Latest News
See the latest news and get GPT analysis of articles
Kamala Harris campaign says it raised $200 million in its first week, mostly from new donors, adding to disputed $95 million from Biden 2024-07-28 16:54:33+00:00 - Kamala Harris' campaign said it had raised $200 million in the last week. The campaign has also had 170,000 new volunteers sign up, it said. It follows President Joe Biden's withdrawal from the election race last Sunday. 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! 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 Kamala Harris has raised $200 million and signed up 170,000 new volunteers in the first week of her presidential campaign, her deputy campaign manager said on Sunday. In a post on X, Rob Flaherty wrote: "There's 100 days til Election Day, so here's a fun one: In the week since we got started, @KamalaHarris has raised $200 million dollars." "66% of that is from new donors. We've signed up 170,000 new volunteers," he continued. "A people-powered campaign for a people-powered presidency!" This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Log in .
Apple Makes History With First US Union Labor Agreement - Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) 2024-07-28 16:38:00+00:00 - Apple Inc. AAPL and the union representing its retail workers in Towson, Maryland, have reached a preliminary labor agreement. This marks the first time the tech giant has entered into such a deal in the United States. What Happened: As reported by CNN, the preliminary labor agreement was finalized late Friday. This is a first not only for an Apple store but also for any of the company’s U.S. workers. The retail employees at the Towson Apple store became members of the International Association of Machinists union in June 2022 and have been negotiating their first contract since then. In May, they authorized a strike without setting a deadline. The labor agreement, still pending ratification by a vote of the 85 rank-and-file members at the store, is a significant breakthrough. Other high-profile union organizing efforts, including those at Starbucks and Amazon, have not yet resulted in deals for their workers. See Also: Apple Joins Meta And Google, Pledges Support For Biden’s AI Regulations The Machinists union disclosed that the Apple store agreement includes scheduling enhancements for improved work-life balance and a 10% pay increase over the three-year contract. It also offers job protections like severance packages for laid-off workers and limits on contract employees. Apple, which operates around 270 stores in the United States, has only one other store in Oklahoma City that has voted to unionize, joining a different union, the Communications Workers of America. However, this store is not included in the current tentative labor agreement. An Apple spokesperson refrained from commenting on the tentative agreement, referring to a previous statement where the company expressed its deep appreciation for its team members and pride in offering them industry-leading compensation and exceptional benefits. Why It Matters: This preliminary labor agreement is a significant milestone for Apple and its US retail workers. It sets a precedent for future labor negotiations and could potentially influence other tech companies to follow suit. The deal also highlights the increasing power and influence of unions in the tech industry, a sector that has traditionally been resistant to unionization. The outcome of the ratification vote by the Apple store workers will be keenly watched by industry observers. Read Next: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Photo: Shutterstock
'Deadpool and Wolverine' snares $205 million domestic opening, highest R-rated debut ever 2024-07-28 16:22:00+00:00 - Marvel is back on top. "Deadpool & Wolverine" shattered box office records this weekend, tallying $205 million in domestic ticket sales during its opening, the highest debut of 2024 and of an R-rated film ever. The film outpaced analysts' expectations, which called for an opening haul between $160 million and $180 million. "The massive debut for 'Deadpool & Wolverine' should convince those who were throwing in the towel for the big screen back in May that you can never underestimate the power, allure resiliency and, yes, unpredictability of the movie theater experience," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. Internationally, the film secured $233.3 million, bringing its estimated global haul to $438.3 million for the full weekend. "Deadpool & Wolverine" is the 34th film to be released under the MCU banner and the first of the Disney-produced installments to garner an R-rating from the Motion Picture Association. The previous two Deadpool films, both rated R, were produced and released through 20th Century Fox. Disney acquired the company in 2019, bringing the X-Men and Fantastic Four back into the larger Marvel portfolio. Similar to previous entries in the MCU, "Deadpool & Wolverine" benefitted from fan fervor. Audiences were eager to see the flick in its opening weekend in order to avoid spoilers. Disney kept much of the film's content secret and provided limited press screenings prior to its debut. The strong opening of "Deadpool & Wolverine" comes after a post-pandemic box office slump for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Disney overcrowded the market with superhero streaming content in recent years and its push for quantity at the box office led to a drop in quality. "Marvel took a mini-break to help rejuvenate their creative direction in the wake of several divisive tentpole films and this return to the arena certainly stuck the superhero landing," said Shawn Robbins, founder and owner of Box Office Theory. "A record-breaking R-rated debut not only shows that Marvel and Disney can spread their wings a little bit when the content calls for it, but also that Marvel fans and casual audiences alike are still eager for the kind of entertaining and meaningful blockbuster storytelling that has defined so much of their unrivaled success," he added. "Deadpool and Wolverine's" opening coincided with Marvel's San Diego Comic Con panel which revealed an updated film slate and gave fans a sense of where the franchise will head in the coming years. That includes Sam Wilson, the newly minted Captain American, seeking to rebuild the Avengers after they disbanded in the wake of their fight with Thanos, and the pending arrival of Doctor Doom, which is set to be played by Iron Man himself Robert Downey Jr. "Every film should be taken on a case-by-case basis, but Deadpool & Wolverine in tandem with this weekend's Comic Con announcements mark significant steps back onto a path that could reignite enthusiasm for the broader franchise," Robbins said.
Vodafone says Labour must let it merge with Three UK to deliver nationwide 5G 2024-07-28 16:11:00+00:00 - The chief executive of Vodafone has said Labour will fail to achieve its promise of nationwide access to 5G, which is essential for next-generation technology such as artificial intelligence, by 2030 if the telecom company’s £15bn merger with the rival Three UK is blocked. In its election manifesto, the government said nationwide coverage was needed by the end of the decade because the UK was falling behind other countries in terms of the investment and rollout of advanced mobile networks. The UK ranks 22 out of 25 European countries for 5G availability and download speeds, according to research published by Opensignal in February. “Everyone now talks about [things like] artificial intelligence, all of these things cannot happen without good networks,” Margherita Della Valle, the chief executive of Vodafone Group, told the Guardian. “All policymakers understand now the importance of having good quality networks. Look at Labour’s manifesto, for example … nationwide 5G by 2030. There is no doubt that a catalyst is needed to get there because it’s not going to be done [by the current market].” Vodafone’s planned merger with its smaller rival Three, which would create the UK’s largest mobile operator with more than 27 million subscribers, is being investigated by the UK competition watchdog. In April, the Competition and Markets Authority moved to launch an in-depth investigation, citing concerns that reducing the UK’s mobile landscape from four main players to three could result in price rises for consumers. Last year, the trade union Unite called the deal “terrible”, claiming that mobile phone bills could rise by as much as £300 a year if the merger was approved. However, Vodafone and Three have said that the combination of the third and fourth largest players in the market is essential to drive investment and compete against the “big two”, the EE owner, BT, and Virgin Media O2, including on competitive pricing. As part of the takeover, the companies have pledged to invest £11bn over the next decade to upgrade and expand their 5G network. “It is a really big decision for the UK, a big industrial policy decision,” Della Valle said. “Everyone thinks about the impact on telcos [telecommunications operators]. The reality is our industry is one of a handful that impacts on many other sectors, [on] everyday life. It is critical for economic growth more broadly.” In 2015, Three UK attempted a £10.25bn takeover of O2, which included a promise to freeze prices in order to gain regulatory clearance. skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Business Today Free daily newsletter Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning Enter your email address Sign up Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy . We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion The telecoms regulator Ofcom was an outspoken opponent of that deal, arguing that the move from four to three main players would “shift the balance of power in the market”. Competition regulators ultimately blocked the takeover. However, two years ago, Ofcom, which feeds market data and views on takeovers and mergers to the CMA, “clarified” its stance, saying its position on future potential tie-ups would be “informed by the specific circumstances of that particular merger, rather than just the number of competitors”. Della Valle said Vodafone, which has been intensively assessing its international businesses and last year announced the largest round of job cuts in the company’s history, said that if the merger was not approved it would be forced to cut investment further. “We don’t have the scale to invest, especially for something like 5G across the board, which is what the UK needs,” she said. “The cost [of the deal being blocked] is even more constrained investment. [The deal] is going to close between now and the end of the year but the next few months are going to be the critical ones. “At the moment, the UK has been lagging behind. By creating a third scale operator – [from] the two little guys – the merger has the ability to unlock this.”
Key workers quit jobs to avoid cash penalties for breaching carer’s allowance 2024-07-28 16:01:00+00:00 - Teachers, NHS staff and other key workers who balance part-time work with caring for loved ones are quitting their jobs to avoid being hit with huge cash penalties for breaching carer’s allowance rules, according to a study. Research into the human impact of the penalties found sanctions running into thousands of pounds, triggered by opaque rules, and poor administration by benefits officials playing havoc with carers’ working lives, health and finances. The report, by Carers UK, a charity, details carers being forced to take desperate measures to avoid breaching tight earnings limits, including: quitting their jobs; cutting their hours; turning down pay rises, one-off cost of living payments and performance bonuses; and even working free hours each month. Those who unwittingly breached the £151 a week earnings limits – in some cases by less than £1 – said the disproportionate penalties levied on them for doing so landed them with huge debts, plunging them and the people they care for into hardship, and inflicting a savage toll on their mental health. The so-called “cliff-edge” earnings rules mean a carer who oversteps the limit must repay the whole £81.90 weekly allowance. A carer who earned £1 more than the £151 threshold for 52 weeks, therefore, would pay back not £52 but £4,258.80. Some are prosecuted for fraud. A Guardian investigation earlier this year revealed the scale of the carer’s allowance injustices, including the last government’s failure to address failings it had known about for years. Latest figures show 134,500 unpaid carers were repaying £251m in earnings-related overpayments, with 11,500 carers repaying sums above £5,000. The report, published on Monday, came as a delegation of unpaid carers led by Carers UK was due to meet ministers at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to call for urgent reforms to the benefit. Campaigners are optimistic they will get a more sympathetic hearing than previously. Labour promised to review carer’s allowance during the election campaign, and carers are buoyed by the appointment of Sir Stephen Timms, a vocal critic of carer’s allowance failings in opposition, as the minister with responsibility for the benefit. View image in fullscreen Enka Plaku with her son. Photograph: Linda Nylind/The Guardian The report, based on interviews with more than 120 unpaid carers, uncovered huge anger at benefits officials, whom they blamed for failing to notify them when they unwittingly breached earnings limits, and then “treating them like criminals” when they were pursued for repayments as high as £18,000. Some said they had stopped claiming carer’s allowance – the main carers benefit worth £4,258 a year – because of the constant stress of avoiding being penalised while juggling part-time work and at least 35 hours a week of unpaid caring. Carers UK described its findings as “devastating” and called for urgent reform of carer’s allowance, claimed by nearly a million unpaid carers. Intended as a cash support for unpaid carers – regularly praised as “unsung heroes” by politicians – it has become a byword for bureaucratic cruelty and incompetence redolent of the Post Office scandal. Helen Walker, the chief executive of Carers UK, said: “It is heartbreaking to hear of instances where thousands of pounds of debts have been accumulated. This has been going on for years and not enough has been done by government to fundamentally change the situation. It simply cannot continue.” In a statement issued ahead of his meeting with campaigners, Timms praised unpaid carers and said the UK would “grind to a halt” without the work they do supporting vulnerable people. ‘I felt like a criminal, as if I’d committed a crime, because I was trying to understand a system that makes no sense at all’ Elizabeth Tait “We recognise the challenges they are facing and we are determined to provide unpaid carers with the support they deserve,” he said. He added: “Meeting organisations like Carers UK and individual carers and hearing their views and experiences is key to helping us to establish the facts and make informed decisions. “With respect to overpayments of carer’s allowance, we are moving quickly to understand exactly what has gone wrong so we can set out our plan to put things right.” A common theme of the Carers UK study is how the tight earnings rules prevent carers keeping a part-time foothold in the labour market to retain skills and earn money while continuing to look after disabled and frail relatives. The government has said it wants to “get Britain working” by removing barriers to employment. Enka Plaku, an unpaid carer for her son, who gave up work after being hit with a £6,800 overpayment, told the Guardian: “They want teachers all the time but I’m one of them forced to be at home when I can go in and work.” The Carers UK study uncovered widespread anger among carers that although DWP officials have the technology to spot earnings breaches as soon as they happen, it has regularly failed to alert carers about them for months or years before imposing massive overpayment penalties and in some cases threatening them with prosecution. The shock of receiving penalties – which carers said were down to oversights caused by hazy and complex earnings rules – was compounded by often callous treatment by benefits officials. One unnamed carer said there was “a cruelty written into the [carer’s allowance] system that kind of rubs you out as a person.” Another carer, Elizabeth Tait, who unknowingly ran up ran up a £1,623 overpayment, told the Guardian: “I felt like a criminal, as if I’d committed a crime, because I was trying to understand a system that makes no sense at all.”
Strawberry yields: wet then warm weather leads to bumper UK harvest 2024-07-28 15:37:00+00:00 - The recent spell of warm weather after a rainy and cloudy start to the summer has provided perfect growing conditions in Britain for as much as 200 tonnes of surprise “big, juicy, luscious” strawberries heading to shop shelves, a leading supplier has said. “The cold and wet spell earlier in the year, plus the recent mini heatwave, have resulted in pushing more of our predicted crop volume into late July and early August,” said Lee Port, the chief executive of the Kent-based fruit grower Mansfields. “This will result in an abundance of strawberries – roughly an extra 40 to 50 tonnes a week until the end of August. The good news is that they are big, juicy and luscious.” In May, the trade body British Berry Growers (BBG) said tennis fans at Wimbledon, where strawberries with cream is an annual tradition, could expect juicier fruits this year after the wet and dark winter slowed growing times. Nick Marston, the chair of the BBG, said that while this year’s harvest had taken about a fortnight longer to appear on the shelves, the delay meant British-grown strawberries ripened and flowered more gradually, resulting in unusually large, juicy berries. However, despite this year’s bumper crop, the longer-term outlook for the wider industry is more worrying. Last week, the BBG warned that British growers were finding it increasingly difficult to survive amid rising costs and poor pay from supermarkets. A survey by the industry body, which represents farmers producing 95% of the berries sold in the UK, suggested that 40% of British growers of strawberries and raspberries could go out of business by the end of 2026. If problems are not addressed, the BBG warned of “a future massive reduction in the supply of fresh British berries”. More than a third of those surveyed – 37% – are already considering reducing their production or moving out of berry farming entirely, while 39% said their relationship with retailers had never been this bad, according to the study. Strawberries, along with raspberries, blueberries and blackberries, continue to be the most popular fruit item in shoppers’ baskets, with the biggest market share – at 28% – of all fruit sold in the UK. 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 Over the past 12 months, shoppers spent a record £847m on strawberries, Kantar figures show.
‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ smashes R-rated record with $205 million debut, 8th biggest opening ever 2024-07-28 15:30:04+00:00 - Marvel is back on top with “ Deadpool & Wolverine.” The comic-book movie made a staggering $205 million in its first weekend in North American theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday. It shattered the opening record for R-rated films previously held by the first “Deadpool” ($132 million) and notched a spot in the top 10 openings of all time. Including international showings, where it’s racked up an addition $233.3 million from 52 markets, “Deadpool & Wolverine” is looking at a global opening of over $438.3 million. Hugh Jackman, left, director Shawn Levy and Ryan Reynolds pose for photographers upon arrival at the screening of the film 'Deadpool & Wolverine' in London. (Photo by Millie Turner/Invision/AP) This image released by 20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios shows Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool/Wade Wilson, left, and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine/Logan (20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios via AP) Fittingly for both characters’ introduction to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “Deadpool & Wolverine” played less like earlier X-Men or Deadpool movies and more like an Avengers pic. In the top domestic opening weekends ever, “Deadpool & Wolverine” is seated in 8th place between “The Avengers” ($207.4 million) and “Black Panther” ($202 million), bumping “Avengers: Age of Ultron” ($191.3 million) out of the top 10. It’s by far biggest opening of the year, unseating Disney’s “ Inside Out 2 ” ($154.2 million) and the most tickets a movie has sold in its debut weekend since “Barbie” ($162 million) stormed theaters last July. Playing in 4,210 locations, “Deadpool & Wolverine” also surpassed 2019’s “The Lion King” ($191.8 million) to become the biggest July opening ever, and is the 34th consecutive MCU movie to debut in first place. And these are numbers previously thought impossible for an R-rated film. “It’s great news full stop,” said Tony Chambers, who leads theatrical distribution for Disney. “Not only is it great for Disney, not only is it great for Marvel, but it’s great for the industry as a whole. We’ve said it before but success begets success.” That the numbers came alongside an R-rating, Chambers added, was “nothing short of phenomenal.” The Walt Disney Studios release arrived at a pivotal time for an industry grappling with box office returns that continue to run at a double-digit deficit from last year. Disney has played a vital role in the summer season, releasing the top movies in May (“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”), June (“Inside Out 2″) and now July. The success is also an important moment for Marvel Studios, which has had several high-profile disappointments lately; Most notably in “ The Marvels ” which opened to an MCU low of $47 million last November. Superheroes have been struggling even more elsewhere: Sony, which reached a high point with “Spider-Man: No Way Home” ($1.9 billion worldwide) had a new low with “Madame Web,” which barely crossed $100 million. Warner Bros. Discovery, after a string of disappointments with “The Flash” and “Blue Beetle,” is currently working on restarting their DC universe under the supervision of James Gunn. Marvel’s savior came in the form of two characters who got their start outside of the MCU. Both Deadpool and Wolverine, played by Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, existed previously under the 21st Century Fox banner which for two decades had the rights to Marvel characters like the “X-Men” and “Fantastic Four.” That changed when Disney acquired the studio’s film and TV assets in early 2019 and plans started to take shape of how all these characters would fit into Kevin Feige’s MCU. In some cases, as with “Fantastic Four,” Marvel Studios is starting fresh. With “Deadpool & Wolverine,” directed by Shawn Levy, the stars were as crucial as their characters. This weekend at the Comic-Con fan convention, Marvel also teased more to come, including Robert Downey Jr.’s return — not as Iron Man but as Doctor Doom. Going into the weekend, $200 million domestic seemed like a pipe dream. Analysts were more conservative with predictions in the $160 million range. But from the start of the 3 p.m. Thursday preview screenings it was clear that “Deadpool & Wolverine” was more powerful. By the end of Friday, it had already made $96 million and recieved a coveted A CinemaScore from audiences. Critics, too, have been mostly positive. Premium screens, including IMAX and other large formats, accounted for 18% of the total box office. “Historically, PG-13 is the rating that will get you the biggest bang for your buck,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “The old rule that R-rated movies have a box office ceiling was literally shattered this weekend. The edgier content actually enhances their appeal to older teens and young 20-somethings.” The top domestic opening of all time still firmly belongs to “Avengers: Endgame” with $357.1 million. It’s followed by “Spider-Man: No Way Home” ($260.1 million), “Avengers: Infinity War” ($257.6 million), “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” ($247.9 million) and “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” ($220 million). Second place went to Universal’s “Twisters,” now in its second weekend with $35.3 million. The standalone sequel to “Twister” has now earned $154.9 million in North America. Universal also claimed third place with “Despicable Me 4,” which added $14.2 million in its fourth weekend, bringing its domestic total to nearly $291 million. “Inside Out 2” landed in fourth place with $8.3 million. The Disney and Pixar release this week became the biggest animated release ever with $613.4 million domestically (surpassing “Incredibles 2”) and $1.5 billion globally. It also passed “Top Gun: Maverick” to become the 12th highest-earning global release of all time. It all adds up to one of the top 10 domestic grossing weekends of all time, with $277.5 million, according to Comscore. That puts it ahead of this weekend last year, when “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” helped propel the box office to over $216.9 million in their second weekends. “This is one for the history books,” Dergarabedian said. ”Hopefully this will carry over into August.” Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday. 1. “Deadpool & Wolverine,” $205 million. 2. “Twisters,” $35.3 million. 3. “Despicable Me 4,” $14.2 million. 4. “Inside Out 2,” $8.3 million. 5. “Longlegs,” $6.8 million. 6. “A Quiet Place: Day One,” $3 million. 7. “Bad Boys: Ride or Die,” $1.3 million. 8. “The Fabulous Four,” $1 million. 9. “Fly Me to the Moon,” $750,000. 10. “Raayan,” $378,571.
Government To Match Retirement Savings For Millions Of Workers, Opening New Opportunities For Financial Advisors 2024-07-28 14:56:00+00:00 - The Saver’s Match, created by the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022, is poised to transform retirement savings for low-income workers, and could bring a whole new audience to financial advisors. Set to launch in 2027, this program will convert the existing Saver’s Credit into a federal government match, offering up to $1,000 at a rate of 50 cents per dollar contributed. According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute, at least 21.9 million workers will qualify for the Saver’s Match. However, industry experts are scrambling to ensure its effective implementation by the 2027 deadline. Kim Olson from the Pew Charitable Trusts is leading efforts to assist the Treasury and IRS in launching the program, according to planadviser. Key focus areas include simplicity, efficiency, and awareness. Pew has convened working groups to address program publicity, eligibility identification, and fund distribution coordination. Also Read: Russell 2000 Notches Third Week Of Gains, Strongest Streak Since August 2022: Small Caps Serve ‘As Economic Barometer,’ Analyst Says Emerson Sprick of the Bipartisan Policy Center highlights the Saver’s Match as a significant improvement over the current Saver’s Credit, which faces issues such as low federal income tax liability among its target group and lack of awareness. One major challenge is the “plumbing” with recordkeepers. Spencer Williams of the Retirement Clearinghouse suggests that the existing Portability Services Network could be adapted to support the Saver’s Match, providing a system for participant identification, account matching, and fund transfers. Implementation hurdles include coordinating with state retirement programs, many of which use post-tax Roth accounts that currently can’t receive government funds. Solutions may involve creating separate pre-tax accounts for eligible participants. Experts stress the importance of a robust public awareness campaign to ensure eligible workers know about and utilize the program. They hope the IRS will prominently feature the Saver’s Match during tax filing season. Despite the challenges, the Saver’s Match represents a significant investment in low-to-moderate income workers’ retirement savings. Its successful implementation could potentially reduce future reliance on other social assistance programs, making it a crucial development for both beneficiaries and the U.S. retirement system as a whole – and could create a new clientele for financial advisors. Read Next: Photo: Shutterstock
Not finding your dream job? Asking yourself these questions can help open up your search 2024-07-28 14:56:00+00:00 - Nearly 7 million people are currently looking for work, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And while there are about 8 million jobs open, not all may be of immediate interest to those trying to find their next role. If you're currently in that position, don't overlook every job that seems out of line with your current pursuits. Sometimes even an opportunity that seems a bit off your path "is a bridge" to where you want to be in the future, says Jasmine Escalera, career expert at My Perfect Resume. Here's how to identify opportunities you hadn't considered or see beyond the obvious in a job listing. Ask, 'where am I? Where do I want to be?' Before you even begin your job search, "I think the most important thing to start with is self-reflection," says Escalera. The idea is to get a sense of what your long-term career goals are. Consider questions like, "where am I? Where do I want to be? And what's the gap that I need to fill?" she says. These will help you get a sense of what your trajectory could be and what kind of skills you need to build to get the jobs you want. This kind of thinking could ultimately help you widen your search and find opportunities in open roles you hadn't considered. Early on his career, Dan Space, who's worked in HR at companies like WebMD and Electronic Arts, realized he wanted to work in video games but didn't have experience in the field. So he took a job at WebMD in a "very intentional move to try to get into the video game space because I could make a story that what we were selling was an online product" similar to what a video game company was doing. When a role at Electronic Arts opened up, he could prove he had the experience to do it. It's what he calls taking on roles adjacent to where you want to be. They're "essentially mid steps," he says. Do some 'professional internet stalking' It can be hard to identify jobs you've never heard of that could lead you in the right direction. Doing some LinkedIn research can help. Escalera calls it "professional internet stalking." Look for people with the title you want, read through their LinkedIn profile and "figure out what their career trajectory is," she says. That will help you find roles in your job search you may not have considered but that could help you develop in the right way. "You can almost kind of map it out," she says of a potential career path. 'You're guaranteed a spot in hundreds of' other fields
33-year-old commutes from New York City to the Hamptons every summer to nanny: ‘The best job I’ve ever had’ 2024-07-28 14:31:00+00:00 - Swanson has been working as a live-in nanny in the Hamptons since 2020. Meredith Swanson has been nannying in New York City for more than a decade — but it wasn't until a few weeks ago that the job helped her go viral on TikTok. On July 1, the 33-year-old posted a 90-second clip on her account @meredithgswanson walking people through a day in her life as a nanny in the Hamptons. Swanson, who is an actress, singer and dancer by trade, calls nannying her "survival job" — the one that covers her bills and living expenses as she pursues a career in entertainment. In the video, Swanson drives from her apartment in Manhattan to the Hamptons — a commute that takes about two hours — and settles into her nannying routine, which includes picking up the children she watches from tennis camp, taking them to the beach and grabbing donuts at a bakery downtown. Within days, the TikTok racked up nearly 1.5 million views. "I was stunned," says Swanson, who started vlogging about nannying in the Hamptons over a year ago. Soon, her comments were flooded with questions about the gig: How did she become a nanny? Where are the parents? What's the pay like? Is working in the Hamptons all it's cracked up to be? Working in child care "is not for the faint of heart," says Swanson. "But it's the best job I've ever had." Building a career through 'word of mouth' Swanson moved to Manhattan shortly after graduating college in 2013 to pursue her dream of performing on Broadway. She took a part-time job as a hostess at a steakhouse in the city and nannied for families in her neighborhood in the mornings and afternoons to earn money between auditions. "It paid the bills, but I wasn't happy," Swanson says. Working late shifts and weekends at the restaurant was burning her out, too. In 2018, Swanson says she realized that she felt "more energized and fulfilled" working with children than she ever did in a restaurant — so she quit her hostess gig to work part-time at My Gym, a children's gym in Manhattan. That job introduced Swanson to the families she would work with for the next six years, including the one she works for now. "It's all just been through word of mouth and networking," Swanson says of her child-care career. " I've been very, very fortunate with how nannying just fell into my lap." She didn't start working in the Hamptons until June 2020, when the family she worked for invited her to be a live-in nanny at their beach house four days a week through the end of the summer. Swanson follows a similar schedule for the family she's with this summer. She started watching the children earlier this year, and plans to continue working with them part-time for at least the next two years. Spending summers in the Hamptons Between June and August, Swanson works from the Hamptons as a live-in nanny Mondays through Thursdays, from 6:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m., watching two boys under 7 (Swanson declined to share the exact location in the Hamptons to protect her employers' privacy). On Fridays and weekends, she's back in Manhattan. Every family she's worked with in the Hamptons has loaned her a car for the summer, which is how she commutes. "Summers are slow for auditioning, so I essentially have a 3-day weekend," she adds. "That kind of flexibility has been amazing." Swanson says the average rate for nannying in the Hamptons, based on her experience, is anywhere between $25 and $60 an hour. Care.com puts the average rate for a live-in nanny in East Hampton at $26.33 an hour. "It wasn't until I started nannying that I became financially secure," she says. "There are some years where I've made close to six figures from working in child care alone, which is really cool. People underestimate how viable this career path is." Avoiding burnout in child care
To beat Donald Trump, Dems must capitalize on Kamala Harris joy 2024-07-28 14:16:03+00:00 - This is an adapted excerpt from the July 26 episode of “Morning Joe.” During an appearance on “The Beat,” veteran Democratic strategist James Carville told Ari Melber that members of his party were too enthusiastic about the candidacy of Vice President Kamala Harris: I have to be the skunk at the garden party. This is too triumphalist, OK? This is — everybody’s giddy. I look at the coverage and it’s great. [But] great ready, they’re coming. All right? And it’s good. Everybody should feel good and liberated and everything else. But if we don’t win the election, we haven’t done anything. Gee, why such a Debbie Downer? The overwhelmingly positive response to the Harris candidacy is its own cause for celebration among Democrats who have been concerned by the state of the race for months. A strong campaign team can make great television ads or build a great field organization, but it can’t manufacture enthusiasm for your candidate. A fired-up base of supporters is the fuel that propels the most successful campaigns and — as one of the most heralded political strategists of the last three decades — Carville certainly knows this. I guess he’s just nervous about the onslaught of attacks that await the vice president. A fired-up base of supporters is the fuel that propels the most successful campaigns. You can be both enthusiastic about the Democrats’ new ticket and clear-eyed about the challenges Harris and her running mate will face. As someone who was on the front lines of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, I know I am. It’s going to get ugly and it’s going to be a slog, which is all the more reason why the vice president needs joyful warriors who will have her back during the brutal days ahead. So don’t be a buzzkill. We all need some positive vibes. Knowing of Carville’s anxiety about “preachy females” in the Democratic Party, I also have to wonder if his lamentations about Harris supporters being “giddy” and feeling “liberated” are directed at voters he assumes are elated by the notion of electing the first woman president. That’s not my motivation, nor was it during the 2016 campaign. I just thought Clinton was the best person for the job — which is how I feel this time with Harris. And I think women are extremely motivated to help the vice president now because our lives and those of our daughters and granddaughters are the most threatened by Donald Trump’s extreme agenda. I know firsthand the despair and disempowerment women have felt as we watched polls slip away toward a Trump landslide win. They had left us wondering if we had any agency in this country at all. Was it too late to save democracy or protect the young women and girls in this country? Now, we have a fighting chance to win. Now, we have a fighting chance to win. I think it’s that hope, that belief that it’s not too late and that there is something each of us can do to ward off a Trump win and secure victory for Harris that accounts for the massive show of support from women and men. Less than a week into her campaign, women and men both have undertaken historic organizing efforts and raised millions of dollars for her. The vice president has shown she’s more than ready for this fight, and that’s inspired us to rally behind her in a very big way. We feel a responsibility to get her elected and empowered to get the job done. Given the dark weeks that preceded this moment, it feels liberating.
Readers reply: Why do Visa and Mastercard advertise to consumers? 2024-07-28 14:01:00+00:00 - Why do Visa, Mastercard and so on advertise to consumers? As far as I know, the way in which bank payments are processed is immaterial to the account holder. In any case, you can’t choose – you get whichever one your bank decides. Tom Gretton, Exeter Send new questions to nq@theguardian.com. Readers reply John Wanamaker is alleged to have said: “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted. The trouble is, I don’t know which half.” PaddyMiguel The company probably pays out sales bonuses based on new customers and existing customers using their cards more, particularly if they accrue interest. That’s their business. They have an incentive to get brand recognition and partnerships. For the customer, it means nothing, but since when did we ever matter? MiffledKitty As an encouragement to use your credit card, rather than an encouragement to use their brand in particular. MissKitty My husband and I have always had both Mastercard and Visa in our wallets, for the odd occasions when a vendor takes only one or the other, or when one of them is offline, as happens in hacking situations or “security updates” gone wrong. Here in Canada, there are many card providers and multiple banks. We have relationships with four, so there are choices of card. NotJustTheStones Visa is a main sponsor for the Olympics, so it’s the only card accepted when purchasing souvenir merchandise and tickets. Funnily enough, there is currently a giant advert for Mastercard on the front of the Galeries Lafayette in Paris. Pengolina123 There are a few reasons they think it profitable to advertise. First, someone does make a choice about Visa/Mastercard – your bank will spend time and money working out which of these schemes offers best value, most functionality, etc. So there’s a direct appeal to the decision-makers at banks. I’d say this population is close to about 50 people in the UK. Second, customers want to have confidence in the way their money is managed. You might not have heard of Vocalink, but you probably have confidence in using a Link cash machine to get money out of the wall. Link is run by Vocalink, but Link is the well-known bit. If Visa/MasterCard were never mentioned, would you trust an off-the-radar organisation to run your card scheme? Part of this advertising is to make sure consumers know when they use Visa/MasterCard that they are using a trusted, well-established firm. Banks can only adopt a scheme that their millions of customers will have confidence in, too. Third, lots of countries don’t have the infrastructure we do. I think the anodyne nature of their advertising is key to appealing to those markets where there are limited schemes like this, so there’s a global angle, hence the bland adverts and sponsorship you see. Finally, the two firms offer more services than moving transactions between a seller and a customer’s bank, including some traditionally bank-owned services. (Vocalink is part of Mastercard.) They aren’t always just advertising the traditional services. BenIndustrialNorth With relatively few payment systems left operating at scale, it’s considered worthwhile for the industry as a whole to target those who still cling to cash and cheques. In parts of Asia, where cash is still heavily utilised, there’s a heated tussle between the app-based WeChat Pay and Alipay. There are lots of places where you can struggle to pay if all you’re packing is some form of Visa, Mastercard or American Express. Walk into shops and they’re plastered with stickers for one or both – it’s a turf war. Dorkalicious As a marketing professional with 17 years’ experience at companies including Coca-Cola, I can provide some insight. Visa and Mastercard’s consumer advertising efforts are primarily about building brand loyalty and attracting new cardholders. While the final decision on which card network to use rests with the issuing bank, consumers often have a preference for certain brands due to familiarity and trust built through advertising. For example, Visa’s “Everywhere You Want to Be” campaign focuses on the convenience and global acceptance of their cards, appealing to frequent travellers. In markets where Visa is the leader, such as the US, the strategy reinforces its dominance. Conversely, in regions where Mastercard holds a stronger position, like Europe, Mastercard’s “Priceless” campaign emphasises unique experiences, aiming to recruit new users by appealing to emotional connections. Advertising also plays a critical role in increasing the frequency of card usage. By leveraging behavioural economics, these companies encourage consumers to use their cards more often. Promotions such as cashback offers, reward points and exclusive discounts are prominently featured in ads to trigger spending impulses. For instance, Mastercard’s partnerships with major events such as the Champions League create compelling reasons for cardholders to use their cards for purchases tied to these events. Advertising high-end card offerings is another strategic focus for these companies. By showcasing the benefits of premium cards – concierge services, travel insurance, luxury rewards – Visa and Mastercard can attract affluent consumers who typically have higher transaction values. Visa’s Infinite card offers perks including access to exclusive airport lounges and luxury hotel benefits, which are heavily advertised to position the brand as a premium choice. In countries where consumers are becoming more affluent, like China, promoting premium cards can significantly boost brand perception and market share. Yesayi Melik-Yolchyan
We were promised a 15-hour working week. What’s the hold-up? | Emma Beddington 2024-07-28 14:01:00+00:00 - In ancient Greece, Aristotle was big on “noble leisure”, but modern Greece might need a refresher, having just introduced a six-day, 48-hour working week. Opponents have described the measure as “barbaric”, an erosion of workers’ rights in a country that already works the longest hours in Europe. I have been thinking a lot about work recently. OK, I am not exactly formulating an incisive critique of the labour market (most of my thoughts are of dinner or pigeons), but I have been wondering why we still do so much of it. I studied economics for a brief, inglorious time 30 years ago – with about as much understanding as a pigeon, actually – but the one bit that stuck was John Maynard Keynes’s assertion that, in future, we would work 15-hour weeks. In 1930, in Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren, he argued (not entirely seriously; it was originally an after-dinner speech) that income from capital and technological progress would, within two generations, make work optional. Most people would do a bit (“Three hours a day is quite enough to satisfy the old Adam in most of us!” he said) because old habits die hard, but the “permanent problem”, he claimed, would be “how to occupy the leisure, which science and compound interest will have won”. I don’t know about you, but what to do with my excess leisure time has not yet become a permanent problem; it is not a problem anyone in the Greek private sector will be complaining about, either. The global workforce is overstretched, frayed to breaking point and existentially exhausted. From fulfilment centre workers and drivers apparently peeing in bottles because they can’t take breaks to burnt-out white-collar workers realising that, for all its benefits, technologically enabled “flexible working” eats inexorably into our previously private time, people are working longer and losing quality of life. Keynes wrote Economic Possibilities in the depths of the Great Depression; in 2024, it still feels properly audacious. A three-hour day is an idea even #softlife TikTok girlies wouldn’t dare to dream of: enough time with people you love and to fulfil your caring responsibilities; time for self-care, with proper food and exercise; time to engage in your community and to pursue diverse, intellectually satisfying interests? It’s the kind of decadent socialist wonderland that hardline Republicans in the US imagine Europe to be (they would expect no less of someone from the pansexual polycule that was Bloomsbury, I suppose). So why aren’t we getting what Keynes promised? We are starting to look more critically at whether long working hours serve us. Critiques of hustle culture become ever more pointed. When the UK’s four-day-week trials concluded last year, 56 out of 61 companies chose to continue with the model; a second pilot is planned for November. Several European countries have legislated to protect employees’ out-of-work hours and Labour’s New Deal for Working People included a right to switch off that will hopefully become law. These are unambitious baby steps, though. OK, Keynes underestimated the increase in post-work life expectancy; how the invention of better stuff would push us to desire and strive for it; and how much the distribution of wealth matters. But we live in a time of technological and AI-enabled wonderment that even Keynes could not have imagined. It is also a time of overconfident billionaire “disruptors”, beneficiaries of that unfair distribution of wealth. If one of them chose this as their goal, rather than firing penis-shaped craft in all directions, surely they could achieve it. I wonder if something else is going on. We are not there mentally – just look at the flak Keir Starmer took for daring to suggest he might sometimes stop work at six on Fridays. Is it possible that we are scared? What if it turns out we have no intellectual hinterland, that we are impatient carers and rubbish at playing with our kids? What if we don’t want to make healthy food and do weight-bearing exercise and daily cardio – and no longer have an excuse not to? What if our leisure doesn’t turn out to be “noble” and we just spend longer staring at our phones? We won’t know until we try. There are only six years before Economic Possibilities turns 100; come on, let’s make this happen.
Generative AI requires massive amounts of power and water, and the aging U.S. grid can't handle the load 2024-07-28 13:56:00+00:00 - In this article QCOM AAPL Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT Hundreds of ethernet cables connect server racks at a Vantage data center in Santa Clara, California, on July 8, 2024. Katie Tarasov Chasing power There are more than 8,000 data centers globally, with the highest concentration in the U.S. And, thanks to AI, there will be far more by the end of the decade. Boston Consulting Group estimates demand for data centers will rise 15%-20% every year through 2030, when they're expected to comprise 16% of total U.S. power consumption. That's up from just 2.5% before OpenAI's ChatGPT was released in 2022, and it's equivalent to the power used by about two-thirds of the total homes in the U.S. CNBC visited a data center in Silicon Valley to find out how the industry can handle this rapid growth, and where it will find enough power to make it possible. "We suspect that the amount of demand that we'll see from AI-specific applications will be as much or more than we've seen historically from cloud computing," said Jeff Tench, Vantage Data Center's executive vice president of North America and APAC. Many big tech companies contract with firms like Vantage to house their servers. Tench said Vantage's data centers typically have the capacity to use upward of 64 megawatts of power, or as much power as tens of thousands of homes. "Many of those are being taken up by single customers, where they'll have the entirety of the space leased to them. And as we think about AI applications, those numbers can grow quite significantly beyond that into hundreds of megawatts," Tench said . Santa Clara, California, where CNBC visited Vantage, has long been one of the nation's hot spots for clusters of data centers near data-hungry clients. Nvidia's headquarters was visible from the roof. Tench said there's a "slowdown" in Northern California due to a "lack of availability of power from the utilities here in this area." Vantage is building new campuses in Ohio, Texas and Georgia. "The industry itself is looking for places where there is either proximate access to renewables, either wind or solar, and other infrastructure that can be leveraged, whether it be part of an incentive program to convert what would have been a coal-fired plant into natural gas, or increasingly looking at ways in which to offtake power from nuclear facilities," Tench said. Vantage Data Centers is expanding a campus outside Phoenix, Arizona, to offer 176 megawatts of capacity Vantage Data Centers Hardening the grid The aging grid is often ill-equipped to handle the load even where enough power can be generated. The bottleneck occurs in getting power from the generation site to where it's consumed. One solution is to add hundreds or thousands of miles of transmission lines. "That's very costly and very time-consuming, and sometimes the cost is just passed down to residents in a utility bill increase," said Shaolei Ren, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of California, Riverside. One $5.2 billion effort to expand lines to an area of Virginia known as "data center alley" was met with opposition from local ratepayers who don't want to see their bills increase to fund the project. Another solution is to use predictive software to reduce failures at one of the grid's weakest points: the transformer. "All electricity generated must go through a transformer," said VIE Technologies CEO Rahul Chaturvedi, adding that there are 60 million-80 million of them in the U.S. The average transformer is also 38 years old, so they're a common cause for power outages. Replacing them is expensive and slow. VIE makes a small sensor that attaches to transformers to predict failures and determine which ones can handle more load so it can be shifted away from those at risk of failure. Chaturvedi said business has tripled since ChatGPT was released in 2022, and is poised to double or triple again next year. VIE Technologies CEO Rahul Chaturvedi holds up a sensor on June 25, 2024, in San Diego. VIE installs these on aging transformers to help predict and reduce grid failures. VIE Technologies Cooling servers down
This biographer exchanged emails with Bernie Madoff from prison for a decade. Here’s what he learned 2024-07-28 13:56:00+00:00 - Richard Behar Courtesy: Lizzie Cohen You probably haven't heard Bernie Madoff's name in awhile, but that doesn't mean the infamous fraudster's story is over, or the pain he inflicted. Irving Picard, an 83-old court-appointed trustee, still spends his days trying to claw back money from the those who benefitted from Madoff's Ponzi scheme, and to reduce the staggering losses of others. More than 100 legal battles over the greatest known fraud in history still rage on. Richard Behar, who has just published a new biography, "Madoff: The Final Word," is also still trying to understand how Madoff's mind worked. What allows a person to rip off Elie Wiesel, who survived the Holocaust and went on to become a main chronicler of it? Or to sit with his wife, Ruth, in a theater and enjoy a movie while knowing that he's erased the life savings of thousands of people all over the world? Those questions haunted Behar — who tells CNBC he has long been fascinated by con-artists. So long after most other reporters had turned their attention elsewhere, he reached out to Madoff while the financial criminal served out his 150-year prison sentence in North Carolina. Zoom In Icon Arrows pointing outwards Richard Behar's book 'Madoff: The Final Word.' Behar started by sending his condolences to Madoff, whose son, Mark, had just died by suicide in Dec. 2010, the second anniversary of his father's arrest. Shortly after, an email subject line popped up in Behar's inbox: "Inmate: MADOFF, BERNARD L." That message was the start to a decade-long relationship between the two men, including roughly 50 phone conversations, hundreds of emails and three in-person visits. When Madoff died in April 2021, Behar was still writing the biography. Madoff often complained to Behar that he was taking too long on the book. "He once joked that he'd be dead when it came out, which of course turned out to be true, although I never planned it that way," Behar said. CNBC interviewed Behar, an award-winning journalist and contributing editor of investigations at Forbes, over email this month. (The conversation has been edited and condensed for style and clarity.) 'He never asked me one personal question' Annie Nova: You write that you're an investigative reporter with "a special fondness for scammers." Why do you think that is? Richard Behar: I've always been mesmerized by how the brains of scammers work. I'm especially intrigued, maybe obsessed, with scammers who steal from people who are very close to them — like Madoff did. A scamster who I visited in prison in the 1990s did something similar. Until Bernie's arrest, this guy ran the lengthiest known Ponzi scheme ever, for 11 years. He was orphaned and raised by an aunt and uncle, and yet financially devoured them, as well as his cousins, his wife's parents, his best friend — even a nun who he charmed with his alleged faith in god. I wasn't raised by my biological parents either, and spent my childhood in foster homes. I couldn't pretend to imagine doing that to people who stepped up to care for me, but it's endlessly fascinating to me. Maybe that's where that fondness for scammers is rooted. Bernard Madoff arrives at Manhattan Federal court on March 12, 2009 in New York City. Stephen Chernin | Getty Images News | Getty Images AN: Did Madoff take any interest in your life? RB: Through a nearly decade-long relationship, he never asked me one personal question. That was mind-boggling. I'd sometimes give him openings, like telling him I grew up in a town not far from his hometown — with a similar but poorer Jewish subculture — but he said nothing. He couldn't care less. I asked a psychologist about this, and she theorized that Bernie was such a malignant narcissist that he couldn't "hold my reality, he could only hold his own." I couldn't be a three-dimensional human being to him, because if he can imagine that, he'd have to imagine the school teacher who has lost a pension. AN: What was the most remorse you saw him show over what he'd done? RB: I once asked if he could ever forgive himself for the Ponzi itself, and he said "No, never." He insisted he felt great remorse for those who he stole from. But I never totally felt it. Never a tear. I asked why he didn't cry at his sentencing, and he snapped: "Of course I didn't cry; I was cried out." 'Prison was a great relief for him' AN: How did Madoff say life in prison changed him? RB: He never talked about it. He once described himself as feeling numb. I said, "I can't imagine what it would be like." He replied, "You don't want to know, you don't want to know." In some ways, I think being in prison was a great relief for him. Running a half-century Ponzi has got to be exhausting. In prison, he'd typically wake up in his cell at around 4 a.m., make coffee in bed with an instant hot water machine, then read, or listen to NPR until breakfast. He worked in the kitchen, then the laundry room and then oversaw the inmates' computer room. That last job cracked me up because he told me he could barely turn a computer on in his office, which should have been a red flag to everyone at the company that he wasn't actually trading stocks. AN: You write that he was seeing a therapist in prison. Do we know often this was, or for how long it lasted? Did it seem to be helping him? RB: He ended one phone chat abruptly because he had to get to one of his weekly appointments with his psychologist. When he called me afterwards, I asked how it went. He laughed and said it was helpful, that she was a "terrific lady" and that he thinks he should have done therapy years before. But even if the sessions were helpful, he said he never found the answers he sought about why he did the fraud and why he hurt so many people. NEW YORK - MARCH 12: Financier Bernard Madoff passes the gathered press as he arrives at Manhattan Federal court on March 12, 2009 in New York City. Madoff was expected to plead guilty to all 11 felony charges brought by prosecutors on financial misdoings, and could end up with a sentence of 150 years in prison. Chris Hondros | Getty Images He was disturbed by press reports that called him a sociopath. He said he asked his therapist, "Am I a sociopath? A lot of clients were friends and family — how could I do this?" Bernie claims that she told him that people have the ability to compartmentalize, like mobsters that kill and then go home and hold their kids. You just put it out of your mind. I asked if she came up with a diagnosis. He said, no, just a compartmentalizer. Maybe she told him that to make him feel better since he wasn't ever getting out. AN: For so many years, it sounded like Madoff was just waiting to be caught. Is that right? Did he always know he wouldn't be able to get away with this? What was living in that suspended state like for him? RB: Bernie said he was under constant stress over the Ponzi, and would talk out loud to himself sometimes in the office, because of the pressure. One of his biggest outlets for relieving the stress was sitting in dark theaters with his wife Ruth, he said, watching movies twice a week. He also said he deluded himself into thinking some "miracle" would come along to bail him out of the Ponzi, but that he knew for at least the last decade before his arrest that he'd never get out from under it. The only time he truly relaxed, he said, was on weekends when he was out on his yacht. I interviewed a former FBI behavioral analysis expert who suggested Bernie felt safe on the boat because he could see 360 degrees around him, all the way to the horizon, so he'd have a lot of forewarning that a threat was coming. 'Not a single investor' had complained to the SEC AN: You paint a really interesting portrait of the figure of Irving Picard, an 83-year-old court-appointed trustee, who has spent years trying to get money back for Madoff's investors. Has this been Picard's only job over the years? Why has he made this his life mission? RB: Picard rarely talks with the press. I was just chatting with John Moscow, a former chief white-collar crimes prosecutor for the Manhattan DA's office who worked on some Madoff cases for the trustee. He said: "Irving is a very faithful public servant." He's laser focused on his task. John's words were: "He's not manic about it, but he's very close." watch now In my book, I quote a former federal prosecutor saying that you can probe this case for 50 years and still not get to all the truths, but Picard isn't interested in that. It's been his only bankruptcy case since four days after Bernie's arrest in 2008. He is ferocious towards net winners who won't return funds, but he can be a soft teddy bear with those who don't have the money for him to claw back. He may let them pay it over time, or he'll take someone's house but leave them a life interest in it. AN: What do you think people get most wrong about Madoff? RB: A lot of people who lost money get it wrong by blaming him entirely, rather than looking in the mirror and asking themselves how they could have put themselves in such danger. Madoff's consistent and high returns were simply not possible. Even so, many net losers think the government owes them because the SEC didn't capture Bernie. But that agency's mandate has never been to protect people from stupid investment decisions. Financier Bernard Madoff arrives at Manhattan Federal court on March 12, 2009 in New York City. Madoff is scheduled to enter a guilty plea on 11 felony counts which under federal law can result in a sentence of about 150 years. (Photo by Stephen Chernin/Getty Images) Stephen Chernin | Getty Images
This is the best state to retire in 2024—it's not Florida or California 2024-07-28 13:56:00+00:00 - The best state to retire in 2024 is also one of the smallest in the U.S. At around 96 miles long and 35 miles wide, Delaware ranks as the No. 1 state to retire this year, according to Bankrate's list of the best states to retire for 2024. Last year, it placed second behind Iowa on Bankrate's list. To compile the ranking, Bankrate analyzed data from several sources, including the Tax Foundation, the Council for Community and Economic Research, the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Bankrate evaluated all 50 states across five weighted categories: Affordability (40%): Includes factors such as cost of living and state and local sales tax rates Includes factors such as cost of living and state and local sales tax rates Overall well-being (25%) : Looks at factors such as the number of arts and entertainment centers and the number of adults over 62 : Looks at factors such as the number of arts and entertainment centers and the number of adults over 62 Quality and cost of health care (20%): Considers factors such as the number of health-care establishments and the cost of health care Considers factors such as the number of health-care establishments and the cost of health care Weather (10%): Evaluates the average annual temperature and average number of tornado strikes, earthquakes and hurricane landfalls Evaluates the average annual temperature and average number of tornado strikes, earthquakes and hurricane landfalls Crime (5%): Includes factors such as the number of violent crimes and property crimes Here are the 10 best states to retire in 2024, according to Bankrate.
Greece’s Santorini bursts with tourists as locals call for a cap on visitors 2024-07-28 13:25:00+00:00 - Armed with selfie sticks and phones, the tourists flood into Santorini from everywhere — on dinghies from giant ocean liners, on coaches that zigzag up the steep hillsides, atop donkeys that clip-clop along the narrow cobbled streets. Some brave the afternoon heat to find a good spot among the white-washed houses and blue-domed churches where they then wait hours to watch the Greek island’s famed sunset. As the sun dips, many more join them, squeezing along the cliffside or onto balconies, cameras at the ready. “This has been my dream since high school,” said American tourist Maria Tavarez, 40. But for many of Santorini’s 20,000 permanent residents, the once idyllic island of quaint villages and pristine beaches has been ruined by mass tourism. As protests against excessive tourism erupt in other popular holiday destinations, including Venice and Barcelona, Santorini represents one of the starkest examples of how hoards of visitors can impact a place. Authorities on the island have joined other tourism hotspots in calling for a cap on visitors. The growing number of foreign tourists — some 3.4 million visited the island last year, according to mayor Nikos Zorzos — are putting pressure on its outdated infrastructure and are pricing islanders out of the housing market. Zorzos says he has been pushing authorities for years not to allow a single extra bed on the island and has proposed a cap on the number of cruise ship visitors to 8,000 a day, down from around 17,000. “It is in the best interest of our land for there to be a limit,” he said. Even business owners who benefit from tourism are worried. “Our standards of living have gone down. It’s as simple as that,” said Georgios Damigos, who runs a 14-room hotel his parents opened in the 1980s. “Santorini is a wonder of nature” that risks turning into “a monster,” he said. Santorini’s tourism boom is echoed across Greece. National tourism revenues rose 16% in the first five months of this year, data shows, and 2024 is forecast to outstrip last year’s record 33 million arrivals. Tourists disembark from a ship on the Greek island of Santorini on July 20. Aris Oikonomou / AFP - Getty Images For some on Santorini, more visitors is good news. “Everything is possible when there is planning and infrastructure,” said Alexandros Pelekanos, vice president of the island’s umbrella trade association. “Do we want money or not? Do we want to have work and revenues or not?” he said. “You cannot have your peace and quiet and make money.” The tourists don’t seem to mind as they cheerfully trundle past a sign that reads “RESPECT. It’s your holiday... but it’s our home.” “It’s hard to walk around the narrow streets but it’s quite beautiful,” said Portuguese tourist Rita Critovao. “I would advise everyone to come.”
Is Crypto Cool Again? What Stocks You Should Be Watching 2024-07-28 13:00:00+00:00 - The world of cryptocurrency is still a developing thesis, with some raging bulls on every coin out there and others calling the asset class a complete scam and Ponzi scheme. Whether one side is right or wrong is up for debate, but one thing remains true: investor and trader psychology and behavior. Known as the risk-on and risk-off cycle in the market, investors can look at risky – or volatile – asset classes like cryptocurrency as something to invest or trade in when there are no better alternatives. A risk-on mentality is typically brought on by low interest rate environments when stock and property prices tend to go up historically. Cryptocurrency is now the new name on the block to come and tag along to this systemic rally. With the Federal Reserve (the Fed) holding the promise of interest rate cuts to come before the end of 2024, investors can somewhat assume that a new risk-on cycle is about to hit the market, and that is fundamentally good for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, which has risen to $67,200 (near all-time high). The coin’s price action is going to directly benefit stocks like CleanSpark Inc. NASDAQ: CLSK, MicroStrategy Inc. NASDAQ: MSTR, and Riot Platforms Inc. NASDAQ: RIOT. Get CleanSpark alerts: Sign Up CleanSpark Stock's Bitcoin Holdings Could Drive Price Higher CleanSpark Today CLSK CleanSpark $17.12 +0.94 (+5.81%) 52-Week Range $3.38 ▼ $24.72 Price Target $20.13 Add to Watchlist A stock’s book value is derived from the company’s balance sheet, a metric few investors take the time to dig into and analyze. To save time, investors should focus on the central holdings in CleanSpark’s balance sheet, which is Bitcoin, and lots of it. As of the most recent data, CleanSpark holds up to 6,591 Bitcoin, which would translate into roughly $442.9 million, considering where Bitcoin is trading today. Markets today are willing to pay a price-to-book (P/B) ratio of up to 2.8x for CleanSpark’s balance sheet, which includes this Bitcoin holding valuation. Compared to the rest of the finance sector, which trades at an average P/B ratio of 2.6x, CleanSpark commands a premium of over 8%. The stock also trades at 68% of its 52-week high, meaning there is much more room for markets to bid up the stock’s valuation based on bullish Bitcoin expectations. Some on Wall Street agree with this outlook, as analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price targets on CleanSpark stock to $28 a share as of July 2024, daring it to rally by 67.7% from where it trades today. More than that, those at the Vanguard Group also boosted its stake in CleanSpark stock by 58.5% in the past quarter, bringing its net position to $270.5 million or 6.4% ownership. Bitcoin Holdings Promise Double-Digit Upside for MicroStrategy MicroStrategy Today MSTR MicroStrategy $1,752.71 +146.24 (+9.10%) 52-Week Range $307.11 ▼ $1,999.99 Price Target $2,017.67 Add to Watchlist While markets are dipping their feet into the waters of premium valuations with CleanSpark, some dove head first into MicroStrategy’s balance sheet. The stock is now trading at over 13.0x P/B, nearly 15 times the industry average today. There’s a reason why markets are willing to overpay for the stock, and Bitcoin holdings might be the answer to that. As of the first quarter of 2024 earnings results, MicroStrategy reported having up to 214,400 Bitcoins, which, at today’s price, would translate into $14.4 billion in addition to the company’s book value. Considering that the company acquired 25,250 Bitcoins in the fourth quarter of 2023, investors can assume a similar buying rate for the two quarters that have passed since, which would add a roughly additional $5 billion to the company’s book value at today’s Bitcoin price. Wall Street analysts have done the math and landed on a consensus price target of up to $2,017 a share, or nearly 20 upside from where the stock trades today. This bullish evidence caused MicroStrategy stock’s short interest to collapse by 12.4% in the past month, opening the way for bullish investors. Riot Platforms Stock Farms Bitcoin Ahead of Harvest Season Riot Platforms Today RIOT Riot Platforms $11.20 +0.47 (+4.38%) 52-Week Range $7.80 ▼ $19.20 P/E Ratio 12.87 Price Target $16.91 Add to Watchlist Larry Fink, the CEO of the world’s largest asset manager BlackRock Inc., recently admitted that his view on Bitcoin was wrong. He mentioned that the cryptocurrency was better defined as digital gold, and just like any other commodity, it needs to be mined before companies sell it in bulk during an upcycle. As of June 2024, Riot Platforms has released its production and Bitcoin holdings rate, and investors should take this information just as any other gold mining stock release. Riot upped its production (farming) rate by 19% monthly, as they know the low cost of mining the coin can yield astronomical returns at today’s market price when it’s sold. As a result, Riot’s Bitcoin holdings have risen by 29% in the year, bringing the total to 9,334 Bitcoins, or a dollar value of $627.2 million today. The stock trades at the lowest P/B multiple in the group, only 1.3x. Still, investors can assume this is due to Riot having the lowest Bitcoin holding. Financially, this means Riot can offer the highest growth potential, as revenues alone jumped by 55.3% in Riot’s Bitcoin mining segment. This momentum resulted in an earnings per share (EPS) jump of 645% on the year, reaching $0.82 EPS. Analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald realized how much upside could lie ahead for Riot Platforms, so they reiterated their price targets on the stock to $23 a share, daring it to rally by 107% from where it trades today. Before you consider CleanSpark, 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 CleanSpark wasn't on the list. While CleanSpark currently has a "Moderate Buy" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys. View The Five Stocks Here
Extreme heat makes flying harder. Airlines and airports say they aren’t sweating it. 2024-07-28 12:00:00+00:00 - It’s been another summer of record-smashing temperatures and record-smashing air travel. Airports and airlines say they can handle both. U.S. airlines expect to transport 271 million passengers worldwide this summer, up 6.3% from last season, the Airlines for America trade group has projected. Carriers have added flights and seats — in some cases too many — to accommodate the uptick. It comes in a year when the Earth notched its hottest June ever, and as last week saw two days in a row break planetary heat records. Nevertheless, the aviation industry is adjusting to “a new normal” of scorching temperatures during the busy summer travel period, said Kevin Burke, president and CEO at Airports Council International–North America. So far, airports have managed “to adapt to these conditions” by working with airlines to tackle safety risks and operational challenges, he said. A heat wave affected flights in Hanover, Germany, in 2018. Peter Steffen / picture alliance via Getty Image The U.S. Department of Transportation tracks “extreme weather” delays caused by conditions like tornadoes, blizzards or hurricanes but not those due to heat. And while the share of delay minutes caused by weather overall has declined in the last few decades, heat-related snags have been on display in recent years. In July 2022, a scorching heat wave in Europe caused runway damage at London’s Luton Airport, briefly suspending flights. In June the year before, Alaska Airlines canceled and delayed flights due to record-breaking heat that had raised tarmac temperatures to 130 degrees Fahrenheit in Seattle and Portland and affected operations in California, Texas, Arizona and Louisiana. Ground crews were offered opportunities to take breaks in air-conditioned “cool down vans.” In Las Vegas, which is seeing record highs again this summer, officials at Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) say the larger, heavier aircraft used for long-haul flights can have a harder time taking off. It’s physics: “Airplanes perform better aerodynamically at cool temperatures, when the air is denser,” said Patrick Smith, a pilot and founder of “Ask the Pilot,” an air travel blog. Very hot weather reduces aircraft engines’ thrust, sometimes requiring longer runways to achieve liftoff and gain altitude. To address that challenge in Vegas, “the air traffic control tower will institute a configuration change for takeoffs to the east, which avoids the mountainous terrain,” said LAS spokesperson Amanda Mazzagatti. “That configuration can cause slight delays for departures as it reduces the number of takeoffs per hour,” she said. High temperatures sometimes require aircraft to reduce their weight before getting up in the air by shedding baggage, fuel or even people, said Robert Thomas, an assistant professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. Making these adjustments before takeoff “can also cause delays and anger passengers,” he conceded. On days when temperatures rise more than expected, planes sometimes burn off fuel on the runway to reduce their weight, as one pilot recently explained on TikTok. But there’s only so much they can incinerate before there’s no longer enough to get to the destination. High heat can pose mechanical challenges, Smith said. “Engines also are subject to internal temperature limits beyond which operation isn’t permitted, and when it’s really hot outside these limits are easier to exceed. I expect it to happen more frequently as climate change causes more extreme weather events, including extreme heat waves.” But in Phoenix this year, where temperatures have soared well into the 110s this month, officials at Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) insist they’re “well-prepared for Arizona summers,” with runways that can accommodate takeoffs and landings in hot conditions. Preparations for summer weather begin each spring, said airport spokesperson John Trierweiler. Aviation department employees take a mandatory heat-safety course, and this year PHX added a video on the subject for all airport staffers, he said. During extreme heat, the airport urges employees to stay hydrated, take frequent breaks and, if they’re working outdoors, to cool off inside every hour. “Passengers are also encouraged to use the airport’s water stations to stay hydrated in the Arizona heat,” he added.
Apple's Market Share Drops In China, A18 Chip Integration To Bring AI Features To iPhone 16 And More: This Week In Appleverse - Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) 2024-07-28 11:56:00+00:00 - The past week was a whirlwind for Apple Inc. AAPL, with news ranging from product discontinuation to market share shifts, AI regulation support, and a public spat with a tech giant. Here’s a quick rundown of the top stories that kept the tech giant in the headlines. Apple To Discontinue iPhone 17 Plus for Ultraslim Version According to a report by Ming-Chi Kuo, a renowned analyst at TF Securities, Apple plans to phase out the iPhone 17 Plus model, which currently accounts for only 5-10% of total new iPhone shipments. In its place, the company intends to introduce an ultra-slim variant in the second half of 2025. Kuo believes that the Plus model has become redundant due to the comprehensive coverage of high-end market segments by the standard, Pro, and Pro Max models. Read the full article here. Apple’s Market Share Drops in China Apple’s market share in China has dropped to 14% in Q2 2024, a decrease of two percentage points from the same period last year, according to data from Canalys. The iPhone maker fell from third place to sixth in the country, while Huawei Technologies saw a significant surge in smartphone shipments, with a 41% year-on-year increase in the same quarter. This surge is largely attributed to the launch of Huawei’s new Pura 70 series in April. Read the full article here. See Also: Top Analyst Says OpenAI’s AI-Powered Search Engine Likely Isn’t A Threat To Google Apple Pledges Support for Biden’s AI Regulations Along with other industry giants such as OpenAI Inc., Amazon.com, Alphabet Inc., Meta Platforms Inc., and Microsoft Corp., Apple has committed to the voluntary artificial intelligence (AI) safeguards set by President Joe Biden’s administration. The tech giant has pledged to test their AI systems for potential discriminatory tendencies, security flaws, or national security risks. This commitment comes amid controversy stirred by Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk over Apple’s plan to integrate OpenAI's chatbot application, ChatGPT, into its voice-command assistant on iPhones. Read the full article here. Apple to Integrate A18 Chip for AI Features Apple is reportedly planning to integrate its A18 chip into its upcoming entry-level iPhones and iPads to enable them to run Apple Intelligence, the company’s suite of AI features. This news follows speculations surrounding the specifications of the upcoming fourth-generation iPhone SE, which is likely to be powered by the A18 chip, the same chip anticipated to power the entire iPhone 16 lineup. Read the full article here. Zuckerberg Criticizes Apple’s “Soul-Crushing” Tactics Meta Platforms, Inc. CEO Mark Zuckerberg criticized Apple in an interview on Tuesday, expressing his desire to avoid the iPhone maker's "soul-crushing" tactics by releasing the largest open-source AI model ever. Zuckerberg expressed his aspiration to steer his own technological "destiny" and evade the "soul-crushing" strategies of Apple. Read the full article here. Read Next: Photo courtesy: Shutterstock