of today’s Bitcoin price, it would represent assets on hand of $1.5 billion. Because the company’s primary business is in the technology sector, particularly within the artificial intelligence services niche, it has made a recurring cash flow machine from which to fund further Bitcoin purchases in the future. How is that machine doing? MicroStrategy MarketRank™ Stock Analysis Overall MarketRank™ 4.49 out of 5 Analyst Rating Buy Upside/Downside 21.2% Upside Short Interest Healthy Dividend Strength N/A Sustainability -0.20 News Sentiment 0.76 Insider Trading Selling Shares Projected Earnings Growth N/A See Full Details Within the press release for the past quarter, investors can see how MicroStrategy’s subscription service segment saw a 22% annual revenue jump, reaching $23 million. Because software as a service (SAAS) businesses have high margins, 77.1% in the case of MicroStrategy, the company can retain more capital at the end of the day to keep making these acquisitions. Knowing that the company’s Bitcoin holdings could soon send the stock flying higher, Wall Street analysts have landed on a consensus price target of $2,017 as of today, which is 25.2% higher than today’s price despite a recent 15.3% rally. Before you consider MicroStrategy, 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 MicroStrategy wasn't on the list. While MicroStrategy currently has a "Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. View The Five Stocks Here