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AI was supposed to revolutionize customer service. Morgan Stanley's interns aren't buying it. 2024-08-06 20:15:00+00:00 - AI has been touted as a great way to make customer service call centers more efficient. Morgan Stanley asked its (human) interns about this. Their answers were not pretty. It's another warning about AI realities for the tech industry. Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read preview Thanks for signing up! Go to newsletter preferences Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . You can opt-out at any time by visiting our Preferences page or by clicking "unsubscribe" at the bottom of the email. Advertisement Is artificial intelligence actually useful in the real world. Is it worth paying extra for this technology? One positive answer is supposed to come from customer service call centers, where AI has the potential to either replace or supplement legions of human employees handling questions from confused and sometimes grumpy consumers. Earlier this year, startup Klarna said an AI assistant based on OpenAI's models was doing the equivalent work of 700 full-time customer-service agents. Last week, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella cited what's happening in contact centers with its Dynamics software as an example AI being deployed successfully. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Log in .
WK Kellogg to close Omaha plant, downsize in Memphis as it shifts production to newer facilities 2024-08-06 20:03:03+00:00 - WK Kellogg Co. is closing one U.S. cereal plant and downsizing another as part of a plan to consolidate its operations in newer facilities. The company said Tuesday it will close its Omaha, Nebraska, plant by the end of 2026. It also plans to scale back production at its plant in Memphis, Tennessee, starting next year. WK Kellogg said it will increase production and invest in new infrastructure, equipment and technology at its plants in Battle Creek, Michigan; Lancaster, Pennsylvania; and Belleville, Ontario. The company said it plans to invest $390 million in new technology and infrastructure and will incur a one-time charge of $110 million in restructuring costs. Battle Creek-based WK Kellogg said the plan will result in a net loss of 550 jobs, a number that includes hirings at the plants that will increase production. The company didn’t immediately respond when asked Tuesday how many workers would lose their jobs in Omaha and Memphis. In a statement, Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert said she didn’t learn of the planned closure until Tuesday morning. “I’m certainly disappointed that Kellogg’s would make such a significant announcement this way,” Stothert said. “After more than 75 years in Omaha, Kellogg’s will leave a big void.” WK Kellogg’s Omaha plant was the epicenter of a strike against the company in 2021, when workers walked off the job for two months to protest a two-tier wage structure and other issues. At one point, Kellogg sued its union, saying striking workers were blocking entrances to the Omaha plant. The strike ended in late 2021 when the company agreed to raises and other benefits. The reorganization comes amid a decline in U.S. demand for cereal. Cereal sales boomed during the pandemic, when families were home and eating breakfast together. But they have struggled since then. Unit sales of cereal have fallen 4.2% over the last year and fell 3.6% the year before that, according to Nielsen IQ, a market researcher. WK Kellogg Co. was formed last year when its former parent the Kellogg Co. — which was founded in 1906 — split into two companies. WK Kellogg retained the cereal business, including brands like Frosted Flakes, Fruit Loops, Rice Krispies and Raisin Bran. Kellanova, based in Chicago, houses many of the company’s best-sellers, including Pop-Tarts, Pringles, Eggo waffles and Cheez-Its. WK Kellogg said Tuesday its net sales fell 4% to $672 million in the April-June period. The company got some boost from higher pricing and growing sales of premium products like Special K Zero. But its overall sales volumes fell by 4.8%, and the company said it felt some pressure from store-brand cereals as customers sought better value. WK Kellogg shares dropped more than 7% Tuesday.
Why Is BioMarin Stock Trading Higher On Tuesday? - Biomarin Pharmaceutical (NASDAQ:BMRN) 2024-08-06 20:02:00+00:00 - BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. BMRN announced an update on its Roctavian business to focus commercial operations on three markets: the U.S., Germany and Italy. These markets are where the medicine is approved and reimbursed as a severe hemophilia A treatment. The company will adjust its Roctavian efforts and reduce additional investments in development and manufacturing. BioMarin anticipates reducing annual direct Roctavian expenses to approximately $60 million beginning in 2025. The company has already begun operationalizing the reduction of Roctavian expenses this year to achieve $60 million in expenses beginning in full-year 2025. See Also: Neuralink Implants Brain Device In Second Human, Elon Musk Plans 8 More Trials This Year As a result, the company expects Roctavian to be profitable by the end of 2025. The company’s gene therapy manufacturing facility has been placed in “an idle state” until additional doses are needed. At this time, the company is making no further investments to reach additional markets. BioMarin reported second-quarter adjusted EPS of 96 cents, up 78% year over year and beating the consensus of $0.35. Sales increased 20% to $712.03 million. It beat the consensus of $662.05 million, driven by Voxzogo (dwarfism drug) and Naglazyme (drug for rare genetic metabolic disorder). “Strong global demand for Voxzogo led to nearly 900 new patient starts in the first half of 2024, the highest in Voxzogo’s history,” said Alexander Hardy, President and CEO. During the quarter, BioMarin treated three patients with Roctavian in the U.S. and two in Italy, generating $7 million in revenue. BioMarin also decided to discontinue BMN 293, a preclinical gene therapy for myosin-binding protein C3 hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (thickened heart muscles). Guidance: BioMarin expects 2024 revenues of $2.75 billion—$2.825 billion. Prior guidance hovered between $2.7 billion and $2.8 billion with the consensus of $2.74 billion. The company raised its adjusted EPS guidance to $3.10-$3.25 from the prior guidance of $2.75-$2.95 above the consensus of $2.87. William Blair writes, “With the impressive launch of Voxzogo, the company’s largest approved product to date, and a new CEO focused on expanding margins, we see strong potential for BioMarin to accelerate EPS growth in the coming years.” “With a promising growth profile and a renewed focus on profitability, we view BioMarin as a core holding in the sector.” The analyst maintains the Outperform rating. Price Action: BMRN stock is up 7.69% at $86.66 at last check Tuesday. Read Next:
Caution Ahead: Visa, Macy's, Yum Brands, Target Stocks Near A Death Cross - Target (NYSE:TGT), Yum Brands (NYSE:YUM), Visa (NYSE:V), Macy's (NYSE:M) 2024-08-06 20:00:00+00:00 - As the stock market grapples with volatility, four major stocks—Visa Inc V, Macy’s Inc M, Yum! Brands Inc YUM, and Target Corp TGT are signaling a concerning technical pattern known as the Death Cross. This ominous indicator typically signals potential downward momentum when a stock’s short-term moving average falls below its long-term moving average. With these key stocks hovering near this critical juncture, investors are on high alert. Here’s a look at the technical indicators and what they might mean for these companies. Visa Stock – A Dip In The Bullish Momentum Visa’s performance has shown strength over the past year with a 7.45% increase but faces a negative turn in 2024, down 0.32% year-to-date. The current technical signals paint a worrying picture for Visa as it nears a death cross. Chart created using Benzinga Pro Current Price: $259.44 $259.44 50-Day SMA: $268.40 $268.40 200-Day SMA: $267.27 Visa’s share price is trading below all its short- and long-term moving averages, indicating a strongly bearish trend. The 8-day SMA falling below the 20-day and 50-day SMAs signifies that the stock is experiencing sustained selling pressure. With the 50-day SMA approaching the 200-day SMA, a death cross may soon confirm Visa’s potential bearish movement. Macy’s Stock – A Turnaround On The Horizon? Macy’s stock has taken a significant hit, with a 2.90% 1-year decline and a substantial 22.59% year-to-date drop. However, amid this bearish sentiment, Macy’s is showing some buying pressure, offering a glimmer of hope for bullish investors. Chart created using Benzinga Pro Current Price: $15.58 $15.58 50-Day SMA: $18.09 $18.09 200-Day SMA: $17.99 Despite the current trend being strongly bearish, with Macy’s share price trading below its moving averages, the buying pressure could signal a potential shift. Still, the impending death cross indicates that the short-term challenges might persist before any meaningful recovery takes place. Investors should watch closely as the stock’s performance could swing either way depending on market sentiment. Read Also: Not Lovin’ It: McDonald’s Stock Faces Bearish Headwinds Ahead Of Q2 Earnings Yum! Brands Stock – Bucking The Trend Yum! Brands stands apart from the others, with its stock trending positively, showing a 2.15% 1-year gain and a 5.61% increase year-to-date. The current technical outlook suggests that YUM is positioned for further gains, despite slight selling pressure. Chart created using Benzinga Pro Current Price: $138.27 $138.27 50-Day SMA: $133.02 $133.02 200-Day SMA: $132.46 Unlike Visa and Macy’s, Yum Brands is exhibiting a bullish pattern, with its share price above the moving averages, signaling strong buying momentum. The 50-day SMA being above the 200-day SMA provides additional bullish confirmation. However, the stock’s approach towards a death cross raises caution, and investors should monitor if the trend continues to remain positive or if a reversal might occur. Target Stock – Navigating A Bearish Path Target has experienced a modest 2.58% increase over the past year, but the 5.4% decline year-to-date shows signs of weakness, with technical indicators suggesting a bearish outlook. Chart created using Benzinga Pro Current Price: $135.40 $135.40 50-Day SMA: $147.34 $147.34 200-Day SMA: $146.52 Target’s current share price is below its moving averages, reflecting a strongly bearish sentiment. The 8-day and 20-day SMAs are well below the 50-day SMA, indicating strong selling pressure and the risk of a death cross formation. This bearish trajectory suggests that Target may face additional headwinds before it can find support or recovery. What The Death Cross Means For Investors The death cross is a widely-watched technical signal that often precedes sustained downward movement. While it’s not a definitive predictor of a stock’s future, it does highlight potential bearish momentum. Investors should approach these stocks with caution, keeping a close eye on market trends, economic indicators, and company-specific developments. The looming death cross across these major stocks—Visa, Macy’s, Yum! Brands, and Target—raises important questions for investors. While some, like Yum! Brands, might show resilience, others face potential downturns that warrant careful scrutiny. As the markets continue to react to these technical signals, investors will need to stay vigilant and adapt to the evolving landscape, considering both short-term risks and long-term opportunities. Read Next: Photo: Shutterstock
Musk’s X sues Unilever, Mars and CVS over ‘massive advertiser boycott’ 2024-08-06 19:56:00+00:00 - Elon Musk’s social media platform, X, on Tuesday sued a global advertising alliance and several major companies, including Unilever, Mars and CVS Health, accusing them of unlawfully conspiring to shun the social network and intentionally causing it to lose revenue. The company formerly known as Twitter accused the defendants of a “massive advertiser boycott”. X filed the lawsuit in federal court in Texas on Tuesday against the World Federation of Advertisers as well as the companies individually. “We tried peace for 2 years, now it is war,” Musk tweeted on Tuesday. The lawsuit said advertisers, acting through a World Federation of Advertisers initiative called Global Alliance for Responsible Media, collectively and maliciously withheld “billions of dollars in advertising revenue” from X. The company said they acted against their own economic self-interests in a conspiracy against the platform that violated US antitrust law. In a statement on Tuesday about the lawsuit, X’s chief executive, Linda Yaccarino, said: “People are hurt when the marketplace of ideas is constricted. No small group of people should monopolize what gets monetized.” “The consequence – perhaps the intent – of this boycott was to seek to deprive X’s users, be they sports fans, gamers, journalists, activists, parents or political and corporate leaders, of the Global Town Square,” she wrote. The World Advertising Federation, Unilever, Mars, CVS Health and Orsted did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Ad revenue at X slumped for months after Musk bought the company in 2022. Brands had been wary of rapid changes initiated under Musk’s ownership. Watchdog groups have catalogued a sharp rise in antisemitic content on X, including ads running beside posts expressing pro-Nazi sentiments, after Musk gutted the social network’s content moderation teams. A suit filed by X against one such organization, Media Matters, is scheduled for trial in April 2025. The advertising group launched the responsible media initiative in 2019 to “help the industry address the challenge of illegal or harmful content on digital media platforms and its monetization via advertising”. X said in its lawsuit that it had applied brand-safety standards that are comparable to those of its competitors and that “meet or exceed” measures specified by the Global Alliance for Responsible Media. The company is seeking unspecified damages and a court order against any continued efforts to conspire to withhold ad dollars. The lawsuit said X had become a “less effective competitor” in the sale of digital advertising.
Neuralink Begins Trial In 2nd Human, Musk Plans 8 More This Year 2024-08-06 19:49:00+00:00 - Brain-computer company Neuralink, a startup founded by Elon Musk, achieved a milestone by implanting its device into the skull of a second human patient. What Happened: According to Reuters, Musk shared on a podcast that the second patient, like the first, suffers from a spinal cord injury. The implanted device intends to help the patient control devices with his mind. He disclosed that 400 of the implant’s electrodes are functioning in the second patient’s brain. The device is equipped with 1,024 electrodes in total. Related: Elon Musk Says Neuralink’s ‘First Order Of Business’ Is Solving Neuron Damage ‘For People…Like Stephen Hawking‘ Musk did not specify when the surgery took place. The company plans to provide implants to eight more patients this year. The first recipient, Noland Arbaugh, discussed his experiences on a podcast alongside three Neuralink executives. Before receiving the implant in January, Arbaugh used a stick in his mouth to operate a tablet. With the Neuralink device, he can now control his computer screen merely by thinking, Reuters noted. Arbaugh initially faced complications when the implant’s tiny wires retracted, reducing the number of functional electrodes. Neuralink, aware of this issue from animal trials, adjusted the implant’s algorithm to enhance sensitivity. Despite only 10-15% of the electrodes working, Arbaugh has set a new world record for the speed at which he can control a cursor with his thoughts. Controversy: The Neuralink project received a fair share of criticism and scrutiny after reports surfaced that monkeys were dying or being euthanized during testing phases. "I read a lot of the negative stuff about this before the surgery — about all the terrible things that [the company was] putting the monkeys through and how awful it was, monkeys like picking out their implant and rubbing it on the ground and all sorts of stuff," Arbaugh said earlier this year. Neuralink was kind enough to open their doors for me to tour their headquarters a few weeks back. It was an amazing experience and a day I'll never forget. This was at a company wide meeting at the end of the day. Thank you to everyone who made this possible. Hope y'all enjoy!… pic.twitter.com/YNa2Jtjhnk — Noland Arbaugh (@ModdedQuad) March 22, 2024 Despite the disturbing images and reports, both Neuralink and Argbagh have defended the trial outcomes. The company acknowledged the euthanization of several animals. It attributed the loss of limbs to inter-monkey aggression rather than to the effects of the technology or testing conditions. Musk insists, "No monkey has died as a result of a Neuralink implant.” To minimize risk to healthy monkeys, Musk says Neuralink “chose terminal monkeys (sic) (close to death already)." Competition: In June, Neurotech startup Paradromics announced its plans to conduct human trials of its own brain implant. The company, founded before Neuralink, specializes in the competitive brain-computer interface (BCI) market and competes with Neuralink. Paradromics has also conducted trials on animals. Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Read Next:
Meet the family of Tim Walz, Kamala Harris' VP pick 2024-08-06 19:48:34+00:00 - Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is Kamala Harris' running mate in the 2024 election. Walz has been married for 30 years and has two children. He is also one of four siblings — all grew up to be teachers. Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read preview Thanks for signing up! Go to newsletter preferences Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . You can opt-out at any time by visiting our Preferences page or by clicking "unsubscribe" at the bottom of the email. Advertisement Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz — who you might recognize from the many viral videos of him calling Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance "weird" — was announced on Tuesday as Kamala Harris' running mate for the 2024 election. The reveal came after two weeks of speculation and ahead of the Democratic National Convention, which kicks off on August 19. This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Log in .
Alaska pilot describes ‘chaos’ as Boeing officials quizzed on mid-flight blowout 2024-08-06 19:39:00+00:00 - The mid-flight blowout of a panel from a Boeing 737 Max jet was so powerful that it blew open the plane’s cockpit door and tore off the co-pilot’s headset, and federal investigators began questioning officials from Boeing and its key supplier on Tuesday to understand how the accident occurred. “It was chaos,” the co-pilot of that Alaska Airlines flight on the 5 January said in documents released by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Comments of the pilots, factory workers at Boeing and other people were released as the safety board held a rare investigative hearing into the blowout, an accident that further tarnished Boeing’s safety reputation and left it facing new legal jeopardy. The two-day hearing could provide new insight into the 5 January accident, which caused a loud boom and left a gaping hole in the side of the Alaska Airlines jet. The NTSB also released more than 3,000 pages of documents with details about the incident. The captain described “an explosive experience” and said he could not communicate with flight attendants, according to the documents. On the intercom, he heard flight attendants talking about a hole in the plane. He decided to land the plane as quickly as possible. The pilots landed safely back in Portland. The door plug was found in a high school science teacher’s backyard in Cedar Hills, Oregon. The accident on Alaska flight 1282 occurred minutes after takeoff from Portland, Oregon, as the plane flew at 16,000ft (4,800m). Oxygen masks dropped during the rapid decompression, a few cell phones and other objects were swept through the hole in the plane, and passengers were terrified by wind and roaring noise, but miraculously there were no major injuries. “This was quite traumatic to the crew and passengers,” NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said as Tuesday’s hearing began, speaking to anyone who may have been on the flight or knew someone aboard. “We are so sorry for all that you experienced during this very traumatic event.” Homendy said seven passengers and one flight attendant suffered minor physical injuries. The NTSB has said in a preliminary report that four bolts that help secure the panel, which is call a door plug, were not replaced after a repair job in a Boeing factory, but the company has said the work was not documented. The safety board will not determine a probable cause after the hearing. That could take another year or longer. It is calling the unusually long hearing a fact-finding step. Among the first witnesses called Tuesday was Elizabeth Lund, who has served as Boeing’s senior vice-president of quality – a new position – since February. Witnesses for Spirit AeroSystems, which makes fuselages for Max jets and Boeing testified about safety systems and inspection processes. Lund said production of Max jets dropped below 10 per month after the Alaska Airlines blowout and has increased, but remains under 30 per month. Lund and others also discussed the impact of Covid on production and worker experience. Spirit senior vice-president Terry George said that just five years ago, 95% of its factory employees had worked with sheet metal, but now it is 5%, and they must get more training in drilling holes and installing fasteners in aircraft bodies. Before the pandemic, Lund added, most new hires at Boeing factories had aerospace experience, often in the military, but “coming out of Covid … we found that considerably more of our employees did not have that aerospace experience.” She said the company has improved training since the January accident. But others remained skeptical. “We have never been impressed with Boeing’s training at all,” International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers representative Lloyd Catlin said. “There has been changes, but I don’t know that it’s enough.” Lund also said Boeing is working on ways to prevent door plugs from being closed if they are not firmly secured, but she could not say when that redesign might be completed. The FAA administrator, Mike Whitaker, has conceded that his agency’s oversight of the company “was too hands-off – too focused on paperwork audits and not focused enough on inspections”. He has said that is changing. Tension remains high between the NTSB and Boeing. Two months after the accident, the board chair, Jennifer Homendy, and Boeing got into a public argument over whether the company was cooperating with investigators. That spat was largely smoothed over, but in June a Boeing executive angered the board by discussing the investigation with reporters and – even worse in the agency’s view – suggesting that the NTSB was interested in finding someone to blame for the blowout. NTSB officials see their role as identifying the cause of accidents to prevent similar ones in the future. They are not prosecutors, and they fear that witnesses will not come forward if they think NTSB is looking for culprits. So the NTSB issued a subpoena for Boeing representatives while stripping the company of its customary right to ask questions during the hearing. The accident led to several investigations of Boeing, most of which are still under way. Boeing, which has yet to recover financially from two deadly crashes of Max jets in 2018 and 2019, has lost more than $25bn since the start of 2019. Later this week, the company will get its third chief executive in four and a half years.
Buca di Beppo declares bankruptcy. Here's what restaurants are closing. 2024-08-06 19:30:00+00:00 - Buca De Beppo files for bankruptcy, restaurant to close only location in Colorado Buca De Beppo files for bankruptcy, restaurant to close only location in Colorado 00:20 The Italian restaurant chain Buca di Beppo filed for bankruptcy protection after customer visits to the family-style dining establishment declined in recent years. Buca di Beppo, which experienced "limited customer demand" during the pandemic, never fully recovered to the same level of revenue and sales after lockdown restrictions were lifted, the restaurant chain said Monday in bankruptcy court documents. The privately owned restaurant's revenue for the first five months of 2024 fell 10% to $74.8 million compared with a year earlier, court documents show. Buca di Beppo is entering Chapter 11 bankruptcy saddled with more than $10 million in debt. About $1.36 million of that debt is for gift cards that customers have not yet redeemed, the restaurant said. U.S. restaurants are struggling to maintain their sales as inflation-weary customers pull back on spending at fast food chains and sit-down establishments alike. At the same time, restaurants are facing higher food prices and labor costs, adding to their financial pressures. Buca joins Red Lobster, Sticky's Finger Joint and Tijuana Flats on the list of casual restaurants that have filed for bankruptcy protection this year. "While the restaurant industry has faced significant challenges, this move is the best next step for our brand," Buca president Rich Saultz said in a statement. "By restructuring with the continued support of our lenders, we are paving the way toward a reinvigorated future." As part of its bankruptcy process, Buca said it began closing underperforming locations this year, including shuttering a dozen last month. Below are its 18 closed locations: 7111 West Ray Road in Chandler, Arizona 1249 Howe Ave. in Sacramento, California 615 Flatiron Marketplace Drive in Broomfield, Colorado 1351 South Orlando Avenue in Maitland, Florida 1030 Auahi Street in Honolulu, Hawaii 6045 East 86th Street in Indianapolis, Indiana 112 Kentlands Blvd in Gaithersburg, Maryland 38888 Six Mile Road in Livonia, Michigan 12575 Hall Road in Utica, Michigan 44 Wolf Road in Atlantic City, New Jersey 1900 Pacific Avenue in Colonie, New York 10915 Carolina Place Parkway in Pineville, North Carolina 60 East Wilson Bridge in Worthington, Ohio 3 East Station Square Drive in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 6600 Robinson Centre Drive in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 2745 Paper Mill Road in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania 202 West 200 South in Salt Lake City, Utah 935 East Fort Union Blvd in Midvale, Utah The restaurant is keeping open 44 locations and is working on opening one new restaurant, according to a Monday statement from the restaurant. Buca, which first opened in Minnesota in 1993, employs 3,340 workers, of which 266 are full-time.
Hamas announces Yahya Sinwar as new political head following Ismail Haniyeh assassination 2024-08-06 19:24:00+00:00 - Hamas on Tuesday announced Yahya Sinwar as the militant group’s new political head following the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh. Haniyeh was killed last week when an airstrike hit his residence in Tehran, where the Hamas leader had participated in the inauguration ceremony of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. Israel has been blamed for the strike that also killed Haniyeh's bodyguard. "Hamas announces the selection of brother leader Yahya Sinwar as head of the movement’s political bureau, succeeding the late leader Ismail Haniyeh, may God have mercy on him," the group said in a statement Tuesday. Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Avichay Adraee blasted the decision to install Sinwar, the man Israel accuses of being the architect of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. "There is only one place reserved for Yahya Sinwar and that is next to Mohammed Al-Deif, Marwan Issa, and the rest of the Hamas ISIS members responsible for the October 7 massacre whom we killed," Adraee said on X. Foreign Minister Israel Katz called Sinwar an "arch-murderer," and said his appointment "is another reason to bring about his quick elimination and erasing the memory of this organization from the face of the earth." Sinwar, the Hamas leader in charge of the day-to-day governance in Gaza prior to Oct. 7, is believed to be hiding in the labyrinth of tunnels used by Hamas militants in Gaza to conceal weapons, fighters and hostages, Israeli officials have said. The elusive leader was allegedly last seen in a 42-second clip filmed three days after the attack that showed 61-year-old Sinwar and his family fleeing into a tunnel in southern Gaza, according to the IDF. “The hunt will not stop until we capture him, dead or alive,” Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an IDF spokesman, said in a televised statement in February. Born in a Gaza refugee camp in the early 1960s, Sinwar joined Hamas after it was founded in 1987, gaining a reputation for brutality after he reportedly helped to form the militant group’s internal security force, according a profile of him by the European Council on Foreign Relations, a think tank. In 1988 he was sentenced to life in prison for planning to kill two Israeli soldiers as well as the killing of four Palestinians he suspected of collaborating with Israel. He was released in 2011 as one of more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners freed in exchange for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier held by Hamas for more than five years. After his release, Sinwar rose quickly through the ranks of Hamas and was elected to become the group’s leader in a secret ballot in 2017. On taking over, Sinwar attempted to improve relations with Egypt and Fatah, the secular Palestinian political party that partially runs the occupied West Bank and rivals Hamas in Gaza, according to the European Council on Foreign Relations. Sinwar has been in hiding since Oct. 7, when Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 and taking around 240 hostage, according to Israeli tallies. Israel has since declared war in Gaza and has killed over 40,000 people in the enclave, according to officials there.
Big Tech reform is coming from the courts, not Congress. Is that good? 2024-08-06 19:20:05+00:00 - The US government won a major Big Tech antitrust battle this week, against Google. Washington has several more legal fights brewing against other tech companies. But it's notable that all the tech-reform talk you used to hear from Congress a few years ago has just gone away. Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. Read preview Thanks for signing up! Go to newsletter preferences Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . You can opt-out at any time by visiting our Preferences page or by clicking "unsubscribe" at the bottom of the email. Advertisement This week's ruling that Google is an illegal monopolist is a major victory for the yearslong movement to rein in the giant tech platforms. It's also one of the only victories that movement has had. And, tellingly, it didn't come as a result of a new law, but from a judge's decision. Because in the US, that's how we're doing things these days: Congress can't or won't act. So people who want Big Tech companies to change their ways are trying to do it via the courts.
Google Parent Alphabet's Breakup Could Boost Stock Value, Citing Higher Investor Appeal For Pure-Play Assets: Analyst - Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) 2024-08-06 19:19:00+00:00 - In a groundbreaking judgment, a U.S. federal judge found that Alphabet Inc. GOOG GOOGL illegally sustained search and text advertising monopolies. This ruling is a notable triumph for the Department of Justice, led by Jonathan Kanter. Antitrust regulators accused Google’s parent company of preserving its monopoly in online search and advertising by paying $26 billion to Apple Inc. AAPL, Samsung Electronics, and other smartphone manufacturers over several decades for prominent placement on browsers and mobile devices. This lawsuit was in addition to two DOJ antitrust cases against Google, alleging that the company illegally fortified its monopolies. Also Read: Google Antitrust Crusade Was Spearheaded By Jonathan Kanter, Who Is The Attorney Taking On Tech Giants Like Apple And Amazon Needham analyst Laura Martin reiterated Alphabet stock a Buy rating with a price forecast of $210. In the long term, Alphabet’s strategic position is best-in-class, the analyst writes. The company’s $237 billion in global ad revenue for 2023 accounted for 38% of worldwide digital ad spending, eMarketer reports. In digital markets, which tend to favor dominant players, Alphabet has emerged as a clear winner, Martin highlights. The analyst views Alphabet’s breakup as beneficial, noting its parts are ‘worth’ more individually than as a whole. According to Martin, the EU will likely mandate Alphabet to spin off its third-party network ad business. YouTube would be valued at $455 billion-$643 billion if separately traded. The analyst writes that if Alphabet is broken up, its shares would likely appreciate for several reasons. Investors value pure-play assets more because they can better manage risk exposure than conglomerates. Increased transparency from separate entities would meet materiality standards, offering more detailed data to investors, Martin adds. Employee retention might improve as staff receive stock in the company they can influence directly. A breakup would also increase capital allocation accountability to Wall Street. Additionally, by reducing its size through spin-offs, Alphabet could lower regulatory risks and potential fines, as regulators often target “Big Tech” based on market cap. Martin expects the company to report EPS of $7.62 in FY24. Price Action: GOOG shares are trading higher by 0.31% to $161.13 at the last check on Tuesday. Read Next: Photo by DenPhotos on Shutterstock
House Of The Dragon's 4-Season Plan Unveiled: Will Fans Endure The Wait? - Warner Bros. Discovery (NASDAQ:WBD) 2024-08-06 19:16:00+00:00 - House of the Dragon has wrapped up its second season with a bang, leaving fans anticipating what’s next for the Game of Thrones prequel. In an interview with Variety, showrunner and co-creator Ryan Condal announced that the series would span four seasons in total, with the third season slated to begin production in “earlyish 2025.” See Also: ‘House Of The Dragon’ Sets HBO Record: Here’s How It Compares To ‘Game Of Thrones’ And ‘Stranger Things’ This confirmation marks the first time Warner Bros. Discovery Inc‘s WBD HBO has officially outlined the total number of seasons for House of the Dragon. However, details about the episode count for the remaining seasons remain undisclosed. “I haven't had discussions with HBO about it,” Condal shared when asked about the possibility of an eight-episode Season 3, similar to the second season. “I would just anticipate the cadence of the show, from a dramatic storytelling perspective, will continue to be the same from Season 2 on.” This four-season structure is slightly shorter than what George R.R. Martin, the mind behind the A Song of Ice and Fire series, had previously envisioned. Back in 2022, Martin suggested that four seasons, each comprising ten episodes, would be necessary to “do justice to the Dance of the Dragons, from start to finish.” It’s worth noting that the nearly two-year hiatus between the first two seasons suggests that fans might need to brace for similar waits moving forward. Nonetheless, HBO has a plan to keep the Thrones universe buzzing with the upcoming series, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which is set to premiere next year and should provide a rich narrative bridge for eager viewers. Read Next: Image credits: QubixStudio on Shutterstock.
The Guardian view on Labour and the trade unions: thrust together by more than history | Editorial 2024-08-06 19:08:00+00:00 - In opposition, Sir Keir Starmer said he would repeal Tory measures to limit the right to strike, while keeping a distance between Labour and trade unions leading strikes. In office, he has moved swiftly to identify with the labour movement. Sir Keir’s deputy, Angela Rayner, this week issued instructions to disregard a Tory law that forces workers to provide a minimum level of service during strikes. Days earlier, the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, awarded above-inflation pay rises to millions of public sector workers and settled a pay dispute with junior doctors to end industrial action. These are necessary and welcome steps in the right direction, away from a model of employment that sought economic growth by making workers poorer. Under the Conservatives, Britain did not correct the imbalance of power between labour and capital. The need for change had been widely accepted. In 2019, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), hardly a hotbed of labour militancy, argued that collective bargaining needed to be “mobilised”. As a recent report for the Trades Union Congress revealed, the degree of job protection enjoyed by UK workers dropped from the OECD average following the advent of Thatcherism. It only partially recovered under New Labour and “the gap widened again after 2010 as other OECD countries modernised their labour laws … while the UK cut protections in key areas such as protection against dismissal”. As workers’ rights were being whittled away, shareholders were increasingly benefiting from company profits. The Common Wealth thinktank pointed out that in the 1970s, when unions had more power, private non-financial corporations paid out 20p in dividend payments for every £1 of gross fixed capital formation. In the second half of the 2010s, this figure was 95p. Payouts to shareholders rose two-and-a-half times faster than total employee compensation between 1988 and 2019. This money could have been used to increase productivity, but UK business investment has been consistently lower than the average for leading industrial nations. The new government’s employment rights bill, which will increase the ability of unions to operate in workplaces, is desperately needed. As union density increases, more workers will be paid more. A more hospitable legal framework for unions should also make it easier for them to achieve pay growth for their members. Sir Keir is taking a different approach to New Labour, which had no love for unions. Despite this, Labour’s historical union-party link survived Blairism. Sir Keir distanced himself from grassroots campaigning, which had been a feature of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. Labour today sees itself as a self-sufficient political organisation, taking cues from a range of social actors, but not restricted by formal links with any one in particular. Yet the tension between Labour and the trade unions over their values and their financial relationship is real, and intensely felt. Understanding this is at the heart of the enigma of the current Labour party. In his book Getting Over New Labour, Karl Pike – a political scientist at Queen Mary University of London – suggested that the party “does not offer merely the status quo, but nor does it have a clear sense of where the country should go and what the good society looks like”. It has been encouraging that Sir Keir’s early actions suggest his politics has been forced to take on a purpose. And it is a good one.
Markets are counting on the Fed to head off recession with sizeable interest rate cuts 2024-08-06 18:49:00+00:00 - In the market’s eyes, the Federal Reserve finds itself either poised to head off a recession or doomed to repeat the mistakes of its recent past — when it was too late seeing a coming storm. How Chair Jerome Powell and his cohorts at the central bank react likely will go a long way in determining how investors negotiate such a turbulent climate. Wall Street has been on a wild ride the past several days, with a relief rally Tuesday ameliorating some of the damage since recession fears intensified last week. “In sum, no recession today, but one is increasingly inevitable by year-end if the Fed fails to act,” Steven Blitz, chief U.S. economist at TS Lombard, said in a note to clients. “But they will, beginning with a [half percentage point] cut in September telegraphed in late August.” Blitz’s comments represent the widespread sentiment on Wall Street — little feeling that a recession is an inevitability unless, of course, the Fed fails to act. Then the probability ramps up. Disappointing economic data recently generated worries that the Fed missed an opportunity at its meeting last week to, if not cut rates outright, send a clearer signal that easing is on the way. It helped conjure up memories of the not-too-distant past when Fed officials dismissed the 2021 inflation surge as “transitory” and were pressed into what ultimately was a series of harsh rate hikes. Now, with a weak jobs report from July in hand and worries intensifying over a downturn, the investing community wants the Fed to take strong action before it misses the chance. Traders are pricing in a strong likelihood of that half-point September cut, followed by aggressive easing that could lop 2.25 percentage points off the Fed’s short-term borrowing rate by the end of next year, as judged by 30-day fed funds futures contracts. The Fed currently targets its key rate between 5.25%-5.5%. “The unfortunate reality is that a range of data confirm what the rise in the unemployment rate is now prominently signaling — the US economy is at best at risk of falling into a recession and at worst already has,” Citigroup economist Andrew Hollenhorst wrote. “Data over the next month is likely to confirm the continued slowdown, keeping a [half-point] cut in September likely and a potential intermeeting cut on the table.” Emergency cut unlikely With the economy still creating jobs and stock market averages near record highs, despite the recent sell-off, an emergency cut between now and the Sept. 17-18 open market committee seems a longshot to say the least. The fact that it’s even being talked about, though, indicates the depth of recession fears. In the past, the Fed has implemented just nine such cuts, and all have come amid extreme duress, according to Bank of America. “If the question is, ‘should the Fed consider an intermeeting cut now?’, we think history says, ‘no, not even close,’” said BofA economist Michael Gapen. Lacking a catalyst for an intermeeting cut, the Fed is nonetheless expected to cut rates almost as swiftly as it hiked from March 2022-July 2023. It could start the process later this month, when Powell delivers his expected keynote policy speech during the Fed’s annual retreat in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Powell is already being expected to signal how the easing path will unfold. Joseph LaVorgna, chief U.S. economist at SMBC Nikko Securities, expects the Fed to cut rates 3 full percentage points by the end of 2025, more aggressive than the current market outlook. “Go big or go home. The Fed has clearly said that rates are too high. Why would they be slow at removing the tightness?” he said. “They’ll be quick in cutting if for no other reason than rates aren’t at the right level. Why wait?” LaVorgna, though, isn’t convinced the Fed is in a life-or-death battle against recession. However, he noted that “normalizing” the inverted yield curve, or getting longer-dated securities back to yielding more than their shorter-dated counterparts, will be an integral factor in avoiding an economic contraction. Over the weekend, Goldman Sachs drew some attention to when it raised its recession forecast, but only to 25% from 15%. That said, the bank did note that one reason it does not believe a recession is imminent is that the Fed has plenty of room to cut — 5.25 percentage points if necessary, not to mention the capacity to restart its bond-buying program known as quantitative easing. Still, any quakes in the data, such as Friday’s downside surprise to the nonfarm payrolls numbers, could ignite recession talk quickly. “The Fed is as behind the economic curve now as it was behind the inflation curve back in 2021-2022,” economist and strategist David Rosenberg, founder of Rosenberg Research, wrote Tuesday. He added that the heightened expectation for cuts “smacks of a true recession scenario because the Fed has rarely done this absent an official economic downturn — heading into one, already in one, or limping out of one.”
Harris-Walz win would make Minnesota's Peggy Flanagan its first Native American and female governor 2024-08-06 18:47:00+00:00 - A win in November for the Democratic ticket could be history making in another way: Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan of Minnesota would presumably become the first Native American woman to lead a state. After assuming her position in 2019, Flanagan, a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe, became the highest ranking Native woman elected to an executive office, according to her official bio. She won re-election in 2022 with Gov. Tim Walz. Now, with Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday tapping Walz as her running mate, a victory against Republican nominee Donald Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance, would propel Flanagan, 44, to the position of Minnesota governor. Walz's and Flanagan's current term is up for re-election in 2026. But the state Constitution allows Flanagan to assume the governorship if Walz, for whatever reason, vacates office. She would also become Minnesota's first female governor. In a post Tuesday on X, Flanagan congratulated Walz in joining Harris. Native Americans make up just more than 1% of Minnesota's total population, according to census data, with many living on the state's 11 reservations or in its urban centers. The Native vote helped Joe Biden secure a win against Trump in the state in 2020. In her high-profile role, Flanagan has been outspoken in support of Indigenous rights, championing this year's change of Minnesota's state flag — the previous design had been criticized for decades for its depiction of Native Americans. In 2016, when Flanagan was a state representative, she attended the Democratic National Convention and spoke out against then-nominee Trump, who mocked Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., by calling her Pocahontas. "Your name is not Pocahontas," Flanagan said she told her young daughter in a letter. "You should never let any one make you feel anything less than proud of who you are. So despite everything that has happened to our people, and no matter what Donald Trump says, we are still here." Flanagan had also been outspoken about Trump's policies when he was president. In 2020, when Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump, one of his senior advisers, visited Minnesota for the opening of the nation's first task force office dedicated to solving cold cases of missing and murdered Native Americans and Alaska Natives, Flanagan took issue. "Donald Trump made a career demonstrating and celebrating behavior that perpetuates violence against Native women and girls," she said at the time. Since then, Flanagan helped oversee the creation of the state's first Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives Office in St. Paul, developed to help families navigate the justice system. "It really matters who's at the table, and who's elected," she told MinnPost in 2023. "We finally have Native representation in the governor's office and Native women in the Legislature." However, governors with Native American ancestry remain rare: Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt is a member of the Cherokee Nation.
What investors should do when there is more volatility in the market 2024-08-06 18:43:52+00:00 - NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are bouncing back after the market experienced its worst day in two years on Monday, but the average investor may still be understandably spooked. Over a three day losing streak, the S&P 500 dipped more than 6% before rallying again Tuesday, up 1.6% in midday trading. “This is what an emotion-driven market looks like,” said Mark Hackett, head of investment research for Nationwide. “You had a three day period that was really very challenging. But the drop was not justified by the data that was out there, which is why you then have a day like today.” For everyday people, what are the best ways to handle market volatility? The top advice is to do nothing, but ultimately your response depends in part on your circumstances and financial goals. What to do in general “It’s important to remember that investing in the stock market is a long game. There’s going to be volatility, so be wary of having a knee-jerk reaction and pulling your money out at the first sign of a drop,” said Courtney Alev, consumer advocate for CreditKarma. “Selling stocks frequently or incrementally can come with fees for each transaction and those can add up fast.” Caleb Silver, editor in chief of Investopedia, echoed this, cautioning that sellers may also end up owing taxes on any gains. “For everyday investors, volatility is the price you pay to be invested in the stock market,” Silver said. “But it’s very unsettling when we see big market drops of two to three percent… It’s a little unnerving for people who have their money in 401(k)’s or IRA’s or retirement funds to watch this magnitude of volatility.” Silver urged investors to remember that “a market falls into a correction, ten percent or more, once a year on average,” and that “usually the market reverts to the mean, and the mean is an average annual return of eight to ten percent a year going all the way back to the 1950s.” What to do if you’re a young or new investor For younger people just beginning to invest, declines in the stock market are an opportunity to add to your portfolio at cheaper prices, by buying in when the market is falling or has fallen a lot, according to Silver. “You’re reducing the average price you pay for the securities, stocks, mutual funds, or index funds that you own (when you buy in a down market),” he said. “So when the market itself reverts to the mean and rises again, you take advantage of having bought at cheaper prices, and that adds to the value of your portfolio.” In terms of selling, though, he said the best advice for most investors is to do nothing and wait for the volatility to cool down. What to do if you’re near retirement “Whenever you invest in stocks it’s important to be mindful of your time horizon,” said Alev. “For instance, do you expect you’ll need to liquidate in the near future? In that case, you’re likely better off opting for a less volatile and more risk-averse mode of growing your money, such as a high-yield savings account.” Silver agreed. “I don’t believe it when people say, ‘Don’t look at your 401(k),’” he said. “You should absolutely look and see what you own and see that it matches your risk appetite.” If it doesn’t, you can move your investments to products that can shield you from the ups and downs of the market or unforeseen events. Silver said that High Yield Savings Accounts, Certificates of Deposit, and money market accounts are all currently seeing returns of about 4% to 5% for the more cautious or conservative investor. Nationwide’s Hackett said it makes sense to periodically rebalance the exposure one has in their portfolio in general - whether quarterly or annually - to make sure there isn’t more risk than one would want related to, say, technology stocks or another sector. “If your exposures get out of line with your long-term plan, get them back in line,” he said. Even so, Hackett added that he sees the trend of tech stocks outperforming as one that may extend further into the future. What to do if you have debt Experts agree that, for investors with debt, it’s important to focus on paying off loans, especially high-interest ones, before making major investments. That said, “if you are able to simultaneously pay off your loans and invest a little bit at the same time, you are effectively paying your future self for being responsible about your debt while growing your investments over time,” Silver said. __ The Associated Press receives support from Charles Schwab Foundation for educational and explanatory reporting to improve financial literacy. The independent foundation is separate from Charles Schwab and Co. Inc. The AP is solely responsible for its journalism.
Thames Water’s assets are looking worse and worse. Bondholders must pay | Nils Pratley 2024-08-06 18:38:00+00:00 - What does Thames Water’s latest disgrace – top billing in a multi-year, multi-company sewage scandal, as finally detailed by the regulator, Ofwat, on Tuesday – mean for its great refinancing challenge? At one level, you could say it makes little difference. A £104m penalty is close to the maximum under Ofwat’s powers, but is a rounding error in the context of borrowings of £15.2bn in the regulated entity. Since the board has known what was coming for months, one assumes the sum was included in last month’s calculation that there is enough cash to keeping going until next May. In any case, a separate potential criminal investigation by the Environment Agency for the same sewage failings is probably the bigger financial threat. But, viewed a different way, the detail of the report underlines the scale of pure operational improvements required at Thames. An astonishing 67% of its wastewater treatment works with “flow to full treatment” permits were found to have “capacity and operational issues”. At the other miscreants, Yorkshire Water and Northumbrian Water, the figures were 16% and 3% respectively. Thames was not the worst of the dirty trio for breaches related to storm overflows, meaning the emergency relief points that stop the sewage network being overwhelmed during usually heavy downpours. Its 16% non-compliance level was better than Yorkshire’s appalling 45%. But there is a reason why Thames was fined (subject to appeal and consultation) a sum equivalent to 9% of turnover in its wastewater division, versus 7% for Yorkshire and 5% for Northumbrian: it was the worst offender in aggregate, albeit the rest of the industry is still to have its turn in spotlight. It is yet another reminder that the direct source of Thames’s woes is not the financial engineering and dividend-extraction over the years, appalling though that has been. It is old-fashioned operational failings. Thames has failed to keep pace with the effects of population growth and the climate crisis, and is running a water and sewage network that the company itself describes as the oldest set of assets in the industry. The tally of water treatment works deemed “potentially non-compliant” is an astonishing 157, according to Ofwat’s document. The refinancing script still fondly imagines that new investors can be found to replace the current owners who declared the company “uninvestable”. In reality, the task of raising £3bn-plus looks virtually impossible without some form of debt write-down to clear the financial decks. Given the state of the assets, which sounds worse with every glimpse we get, any new investors would surely want to maximise the hit for bondholders before putting in fresh capital. At the moment, though, there is no sign of bondholders volunteering to shoulder losses of, say, £5bn-odd. If that remains the case, a spell in special administration – essentially temporary nationalisation – looks the most viable alternative as a way to impose the necessary losses on bondholders. The advantage of an administration process is that a government-appointed outsider would determine a capital structure to allow financial headroom for catch-up spending. If the path could simultaneously be set for a return to the stock market eventually, so much the better. One of the restructuring outcomes has to be chosen within a matter of months because the financial farce cannot run indefinitely. In the meantime, be scandalised that it took so long for the regulators to catch up with the scale of the sewage spills. The breakthrough happened only when water companies were forced to install monitors to measure flows, which started to happen from about 2015, while the appalling evidence only emerged in 2021. It is very hard to believe the water industry did not know there was an enormous problem before then.
Disney raises streaming prices for Hulu, Disney+ and ESPN+ 2024-08-06 17:57:00+00:00 - Disney is raising prices on its streaming platforms. Starting mid-October, most plans for Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ will cost $1 to $2 more per month, according to a press release Tuesday. The most expensive plans for Hulu, which include live TV, will cost $6 more per month. Disney+ basic and premium will be priced at $9.99 and $15.99, respectively. Hulu with ads will cost $9.99 monthly, while Hulu without adds will cost $18.99 per month. ESPN+, which features ads, will cost $11.99 per month. The price hikes come as Disney continues to push its customers toward bundles to get a bigger bang for their buck. For some time, Disney has offered a bundle of its own services, either Hulu and Disney+, or the two streaming services plus ESPN+. The existing bundle of Disney+ and Hulu, with ads, will also get a price hike this fall, up $1 to $10.99 per month. The same bundle without ads won’t see any price increase from it’s current rate of $19.99 per month. Disney has also partnered with Warner Bros. Discovery to offer a bundle, which will include Disney+, Hulu and Max. In July, the companies announced the bundle would be available for $16.99 with ads, and $29.99 commercial-free, noting “a savings of 38% compared with the price of the services purchased separately.” Disney also aims to entice subscribers with ABC News Live and a playlist featuring preschool content, available to all subscribers starting September 4, according to the release Tuesday. The company plans to introduce four more curated playlists for premium subscribers. “Playlists are the latest example of how we’re providing the best value and experience for our subscribers every time they open Disney+,” Alisa Bowen, president of the streaming platform, said in the news release. Disney reports its fiscal third-quarter earnings before the bell on Wednesday.
Dolce & Gabbana Has New Dog Perfume. Veterinarians Turn Up Their Noses. 2024-08-06 16:41:13.185000+00:00 - A smooth voice intones over swelling violins as a parade of pampered pooches poses on high chairs, each more extravagantly groomed than the last. “I am delicate, authentic, charismatic, sensitive, enigmatic, rebel, fresh, irresistible, clean,” the voice says. “’Cause I’m not just a dog. I’m Fefé.” Dolce & Gabbana’s ad for Fefé, its new “alcohol-free fragrance” specifically for dogs, is a feast for the eyes. The perfume contains “the cocooning and warm notes of ylang, the clean and enveloping touch of musk, and the woody, creamy undertones of sandalwood,” according to the company’s website. And it comes at a cost of 99 euros ($109). The perfume has been certified by Safe Pet Cosmetics, an independent veterinary organization in Italy that validates the safety of products for animals, Dolce & Gabbana said. But is it a good idea to spritz your furry companion? “This is entirely for the owner’s benefit, not for the dogs,” said Daniel Mills, a professor of veterinary behavioral medicine at the University of Lincoln in England. “Dogs have a fantastic sense of smell, and changing their odor can cause significant issues.”