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A grizzly bear at Yellowstone National Park.
Joe McDonald/ Getty Images
Cryptocurrencies are in a tailspin, stocks are sliding, and startups are dialing back growth efforts.
It's a rough time for businesses of all stripes, with CEOs and CFOs warning things could get worse.
Here's what they're telling investors and employees to expect.
Bitcoin appears to be in a tailspin, but Coinbase's share price is faring even worse.
Even as the flagship cryptocurrency has shed 20% of its value in the past week, the leading marketplace for digital assets has been nearly halved.
"I think it's worth just addressing the elephant in the room, which is that, of course, the broader markets are down," CEO Brian Armstrong told investors on Wednesday. "We're seeing a down market for growth tech stocks and risk assets."
In its guidance, the company said it is expecting a "prolonged and stressful scenario" for the remainder of the year.
It's a cautionary tone that many corporate leaders are expressing in memos and earnings calls in recent weeks, as the bite of inflation, rising rates, war in Eastern Europe, and a slowdown in China mix into a grim economic brew.
"In times of uncertainty, investors look for safety," Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi wrote in a memo to employees a week after Uber reported a first-quarter loss of $5.9 billion.
But the market right now appears to offer little in the way of safe quarter.
Whereas investors might have previously moved between stocks, bonds, or currencies to protect their wealth, all three categories appear to be sliding down together.
Under conditions like these, Khosrowshahi said the company will treat hiring as a "privilege" and cut spending on the "least efficient" marketing and incentives.
"The average employee at Uber is barely over 30, which means you've spent your career in a long and unprecedented bull run," Khosrowshahi said. "This next period will be different, and it will require a different approach."
Netflix saw its stock price plummet when it reported that it lost subscribers for the first time in over a decade and projected another 2 million cancellations in coming months.
"The big COVID boost to streaming obscured the picture until recently," the company's shareholder letter said.
Disney managed to beat its streaming rival's performance in the preceding quarter, but said that the unexpected lift in the first half of the fiscal year is likely to nibble away at the growth previously estimated for the second half. Shares of Disney slumped following the news.
Others, including connected fitness company Peloton and electric vehicle startup Canoo, warned of precariously low cash positions that were respectively described as "thinly capitalized" and raising "substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern."
Meanwhile thousands of jobs are being cut across pandemic-era success stories like Carvana, Better, and Robinhood, as those companies face rising labor costs and slowing sales.
Meta's CFO David Wehner said the Facebook parent company will need to "make some tough decisions about what projects we go after" in a leaked memo to staff. Wehner added that meant reducing hiring targets and reviewing staffing assignments going into the second half of the year.
Whichever way you slice it, 2022 is shaping up to be a grizzly bear of a year.
More: Crypto crash Bear Market Recession Slowdown | 2022-05-12T19:05:18Z | www.businessinsider.com | Coinbase, Netflix, Uber, Other Companies Warn of Hard Times Ahead | https://www.businessinsider.com/coinbase-netflix-uber-other-companies-warn-hard-times-ahead-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/coinbase-netflix-uber-other-companies-warn-hard-times-ahead-2022-5 |
Ayelet Sheffey and Juliana Kaplan
U.S. President Joe Biden greets AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler during an event held in honor of labor unions in the East Room at the White House in Washington, U.S., September 8, 2021
The AFL-CIO, the largest labor federation in the US, called on Biden to cancel student debt.
Its president, Liz Shuler, wrote that "we cannot ask working people to make further sacrifices."
Biden said a decision on loan forgiveness should be made in the coming weeks.
The largest labor federation in the US just joined the student-loan forgiveness fight.
On Thursday, the AFL-CIO's president, Liz Shuler, called on President Joe Biden to enact broad debt cancellation for federal borrowers. As Biden is becoming closer to making a decision on loan relief, she is the latest advocate to push the president to deliver permanent relief to borrowers before payments are set to resume after August 31.
"Organized labor was built on the foundation of creating a pathway to the middle class for everyone, but skyrocketing student loan debt has become an insurmountable obstacle to achieving this goal," Shuler wrote on Twitter.
She added that while the pause on student-loan payments has made "a tremendous difference" for many borrowers, "we cannot ask working people to make further sacrifices."
"Now is the time to cancel, not collect, student debt," she said.
—Liz Shuler (@lizshuler) May 12, 2022
The AFL-CIO has 12.5 million members spanning 57 unions. The federation has been thrust into increased prominence amidst an upswell of organizing. Biden has been an outspoken proponent for organized labor, declaring that he intends to be "the most pro-union President leading the most pro-union administration in American history."
With Biden's continued focus on the labor movement — from forming a task force on strengthening union membership to inviting workers to the White House — a call for cancellation from the AFL-CIO is consequential.
As of now, it's unclear what student-loan relief Biden will decide on. He recently told reporters he is not considering $50,000 in debt cancellation — an amount many progressive lawmakers have pushed for — and his Press Secretary Jen Psaki confirmed any relief will be targeted to those making under $125,000 per year.
Despite Republican criticism of broad relief, arguing it will cost taxpayers and the economy, many Democrats have maintained that canceling student debt will help borrowers and allow them to put money back into the economy. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told senators during a hearing this week that debt forgiveness "could be good for the economy."
"I agree that student debt is a substantial burden to many people," Yellen said. "They have either not completed their degrees or haven't found themselves with enhanced skills that enable them to do well in the job market."
More: Policy Politics Economy AFL-CIO | 2022-05-12T19:31:05Z | www.businessinsider.com | AFL-CIO, Largest US Labor Federation, Calls on Biden to Cancel Student Debt | https://www.businessinsider.com/aflcio-labor-federation-unions-cancel-student-loan-debt-biden-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/aflcio-labor-federation-unions-cancel-student-loan-debt-biden-2022-5 |
Matt Damon appeared in an ad for Crypto.com that began airing last October.
Celebrities began hawking crypto in earnest last fall as bitcoin was hitting record highs.
But if you invested then, you'd be seeing losses over 50% right now.
Cryptocurrencies plummeted for the second day Thursday after the collapse of a major stablecoin.
If you've turned on your TV anytime in the past six months or so, chances are you've seen a celebrity hawking crypto.
And if you're among those swayed by their endorsements, you'd be out hundreds, if not thousands of dollars right now.
Celebrities have been steadily hopping on the crypto craze for years, but it wasn't until last fall that they began starring in high-profile ad campaigns promoting cryptocurrency exchange platforms. In September, Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen appeared in a $20 million campaign for crypto exchange FTX where they called people in their contacts — everyone from a surgeon to a dog-walker — to convince them to start investing on the platform.
Then, famously, Matt Damon joined the party with a much-maligned ad for Crypto.com where he compared investing in cryptocurrencies to being brave enough to travel to outer space.
By the time the Super Bowl rolled around, crypto ads dominated the commercial breaks. Larry David and LeBron James were starring in ads of their own — David's FTX ad was based on the premise that if you didn't start investing in crypto, you'd be dismissing something as genius as the invention of the wheel.
So, how much money would you have lost if you listened to the likes of Brady or Damon?
Well, if you invested in bitcoin on October 28 when Damon's ad debuted, over 52% of your investment would have been wiped out by now. Which means, as The Intercept's Jon Schwarz pointed out on Twitter, that if you'd bought $1,000 worth of bitcoin at the time, you'd have about $526 right now.
Those who invested following the Super Bowl, an event with 208 million viewers, are seeing less of a startling crash right now — about 30% — but a wipeout nonetheless.
Thursday marked the second day of cryptocurrency turmoil, with bitcoin nosediving to its lowest since December 2020 and other major coins — like ether, solana, and cardano — sinking by as much as 30%. The sell-off comes after TerraUSD, a major stablecoin that's supposed to maintain the same value as the US dollar, plunged to less than $0.30, rattling investor confidence amid a time of broader turmoil in the stock market.
Bitcoin, which hit a record high of $69,000 in November, fell below $26,000 Thursday morning, while ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap , plummeted below $1,900, according to CoinMarketCap.
More: Cryptocurrencies Bitcoin Ether Matt Damon | 2022-05-12T19:31:11Z | www.businessinsider.com | Crypto-Crash Losses High If You Listened to Matt Damon | https://www.businessinsider.com/crypto-crash-losses-celeb-ads-matt-damon-tom-brady-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/crypto-crash-losses-celeb-ads-matt-damon-tom-brady-2022-5 |
If you've got an Aeroplan credit card, you can extend your elite status through 2023 by spending as little as $9,334
You can participate in this promotion if you have any Aeroplan card, such as the new Chase Aeroplan Card or those issued in Canada.
Aeroplan elite status can benefit more than just Air Canada flyers.
If you've currently got Aeroplan status, you can use your Aeroplan credit card to preserve it through December 31, 2023.
You'll have to earn 30,000 Aeroplan points via card spending by November 30, 2022.
Read Insider's guide to the best airline credit cards.
Aeroplan elite status can be extremely valuable, even for frequent flyers whose presence will never grace an Air Canada fuselage. Depending on the status you've achieved, you'll get many perks on Air Canada partners like United Airlines, Swiss, Lufthansa, and more, such as:
Bonus rewards for paid flights
Priority check-in
Extra checked baggage allowance
Star alliance airport lounges
If you hold an Aeroplan co-branded credit card, such as the Aeroplan® Credit Card from Chase (read our review), you've now got an opportunity to extend your current elite status tier for 2023. Here's how it works — and how to quickly achieve elite status so you can take advantage of this promotion.
Extend Aeroplan elite status through 2023
If you hold any Aeroplan credit card, you're eligible for this limited-time offer.
When you earn 30,000 points with your Aeroplan card by November 30, 2022, your current Aeroplan elite status will automatically be extended through December 31, 2023 — no registration required. Any points you earn with the card, including bonus spending categories, count toward the 30,000-point threshold. For example, if you've got the Aeroplan® Credit Card, you'll earn:
3 points per dollar on Air Canada purchases
3 points per dollar on dining
3 points per dollar at grocery stores
1 point per dollar on everything else
500 points for every $2,000 you spend in a calendar month, up to a maximum of 1,500 points per calendar month
That means you could conceivably reach elite status by spending as little as $9,334 over two months.
Any spending you've previously made on your Aeroplan card from January 1, 2022, will retroactively count toward the 30,000 points you need. Also, if you hold more than one Aeroplan credit card, you can combine spending between the cards. And if you've got authorized users on your Aeroplan card, their spending will count toward your goal.
There are a few notable exclusions as to what will not count: Any welcome bonuses, along with points you transfer to Aeroplan from another account, aren't eligible. You'll also need to make sure the points post to your account before the end of the promotion period to qualify — so it's a good idea to reach the spending as soon as possible.
Read Insider's guide to earning and redeeming Aeroplan points to find out the best ways to maximize your rewards.
If you don't have an Aeroplan credit card but you do have elite status, you can still participate in this promotion by opening an Aeroplan credit card and earning 30,000 points by November 30, 2022. If you've already met this 30,000-point requirement, elite status extension will begin in June 2022.
And if you have no Aeroplan elite status, you can open the Aeroplan® Credit Card and automatically earn Aeroplan 25K status for the remainder of the first calendar year in which you open it, as well as the following calendar year. This card also comes with a Welcome Flight Reward certificate (worth up to 50,000 points) after you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first three months, plus 10x points on travel and dining in your first six months (up to 51,000 points).
If you've got Aeroplan elite status that's about to expire, it could be worth opening an Aeroplan credit card to secure your current elite status level through December 31, 2023. This is especially true if you've got a high status level but haven't been traveling lately. This is a fantastic way to preserve your valuable benefits for another year while you get back to work re-qualifying as the travel industry continues to regain steam.
More: Personal Finance Insider Credit Cards Chase Credit card news
Chase Aeroplan Credit Card
Aeroplan | 2022-05-12T19:31:29Z | www.businessinsider.com | How to Use Aeroplan Credit Cards to Extend Elite Status Into 2023 | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/aeroplan-credit-card-extend-elite-status-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/aeroplan-credit-card-extend-elite-status-2022-5 |
Sponsor content Home Chevron icon It indicates an expandable section or menu, or sometimes previous / next navigation options. Small Business
How these two California foodies expanded their gourmet bacon business beyond the farmer's market to wholesale, e-commerce, and third-party retailers
Created by Insider Studios with Capital One
Jason Nocito ©2020
Elisa Lewis and Camilo Velasquez make a living selling premium bacon.
The couple caught the attention of meat buyers for the unique way they cured and cut their product.
Now a full-fledged, fast-growing business, The Baconer sells in grocery stores across 12 states, online, and to third-party retailers.
Lewis and Velasquez credit some of their success to the help of Capital One Spring.
When starting a business, you have to go whole hog — you cook up a unique product, carve out a niche against competitors, and add some sizzle with a marketing campaign. Elisa Lewis and Camilo Velasquez did all that when they started The Baconer, an upscale purveyor of all things bacon.
Lewis and Velasquez did not start out planning for a life in the world of cured meats. "We've had so many careers prior to this." But Velasquez had always wanted to do something with cooking, so in the heart of Brooklyn's foodie scene over a decade ago, they started an underground supper club.
"There was a lot of interesting food stuff happening in the neighborhood, and we were experimenting with different things, and I started to do cured and smoked meats," he recalled.
He still had a day job, even after leaving New York in 2012 and returning to California. Velasquez was essentially making bacon for friends and family until he thought, "I've got a crazy idea to go start selling this at a farmer's market."
One farmer's market quickly became three, then five. "We just built from there," Velasquez said, and eventually, The Baconer was a legitimate business, selling to grocery stores.
Sizzling potential
While the couple prides themselves on carefully sourcing their pork to obtain the ideal flavors and textures, Lewis said what made them stand out was when they found untapped potential: A new way to offer the product to the marketplace.
In the bacon universe, "all you see are strips," Lewis said. "Camilo realized there were a lot of different ways to cut bacon — into lardons, really thick-cut bacon steaks, or ground bacon."
That caught the attention of meat buyers, Velasquez said, "They were saying, 'I've never seen this before.'"
The Baconer expanded to wholesale, e-commerce, and third-party retailers and now offers nationwide shipping and sells in grocery stores across 12 states. And although the pandemic initially delayed these breakthroughs, Lewis said, "our e-commerce business took hold during the pandemic as it became much more common for people to feel comfortable buying food online."
A solution as good as bacon itself
As the pandemic recedes, the company has begun looking to expand again, so when one of their employees mentioned that Capital One Spring — a free service providing small businesses with access to pre-negotiated deals with established vendors — might be helpful, they jumped at the idea.
"We have some big initiatives that we're working on right now, and it was immediately obvious that the site could help us with what we're trying to accomplish," Velasquez added.
The Baconer has been prepping an equity crowdfunding campaign to scale production and fulfillment infrastructure, and they've been using the Spring platform to find the right companies to bring the campaign to life.
"We're sourcing a lot of our printed collateral that's going out in our packaged products to every web order to help lay the groundwork for that campaign," Velasquez said.
He adds that the plethora of merchants available on Capital One Spring means that "sometimes you're looking around on the site and you find a vendor you weren't even looking for that can help you solve a problem." Salesforce was a big win for him in particular.
Their one regret, Lewis said, is that they didn't find out about it sooner. "They have things like QuickBooks, which we've been using from the beginning — resources like that are great for getting a small business up and running, so it would've been amazing to use Spring from the start."
Now, any time they're planning a big project and need resources, Velasquez said the first place they're going is Capital One Spring as opposed to what they did before: "Go crazy searching for companies on the internet."
Learn how Capital One Spring can help your business.
This post was created by Insider Studios with Capital One.
More: Sponsor Post Studios Enterprise Studios Consumer Studios Custom
sp-capone-spring3 | 2022-05-12T19:31:53Z | www.businessinsider.com | How Two Foodies Turned a Passion for Bacon Into a Business Empire | https://www.businessinsider.com/sc/how-two-foodies-turned-a-passion-for-bacon-into-a-business-empire | https://www.businessinsider.com/sc/how-two-foodies-turned-a-passion-for-bacon-into-a-business-empire |
SoftBank-backed glassmaker View just cast doubts about its ability to continue a year after raising $815 million via a SPAC
Hayley Cuccinello and Aaron Weinman
View Inc. CEO Rao Mulpuri
David Becker/Getty Images for National Clean Energy Summit
View, Inc. revealed its cash balance is not enough to meet its forecasted operating costs.
SoftBank is View's biggest shareholder after injecting $1.1 billion into the company in 2018.
The eco-friendly glass maker has had troubles since it went public via SPAC 14 months ago.
SoftBank-backed glass manufacturer View, Inc. doubts whether the company will be able to continue, it told investors on Wednesday.
View revealed in a statement its cash balance dipped to $201 million at the end of the first quarter of 2022, down from $507 million a year earlier.
Its cash burn comes as the company works to stave off a potential de-listing from Nasdaq, the stock exchange it joined just 14 months ago. View has been asked by Nasdaq to submit revised financial statements for the last three years by the end of May.
The Milpitas, California-headquartered company's dwindling cash levels have now sunk below its 2021 operating costs, which View said on Wednesday ranged between $260 million and $270 million
In a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday, View said it anticipates disclosing "substantial doubt" about the company's future as it does not currently have "adequate financial resources to fund its forecasted operating costs" or meet its liabilities for "at least 12 months" from when it expects to log previous years' financial statements.
A spokesperson for Nasdaq declined to comment on View's future on the exchange. A spokesperson for View did not respond to a request for comment.
An internal audit — completed last November — found View had stated inaccuracies in previous financial reports, including understating liabilities for defective windows, Insider has previously reported. As a result, View said it would file revised numbers for 2019, 2020, 2021, and the first quarter of 2022.
Since the completion of the audit, View has been granted numerous extensions by Nasdaq to submit revised financials. Last month, View was given time to file its revised numbers by the end of May, after Nasdaq took steps to delist View for failing to file financial statements on time.
The embattled glass maker also said it's looking to raise more cash, but said there was "no assurance that the necessary financing" would be available at "acceptable" terms. View's search for fresh capital comes as global markets tumble on the back of soaring inflation, rising interest rates, and the conflict in Ukraine.
View underscores the risky nature of the SPAC market
View, which manufactures eco-friendly "smart glass" for commercial building windows, raised roughly $815 million by merging with a so-called Special Purpose Acquisition Vehicle ( SPAC ) sponsored by financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald on March 8 last year. SPACs are shell companies that raise money from investors and list on the stock market. Their sponsors find a company to merge with and take public.
Before going public, View raised almost $1.5 billion from a host of investors — including $1.1 billion from its biggest shareholder SoftBank in November 2018.
View's share price has dipped to $0.54, down 86% this year, and well below its $10 debut price last March.
View's decision to go public came at an opportune time for the SPAC market.
In the first 10 weeks of 2021, SPACs raised more cash than 2020, but that momentum stuttered in the second half of last year as the SEC started scrutinizing the so-called blank-check vehicles. Banks were asked to disclose how they manage SPAC risks and how they valued target companies. Private investments in public equity, or PIPE financing, for SPACs also dried up as investors turned selective on where they allocated their capital.
View's issues as a public company highlight the inherent risks in SPACs, which at its peak last year proved the ideal vehicle to take young companies public. Unlike a traditional IPO, SPACs' target companies can provide investors with forward-looking projects to jazz up their valuations, market experts told Insider last December.
Greater regulatory scrutiny, however, alongside sliding company valuations have led banks, including Citi and Goldman Sachs, to dial back their exposure to a space that just 12 months ago they championed.
Are you a current or former View employee? You can reach Hayley Cuccinello at hcuccinello@insider.com and on Twitter. Her Signal number is 1 917-740-5340. Aaron Weinman can be reached at aweinman@insider.com or at 929-335-1560 via secure messaging services, Signal and Whatsapp. Aaron is also on Twitter and LinkedIn.
More: SPAC investment banking Tech SoftBank Group | 2022-05-12T19:31:59Z | www.businessinsider.com | SoftBank's View Is Short on Cash and Is at Risk of Being Delisted | https://www.businessinsider.com/softbank-backed-view-cash-flow-problems-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/softbank-backed-view-cash-flow-problems-2022-5 |
What song is this? How to quickly identify music using your phone or computer
A wide variety of built-in and third-party apps allow you to identify songs.
Narisara Nami/Getty Images
Nearly every phone and computer comes with software that you can use to identify songs.
You can use Siri on an iPhone or iPad, Google on an Android, or even Alexa on an Amazon Echo.
You can also download a third-party app like Shazam or Musixmatch to identify the song for you.
New songs hit the airwaves every day, and there's no way for anyone to remember every single one. But where our memories fail, computers rush in to fill the gap.
If you're wondering what song is playing, use one of these apps to identify it.
Quick tip: For any song ID app to work, you'll need to be connected to the internet.
Siri (iPhone, iPod, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac)
Siri is the smart assistant built into most Apple products. It can find nearby restaurants, set up calendar appointments… and find what song you're listening to.
Just activate Siri and ask it "What song is this?" Your device will take a few moments to listen, and if it can find your song, it'll give you the title and artist. You can then tap or click on the result to open the song in Apple Music.
Tap on the song to find it in Apple Music.
Google Assistant (Android, Google Home/Nest)
Just like Siri, the Google Assistant built into your Android phone, Google Home, and Google Nest can find the song you're listening to. Depending on the phone, you might need to download the Google app for this.
Launch the Google Assistant and ask it "What song is this?" It'll take a moment to listen, and then give you the title, band, and lyrics if they're available. If you're using an Android phone, you can also quickly launch a Google search for the song.
You’ll get a preview of the lyrics, along with some other information about the song.
How to make your Android identify songs automatically
If you own a Google Pixel phone, you likely have a feature called Now Playing. This automatically listens to any song that plays nearby, and will list its title and artist on your lock screen. You don't need to prompt it or press any buttons.
The only downside is that to do this, you'll need to download a "database" of songs that Now Playing can compare against. It shouldn't take up too much space, but if you're running low on storage, you might want to avoid it.
To turn on Now Playing, open the Settings app and tap Sound & vibration, and then Now Playing. Toggle on the Identify songs playing nearby option, and then wait for the database to download. Also toggle on the Show search button on lock screen option, which lets you manually search for a song if your Pixel doesn't pick it up automatically.
You’ll see the current song at the bottom of your lock screen.
Alexa (Amazon Echo)
If you own an Amazon Echo, you're familiar with the smart assistant Alexa. Just like its Apple and Google counterparts, Alexa can find songs too.
Say "Alexa" to wake the assistant, then ask "What song is this?" Again, it'll listen for a few moments and then tell you what it's found. You can then follow up with a command like "Play me more songs by this artist."
Third-party apps like Shazam and Musixmatch
While smart assistants have replaced most of them, there are still a mountain of third-party music recognition apps to choose from. Along with music recognition, they usually offer lyric sheets, news, the ability to find the song on Spotify, and more.
The most popular of these apps are Shazam, Musixmatch, SoundHound, and Genius. To pick which one to recommend, we put all four apps through a series of tests to see how fast they could recognize songs.
Check out the chart below for the data. We tested the apps on both iPhone and Android, using five different songs — two Billboard toppers, one moderately popular tune, and two more obscure tracks. The winners for each song are highlighted.
Song title and artist (number of streams on Spotify)
"good 4 u" by Olivia Rodrigo (1.4 billion streams)
iPhone: Less than one second
Android: One second
iPhone: One second
Android: Less than one second
iPhone: Five seconds
Android: Four seconds
"Shake It Off" by Taylor Swift (764.5 million)
Android: Two seconds
iPhone: 4.5 seconds
Android: Found the wrong song at first, then three seconds on the next try
iPhone: Found the wrong song at first, then five seconds on the next try
"rom com 2021" by Soccer Mommy & Kero Kero Bonito (1.2 million)
iPhone: Two seconds
Android: Three seconds
iPhone: 12 seconds
Android: 12 seconds
iPhone: Nine seconds
Android: Six seconds
"The Emergency" by Run Kid Run (115,499)
iPhone: Ten seconds
Android: Ten seconds
iPhone: Four seconds
iPhone: Eight Seconds
"Keep My Peace" by Salvo (4,983)
Couldn't find the song
Android: Seven seconds
This gives us some interesting results. Overall, Shazam is the fastest and most accurate music recognition app. On both iPhone and Android, it regularly found results faster than we could even start and stop the timer.
When Shazam knows a song, it finds it lightning fast.
Shazam; William Antonelli/Insider
But as the songs got more obscure, Musixmatch pulled into the lead. Musixmatch was able to find every song we threw at it in seconds — even the Salvo tune, which is hard to find on Spotify even if you know the title.
Meanwhile, SoundHound and Genius couldn't match up to their competitors at all. SoundHound took far longer than the others, and couldn't find the Salvo tune. Genius was able to find all the songs, but still lagged.
What this might mean is that if you mainly listen to popular music, Shazam is the app to go for. But if your tastes skew towards older or more obscure songs, Musixmatch is the app for you.
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More: Tech How To Music Song Music recognition | 2022-05-12T19:32:05Z | www.businessinsider.com | What Song Is This? How to Quickly Identify Music | https://www.businessinsider.com/what-song-is-this | https://www.businessinsider.com/what-song-is-this |
Kelsey Vlamis and Azmi Haroun
A national shortage of baby formula has led to empty shelves and panicked parents.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott accused the Biden administration of putting undocumented migrants before Americans.
It's unclear how much formula has been sent to holding facilities.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott criticized President Joe Biden on Thursday and accused him of sending baby formula to undocumented migrants at the border as American parents nationwide face a severe shortage.
"Children are our most vulnerable, precious Texans and deserve to be put first," the Republican said in a joint statement with Brandon Judd, president of the National Border Patrol Council. "Yet, President Biden has turned a blind eye to parents across America who are facing the nightmare of a nationwide baby formula shortage."
"While mothers and fathers stare at empty grocery store shelves in a panic, the Biden Administration is happy to provide baby formula to illegal immigrants coming across our southern border," it continued.
Shortages of baby formula in the US began months ago but got even worse in April. By the end of the month, 40% of infant formula products nationwide were out of stock, and in some states it was more than 50%. The White House on Thursday announced plans to address the shortage.
A representative for Abbott did not immediately respond to Insider's questions about if he is proposing formula be withheld from migrants at holding facilities in Texas or how such supplies should be distributed.
"CBP takes seriously its legal responsibility to ensure the safety and security of individuals in our custody. Ensuring migrants, including children and infants, in our custody have their basic needs met is in line with this Administration's commitment to ensuring safe, orderly, and humane processes at our border," a CBP spokesperson said in a statement to Insider, adding the agency "complies with all applicable regulations for the purchase of products used in CBP facilities."
Abbott's statement came after Rep. Kat Cammack said in a video posted to Facebook that "pallets of baby formula" had been shipped to holding facilities at the border.
"Meanwhile, in our own district at home, we cannot find baby formula," the Florida Republican said.
—Kat Cammack (@Kat_Cammack) May 11, 2022
Cammack also shared a photo of a shelf stocked with formula that she said was taken at the Ursula processing center in McAllen, Texas, and sent to her from a concerned border patrol agent.
"He has been a border patrol agent for 30 years and he has never seen anything quite like this. He is a grandfather and he is saying that his own children can't get baby formula," she said, adding that the agent told her he couldn't believe a recent formula shipment came in.
Cammack said "it is not the children's fault at all" but that it is "another example of the America last agenda that the Biden administration continues to perpetuate."
It's unclear when or how much infant formula has been provided to holding facilities, or how the quantity compares to the current national shortage.
The White House did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.
More: Baby formula Infant Formula Shortage Texas | 2022-05-12T23:42:45Z | www.businessinsider.com | Abbott Slams Biden for Baby Formula Shortage, Migrant Facility Supply | https://www.businessinsider.com/abbott-slams-biden-baby-formula-sent-to-migrants-amid-shortage-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/abbott-slams-biden-baby-formula-sent-to-migrants-amid-shortage-2022-5 |
A US soldier assigned to Special Operations Command Africa observes wind conditions during a parachute jump near Stuttgart, Germany, September 21, 2016.
US Army/VIS Jason Johnston
US special operators are shifting focus to great-power competition after 20 years of counterterrorism.
Special-ops leaders told lawmakers in April that in a new era they will focus on an old skill: supporting conventional forces.
During a Senate hearing at the end of April, US special-operations leaders provided insight into how the US special-operations community is gearing up for future challenges.
Near-peer adversaries — mainly China, but also Russia — are the primary threats to US national security, and the US military, including US Special Operations Command, is adjusting accordingly.
When asked how the shift from counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations to great-power competition is affecting their planning and investment decisions, the commanders emphasized a shift to supporting operations.
The leaders of US Air Force Special Operations Command and Naval Special Warfare Command in particular described a desire for the special-operations component commands to more closely support their parent branch — the Air Force and the Navy, respectively.
"I believe that the service components of SOF are most effective when we're closest to our parent services," said Lt. Gen. James Slife, the head of US Air Force Special Operations Command.
US Air Force tactical air control party airmen during an exercise at Point Barrow in Alaska, January 13, 2022.
US Air Force/Staff Sgt. Zade Vadnais
The AFSOC boss went on to say that there is value in "enabling our broader service" and helping it "to be effective."
"So I think for AFSOC there's a lot of work to be done in the integrated-air-defense area as well as the counter-space mission area," Slife added.
US Navy Rear Adm. Hugh Howard III, commander of NSW, said that his Navy SEALs and Navy Special Warfare Combatant-Craft crews are moving back to supporting the Big Navy and extending the "kill chain."
Howard acknowledged that over the past 20 years NSW has lost some ground "in the distinctive things that only we can do, and we are moving with urgency to make the main thing the things that only we can do in the maritime domain."
During 20 years of fighting terrorists and insurgents in the Middle East, Africa, and elsewhere, US special-operations forces took the lead, with the US military's conventional forces backing them up.
The special-ops leaders' comments indicate a shift back to the role those special operators have played throughout their history: supporting their conventional brethren.
Cyber, space, and SOF
Airmen with the 919th Special Operations Communications Squadron configure a communications network at Duke Field in Florida, November 1, 2021.
US Air Force/Michelle Gigante
The special-operations leaders are also looking into the future, and especially in the cyber and space domains, which are increasingly important for facilitating operations in other domains and as domains of warfare on their own.
US Marine Corps Maj. Gen. James Glynn, commander of Marine Forces Special Operations Command, emphasized his command's "examination" of its cyber and space capabilities and "the integration with special operations going forward to narrow that gray zone," referring to the space in which threatening activities short of war often take place.
Today, pretty much all special-operations units, including the tier-one special mission units of Joint Special Operations Command, have some in-house cyber capability.
Special-operations units are also focusing on the information domain and on developing and influencing target audiences.
"I cannot envision a future where that does not increase in importance, affecting target audiences, general populations, governments, armies, morale, and eroding their overall effectiveness," US Army Lt. Gen. Jonathan Braga, commander of US Army Special Operations Command, said of information operations.
More direct action, less foreign training
A Marine with Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command fast-ropes out of an MV-22B Osprey at Camp Pendleton, February 4, 2016.
US Marine Corps/Cpl. Tyler S. Dietrich
The renewed focus on near-peer adversaries means that special-operations forces will need to reappraise their mission sets and priorities.
In shifting from counterterrorism to great-power competition, the focus "must shift from sensing, identifying, and targeting small underground terrorist networks to being able to initially provide a deterrence through a wide and formidable array of partnerships with our military alliances, not only in the Pacific but from across the globe," retired Marine Raider Maj. Fred Galvin told Insider.
Galvin is the author of "A Few Bad Men," a non-fiction account of the first Marine Special Operations combat deployment to Afghanistan and how they overcame attacks from all sides.
US Army Green Berets breach a building during direct-action operations training at Camp Hansen in Okinawa, May 2021.
"SOCOM has a large task in shaping each phase of the future fight through imposing costs to our competitors during the crisis and conflict phases," Galvin said.
A "primary" difference in how US special-operations forces will conduct crisis and conflict operations during great-power competition will be those forces' "reliance on and coordination with conventional and allied forces vs. conducting separate, small-scale unilateral operations" as they did during the war on terror, Galvin added.
Galvin also said a major shift will be the reduced focus on foreign internal defense, or the training of foreign partners.
Although US special operators will still train partner forces and help foreign militaries increase their capacities, near-peer competition likely means those operators will be conducting "more direct engagements vs. the preponderance of advise and assist missions that have occurred over the previous 20 years," Galvin said.
NOW WATCH: These are the favorite weapons of the Army Special Operations Forces
More: US Special Operations Command US Army Special Operations Command US Air Force Special Operations Command Naval Special Warfare | 2022-05-12T23:42:51Z | www.businessinsider.com | US Special Operations Prepares for '5th Modern Era' of Special Ops | https://www.businessinsider.com/us-special-operations-prepares-for-5th-modern-special-ops-era-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/us-special-operations-prepares-for-5th-modern-special-ops-era-2022-5 |
Simmons Bank review: Brick-and-mortar bank that has a free checking account with a $0 initial opening deposit
Simmons Bank has over 200 branches in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas.
Simmons Bank; Insider
The bottom line: Simmons Bank could be a great choice if you're considering opening a checking account or CD at a brick-and-mortar bank in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, or Texas. The bank pays low interest rates on savings and money market accounts , though.
Checking 3.75
Free checking account with $0 minimum opening deposit
Solid interest rates on CDs
Possible to waive monthly service fees on savings and money market accounts
Low interest rates on savings and money market accounts
Monthly service fee on savings and money market accounts
$100 minimum opening deposit on savings account
Simmons Bank Simply Savings Account
Over 200 locations in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas
Access to 37,000 surcharge-free ATMs through the MoneyPass ATM network
To waive the $5 monthly service fee, keep at least $100 in your account daily
Interest compounded and deposited every quarter
You might find the Simmons Bank Simply Savings Account appealing if you are able to open your account with at least $100 and maintain this amount daily.
On the other hand, if you don't think you'll meet these requirements, our best savings account guide includes free savings accounts with lower minimum opening deposits and higher interest rates.
Simmons Bank Coin Checking Account
Simmons Bank Round-Ups
No checks included
$3 paper statement fee (no fee for online statements)
No reimbursements on out-of-network ATM fees
No minimum opening deposit (Must make a deposit of any amount in the first 45 days, though)
Simmons Bank will round-up purchases to the nearest dollar and deposit the extra change into a second account if you have one
Overdraft protection that links your checking account to a savings account or apply for a line of credit
The Simmons Bank Coin Checking Account is an overall strong checking account. It charges zero monthly services and has a $0 initial opening deposit — just make sure to make a deposit of any amount within the first 45 days, or the account will be closed by the bank.
The one downside to the checking account is it doesn't include checks. You'll still have a debit card, though.
Simmons Bank Certificate of Deposit
Standard CD terms
Online banks offer higher interest rates
Terms range from 6 months to 5 years
Early withdrawal penalties: If your CD term is under one year, the penalty is 180 days interest on the amount withdrawn; If you CD term is over one year; the penalty is 360 days of interest on the amount withdrawn
Simmons Bank pays a higher interest rate on CDs than other brick-and-mortar banks and requires only $500 to open a CD.
You'll want to bear in mind the early withdrawal penalty, which can be high for some terms.
Simmons Bank Money Market Account
Leran more
50 free deposits per month
$0.25 deposit fee for each transaction that exceeds the monthly limit
No debit card included
Earn 0.01% APY if you have an account balance under $2,500
Earn 0.05% APY if you have an account balance between $2,500 and $50,000
Interest compounded and deposited every month
The Simmons Bank Money Market Account might be worthwhile if you plan to keep a high bank account balance.
You'll earn a higher interest on the Simmons Bank Money Market Account than the Simmons Bank Simply Savings Account if you maintain $2,500 or more in your account. You'll also waive the $10 monthly service fee by doing this.
How Simmons Bank works
Simmons Bank has over 200 brick-and-mortar locations in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas. The bank is part of the MoneyPass ATM network, which has 37,000 surcharge-free ATMs throughout the US.
Customer service is available by phone from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. CT on weekdays and 8 a.m. to noon CT on Saturdays.
The bank's mobile app received 4.6 out of 5 stars in the Google Play Store and 4.8 out of 5 stars in the App Store.
Simmons Bank is FDIC insured. You may safely keep up to $250,000 in an individual account or $500,000 in a joint bank account.
Simmons Bank trustworthiness and BBB rating
Simmons Bank hasn't been involved in any recent public scandals.
We also include ratings from the Better Business Bureau so you can see how a bank deals with customer issues.
The BBB gave Simmons Bank an NR rating because it doesn't have enough information to rate the bank.
A strong BBB rating isn't necessarily the end-all and be-all. Talk to current customers or read online customer reviews to get a more well-rounded perspective of the bank.
Simmons Bank vs. Regions Bank
Simmons Bank and Regions Bank have brick-and-mortar locations in most of the same states. Here's how the two compare.
AR, KS, MI, OK, TN, and TX
AL, AR, FL, GA, IL, IN, IA, KY, LA, MI, MS, NC, SC, TN, and TX
Free checking account with $0 opening deposit
Your decision between these two banks will likely depend on the bank accounts you'd like to open.
Regions may be worthwhile if you plan to open a savings account. The Regions LifeGreen® Savings Account charges zero monthly services. In comparison, Simmons Bank charges a $5 monthly service fee on its lowest-tier savings account if you don't keep at least $100 in your account.
If you'd like to open a checking account, you'll probably prefer Simmons Bank, though. The Simmons Bank Coin Checking Account has a $0 minimum opening deposit, zero monthly service fees, and has 2-day early direct deposit. Meanwhile, Regions Bank charges monthly service fees on its checking accounts and requires an initial deposit of at least $50.
Simmons Bank vs. First Horizon Bank
See how Simmons Bank stacks up to another regional bank in the South: First Horizon Bank.
AL, AR, TN, FL, GA, LA, MS, NY, NC, SC, TX, VA
Free checking account with free direct deposit
Both Simmons Bank and First Horizon Bank offer free checking accounts.
You might learn more about Simmons Bank if you'd prefer to open a checking account with $0 or get a 2-day early direct deposit. It also might be worth exploring if you'd also like to open a CD. Simmons Bank CDs earn a higher interest rate than First Horizon CDs.
You might favor First Horizon Bank if you're worried about overdraft fees. First Horizon Bank offers free overdraft protection that lets you link your checking account to a First Horizon Bank savings account, apply for a line of credit, or use a credit card.
How many states is Simmons Bank in?
Simmons Bank is available in 6 states: Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas.
What is a Simmons coin checking account?
The Simmons Bank Coin Checking Account is a free checking account with a $0 minimum opening deposit.
You can open the account online if you have a US ID, a social security number, and are at least 18 years old.
Is Simmons a good bank?
Simmons Bank could be a good option if you're searching for a checking account or CDs. If you'd like to earn a competitive interest rate on a savings account or money market account, online banks will likely pay a higher rate.
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More: Simmons Bank Simmons Bank Simply Savings Account Simmons Bank Coin Checking Account Simmons Bank CD | 2022-05-13T00:04:28Z | www.businessinsider.com | Simmons Bank Review: Brick-and-Mortar Bank, Free Checking Account | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/simmons-bank-review | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/simmons-bank-review |
How the owner of a 38-year-old fried-chicken restaurant is building a Web3 empire selling NFTs that can be redeemed for food and have fetched up to $350 each
ShiYun's NFTs can be redeemed for real food items in-store.
ShiYun; Zac Wang/Insider
The fried-chicken restaurant ShiYun's NFTs have traded for 350 times their asking price.
NFT holders can claim the food item represented by their NFT by showing it in-store.
Big brands are now starting to integrate NFTs and crypto with in-store transactions.
Would you like an NFT with your fried chicken?
As a hobbyist programmer and restaurant owner, Jimmy Hsieh, who goes by Jimmy, had been toying with non-fungible tokens when they broke into the mainstream last year. Yet he found few use cases for NFTs himself because of the complicated buying process, which he felt was reserved for crypto enthusiasts.
Then he came across OurSong, an NFT platform in Taiwan that lets users pay with credit cards to purchase NFTs, without the need for a crypto wallet. The startup was cofounded by the musician John Legend and is backed by VCs, such as Animoca Brands, to the tune of $7.5 million.
That's when he realized NFTs could help bring his 38-year-old Taipei fried-chicken shop ShiYun into the Web3 age and offer a new source of revenue for his restaurant.
ShiYun's NFTs, which include images of fried drumsticks and fried broccoli and are redeemable for their physical counterparts, were released in November and sold out in minutes, Jimmy said, with one going for 350 times its asking price of $1.
"Even though we've been around for 38 years, now people won't think we're an outdated business," Jimmy said.
ShiYun is in a bustling area of Taipei, Taiwan's capital.
ShiYun
While digital brands have been quick to embrace NFTs and crypto, the response from brick-and-mortar retailers has been relatively muted. Only recently have big brands, such as Starbucks and Gucci, begun releasing NFTs and accepting crypto as payment, respectively.
Brands synonymous with Web3 are also slowly beginning to move into the physical world, such as the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT-themed fast-food concept that opened in California in April.
Part of the reason behind some major brands' trepidation of the space might be the speculative reputation that NFTs carry. Brands have also only recently started to embed utility in their NFTs, beyond just offering digital pictures of their inventory.
"In Taiwan, we say that if you can sell it to someone else it's called an NFT. If you can't, it's a JPEG," said Jimmy, who spoke with Insider ahead of the recent crypto selloff.
ShiYun's NFTs sold for hundreds of dollars each, but its owner felt uneasy about attracting the attention of speculators
As the NFT craze picked up pace last year, Jimmy said he wanted to create something that could deliver tangible value to its owner, like how a movie ticket grants the holder entrance to the cinema. That's when he realized his NFTs could be exchanged for food.
"I'm not attractive. I'm not an artist. I just had pictures of fried chicken on my computer," he said.
To avoid fanning the hype, Jimmy Hsieh briefly stopped giving media interviews as the NFTs picked up steam.
He initially priced the NFTs at one OSD, OurSong's own cryptocurrency, which aims to trade on par with the US dollar. As the auction progressed, the price quickly shot up to 2 OSD, then 10 OSD, until someone bought one for 350 OSD.
"I felt uneasy because this was representing my company," Jimmy said. He was worried he might have attracted the attention of speculators. "Of course I wished for my NFTs to sell for more money, but I didn't feel like it was right as a company."
ShiYun now focuses on making money from an existing customer's next visit, not from secondary NFT trades, by delivering something of value through the NFTs to encourage repeat purchases.
ShiYun's NFTs allow every new holder to claim a piece of the food represented by the NFT by showing the NFT at the restaurant. For example, when a holder of a fried-chicken NFT sells it to someone else, that new owner can also claim a piece of fried chicken. ShiYun receives 10% of secondary sales.
The NFT project has expanded beyond ShiYun to 17 other restaurants in Taiwan
Spurred by the success of its first NFT drop, ShiYun partnered with 17 other restaurants in Taiwan to launch NFTs, redeemable in Taiwan's night food markets. They offered promotions such as "buy one, get one free" and "eat until you're full," which Jimmy said helped spark a frenzy among customers.
ShiYun's night-market stall.
Driven by ShiYun's success, other brick-and-mortar stores, such as Taiwan's Niko Bakery chain and the Hong Kong chain Dim Dim Sum, also released their own "edible" NFTs on OurSong.
Jimmy said he felt lucky to have launched NFTs early.
"There is a first-mover advantage in Web3. With the dot-com boom, you could have bought any domain," he said. "It's still very early for Web3, so it's best to move fast, to get advantages that other people won't have."
"If I hadn't done the fried-chicken NFT, someone else would have," he added.
While he acknowledged people's misgivings about nascent Web3 technologies, he compared their doubts about cryptocurrency and NFTs to the skepticism that met paper currency when it was invented during the Song dynasty in China.
He said: "In five years, these kinds of transactions will be commonplace. Most people won't understand them, but they will understand how they work on a basic level."
More: NFT Retail Web3 | 2022-05-13T09:18:29Z | www.businessinsider.com | How a Fried-Chicken Shop's NFTs Sold for 350 Times Their Asking Price | https://www.businessinsider.com/how-fried-chicken-restaurant-nft-350-taiwan-shiyun-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/how-fried-chicken-restaurant-nft-350-taiwan-shiyun-2022-5 |
Check out the 20-slide pitch deck a Googler-turned-entrepreneur used to raise $25 million for his DEI platform Mathison
Martin Coulter
Mathison has raised $25 million in Series A funding.
DEI-focused hiring and retention platform Mathison has raised $25 million in Series A funding.
The California startup was backed by F-Prime Capital and Bain Capital Ventures.
Insider got an exclusive look at the pitch deck Mathison used to bring investors on board.
Mathison, a diversity-focused talent platform, has raised $25 million in a Series A funding round, backed by F-Prime Capital and Bain Capital Ventures.
Over the past few years, major companies accepted diversity, equity, and inclusion (or "DEI") initiatives as integral to their success, with business leaders from Apple CEO Tim Cook to Goldman Sachs' David Solomon pledging to do more to combat workplace exclusion in the wake of George Floyd's murder in 2020.
Despite the outpouring of support among executives, however, many experts argue that corporate diversity and inclusion efforts have failed so far, citing demographic data that shows a continuing lack of representation in workplaces and senior management.
California-based Mathison, named for famed British codebreaker Alan Mathison Turing, wants to help businesses stick to their promises, pitching employers an easy-to-use and DEI-focused hiring and retention platform. The idea is to allow firms to more easily track diversity in their ranks, gauge employee feedback and sentiment, and clearly spell out recruitment policies. Mathison's clients include meal-delivery firm HelloFresh and TripAdvisor.
Mathison cofounder and CEO Arthur Woods
Alan Barnett/Mathison
"After leading years of research across hundreds of employers, we recognized employers were missing the proper insights and systems to support their DEI efforts at scale," said Mathison cofounder and ex-Google manager Arthur Woods.
Woods trained as a management consultant and worked at Google prior to becoming an entrepreneur. He previously cofounded workplace coaching platform Imperative.
Alongside F-Prime and Bain, Mathison received backing from SemperVirens, ANIMO Ventures, GTM Fund and Gaingels. As part of the round, John Lin of F-Prime Capital joined the company's board.
Insider got an exclusive look at the pitch deck Mathison used to bring investors on board. Check it out below:
More: Google Black Lives Matter DEI | 2022-05-13T09:18:41Z | www.businessinsider.com | Series a Pitch Deck: DEI Platform Mathison Raises $20 Million | https://www.businessinsider.com/series-a-pitch-deck-mathison-ex-googler-raises-20-million-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/series-a-pitch-deck-mathison-ex-googler-raises-20-million-2022-5 |
Will the stock market recover? Bank of America and UBS strategists share 4 reasons why Wall Street should have hope — and 4 reasons why there may be more pain ahead
Market pundits are divided on what's next for the stock market during the ongoing steep sell-off.
Top minds at Bank of America and UBS have compelling cases for both bull and bear outcomes.
Detailed below are four reasons to believe in a stock comeback — and four reasons to be fearful.
It's the question on every investor's mind as a sharp market sell-off seemingly gets worse by the day: Will stocks recover, and, if so, when will that be?
Ultimately, none of Wall Street's top strategists and analysts can answer that question with certainty and instead must make educated guesses based on the available data.
Views on the strength — or lack thereof — of the stock market vary widely across the investing world. Some experts see the precipitous decline as a buying opportunity while others see 20% downside for the S&P 500 from current levels.
To help investors make the best decisions in this turbulent time in markets, Insider examined recent notes from some of the top minds at Bank of America and UBS and then compiled a list of four reasons to be hopeful about stocks, as well as four related reasons to be concerned.
1. Earnings have been solid, but a slowdown may be on the horizon
One reason for optimism is that corporate earnings held up well in the first quarter of 2022, strategists at both Bank of America and UBS noted.
Consensus earnings estimates for the first quarter are up 6% since April 1 and jumped 11% year-over-year, wrote Savita Subramanian, BofA's head of US equity and quantitative strategy, in a May 9 note. All 11 S&P 500 sectors topped expectations, Subramanian noted, adding that her firm's 4% beat forecast was too conservative. At the time of her writing, 89% of first-quarter earnings were in the books.
Forward earnings estimates have also risen about 6% in 2022, wrote David Lefkowitz, the head of equities Americas at UBS Global Wealth Management who recently spoke with Insider.
But Subramanian — whose firm entered the year skeptical about stocks — noted that firms warned that their outlooks aren't all rosy.
"Signs of slowdown were evident, with leading indicators sharply falling," Subramanian wrote.
Mentions of "weak demand" in quarterly reports were the highest since the second quarter of 2020, the head of US equity strategy wrote, adding that corporations are keeping expectations low for profit margins as multi-decade-high inflation continues to surge.
2. Comparions to March 2020 are mounting, but bearish sentiment in markets may max out
Corporations aren't the only ones expressing negative sentiment last seen in the throes of 2020.
Investors' net long positioning in economically sensitive emerging markets stocks is "currently comparable to those seen during the depths of the pandemic in March 2020," according to a May 9 note from Alejo Czerwonko, the CIO for Emerging Markets Americas at UBS Financial Services. Czerwonko cited data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in his note.
The UBS investment chief also noted that just 19% of respondents in the latest weekly survey from the American Association of Individual Investors (AAII) said they were bullish on stocks in the next month. That's the lowest four-week average in three decades, Czerwonko noted.
But there may be a glass-half-full takeaway from the AAII's survey: Overly bearish sentiment in markets has historically been a spark for a rebound. Long-time bull Ed Yardeni made the case that investors are too pessimistic in a May 9 essay for the Financial Times.
"I don't recall so much stock market bearishness in a very long time," Yardeni wrote, adding that he expects US stocks to notch new all-time highs next year.
Though investors positioning their portfolios like it's early 2020 is a reason to be uneasy, the hopelessness expressed in the AAII's survey may give contrarians hope that a bottom is near.
3. Multiples have already fallen considerably, but historical comparisons suggest further downside
Stocks will presumably start to rebound after Wall Street prices in a proper earnings multiple in an environment where interest rates are rapidly rising. Higher rates hurt stock valuations because investors become less willing to pay a premium for companies' future cash flows.
Much of that multiple compression has already taken place. Lefkowitz, the equity head for Americas at UBS, noted that the market's forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio has dropped to 16.9x from 21.3x and wrote that he anticipates an end to the bloodbath relatively soon.
"The vast majority of the adjustment in real rates is over, especially considering that they are back to pre-COVID levels," Lefkowitz wrote in a May 10 note.
Not all strategists are so sanguine. Michael Hartnett, the chief investment strategist at Bank of America, examined the last 19 bear markets and wrote in a May 5 note that such downturns tend to last nine and a half months and contain an average peak-to-trough drop of 37%.
"If history were to repeat, then today's bear market ends in Oct. 2022 with the S&P at 3000," Hartnett wrote.
4. Wall Street is getting more fearful, but Main Street spending remains robust
Bank of America's sell-side indicator, which tracks sell-side strategists' average recommended equity allocation, fell for the fourth straight month in April. That suggests that investing pros are "increasingly cautious" during this stock market rout, BofA's Subramanian wrote in a May 3 note.
In an early January note, Subramanian cautioned that the indicator was dangerously close to a sell signal because strategists were so bullish, vouching for it as a "reliable contrarian measure."
"Over the last five years, strategists have raised their allocations to stocks by ~10ppt [percentage points]," Subramanian wrote in a January 3 note. "History may not repeat but today rhymes with prior peaks. In the five years leading into market peaks in 1990, 2000, and 2007, allocations rose 7ppt, 11ppt and 6ppt, respectively."
Though a significant decline in the sell-side indicator would be a bullish contrarian signal, the measure is still far from flashing a buy recommendation, suggesting that more pain is ahead.
But interestingly, while Wall Street strategists are getting more risk-averse, recently released credit card data from Bank of America shows that Main Street is continuing to spend like crazy.
Total spending in April was up 24% from the pre-pandemic levels of 2019, wrote Anna Zhou, a US economist for BofA, in a May 9 note. That strength was, perhaps surprisingly to some, led by the lower-income cohort, which Zhou noted spent 38% more on their cards than in 2019.
And small businesses, which showed alarming weakness on the jobs front in April, were also big spenders and engineered a 20% year-over-year rise in credit card spending, according to data released on May 10 from the Bank of America Institute.
Will bulls or bears prevail?
Retail investors must now, like their professional counterparts, weigh reasons for optimism and pessimism outlined by Bank of America and UBS, which are conveniently summarized below.
Reasons to be upbeat include the fact that corporate earnings in all 11 S&P 500 sectors beat expectations by 6% in the first quarter, that the extreme pessimism illustrated by just 19% of investors being positive on stocks is a possible contrarian buy signal, that the market's forward earnings multiple has already fallen by 20%, and that consumers and small businesses are continuing to spend.
Causes for concern include that companies in the first quarter warned about "weak demand" at the highest rate since 2020 as leading indicators weakened, that net long positions in cyclical emerging markets stocks are at pandemic-era lows, that a top Bank of America strategist sees the S&P 500 falling all the way to 3,000, and that Bank of America's sell-side indicator suggests there's much more downside ahead before a contrarian buy signal would be triggered.
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ubs investing strategy | 2022-05-13T10:49:53Z | www.businessinsider.com | Will the Stock Market Recover? Outlook, Top Advice From BofA, UBS | https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-market-crash-recovery-investing-advice-bank-of-america-ubs-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-market-crash-recovery-investing-advice-bank-of-america-ubs-2022-5 |
Famed $18 billion value investing firm Ariel has 7 different funds beating their benchmarks or the broader market as stocks tumble. Here's what they're buying as growth and tech funds get a long overdue 'comeuppance.'
John Rogers is the chairman, co-CEO and investment chief of Ariel Investments.
Value stock picking firm Ariel Investments manages nearly $18 billion in assets.
The firm's managers recently discussed what they're buying in a variety of funds and strategies.
Its flagship Ariel Fund was one of the best of the 2010s bull market.
There aren't many people on Wall Street bragging about their stock-picking successes right now, but it's easy to get the sense that value investors are feeling good about things.
The general method of value investing — buying stocks that are cheap based on common metrics like the price-to-earnings ratio or return on equity — has a long and storied pedigree dating to investors like Benjamin Graham and including famous names like Warren Buffett. But in the 2010s, it mostly looked like a museum piece.
For more than a decade, many tech and consumer stocks made great returns no matter what their P/E ratios looked like or how well they had performed in the past. There didn't seem to be much reason to buy undervalued stocks when something else could deliver much more explosive growth every year.
Things have looked very different since November. The economic effects of COVID-19 are easing. Interest rates are rising and it looks like they will keep going up for months. Economic growth is broader and stronger than it was for most of the last decade. All of that tends to make investors less interested in growth stocks, and it's been great for value.
Ariel Investments was one value-oriented firm that stood out as an exception in those days. For instance, the firm's mid-cap fund was the best in its class during the last bull market. Even so, on a call with investors and media this week, there were signs Ariel's leaders are satisfied that value is having another moment in the sun.
President and co-CEO Mellody Hobson said the widespread losses for tech and growth were a "comeuppance."
Chief Investment Officer for Global Equities Rupal Bhansali said, "It's really about time that making losses is no longer fashionable."
Granted, that might only qualify as smack talk in the investing world. But the firm, which says it had $17.8 billion in assets at the end of April, seems to feel it has the wind at its back.
"We bought aggressively during the COVID crisis," said founder, co-CEO, and portfolio manager John Rogers. "We've continued to buy aggressively now during the last several weeks."
The participants in Ariel's call included the managers of seven mutual funds and strategies that as of April 30 were beating broad market benchmarks like the S&P 500 and Russell 2000, according to data provided by the firm. In most cases they were also outperforming value benchmarks from Russell or MSCI.
That means they were losing less money than competitors or the rest of the market. Ariel says that over time it's delivered for investors by minimizing losses during down markets and holding steady during better periods.
International stock ideas
Bhansali, who manages Ariel's global stock strategies, says she's finding new opportunities in emerging markets that looked too expensive and risky before the recent downturn.
"Both the stock markets and the currencies sold off, and that sort of gave us a lot of bargain-hunting opportunity," in many of those markets, she said. "Brazilian franchise quality companies that we've been eyeing for a long, long time, but were never part of the valuation range and the risk reward that we look for. Telefonica Brazil, BB Seguridade in Brazil, Credicorp in Peru."
A lot of Latin American countries are benefiting from rising commodity prices, and that's also good for those stocks even if they're not in commodity companies.
She adds that telecom has performed very well in her strategies this year.
"Some of the companies that we have liked for a long time got sold off because of excessive pessimism, like Nintendo and China Mobile," she said. "Telecom is the new consumer staples."
In tech, Bhansali says that Chinese stocks will take leadership positions in areas like artificial intelligence and AI, and Baidu should be a top performer.
"Because of their early and persistent and smart investments in this area, they're going to become a leader in autonomous driving, which is one of the biggest and most lucrative applications of AI in big data," she said.
Stateside leaders
Rogers says Ariel has been buying stocks in housing-related industries, which are getting hit as investors worry that rising prices and mortgage rates will erode demand. Those include carpet maker Mohawk Industries and smart thermostat and home products maker Resideo.
Charles Bobrinskoy, who runs Ariel's Focus Fund and Focused Value Fund, says that Resideo, tools maker Stanley, Black & Decker, and casino operator Boyd Gaming are all trading at valuations that would make sense during a recession .
"I actually think we were at peak pessimism," Bobrinskoy said. "Companies that are economically sensitive, particularly consumer discretionary stocks, are trading at very low valuations."
Ken Kuhrt, co-manager of the firm's small cap value and small cap value concentrated strategies, said the firm is finding opportunities in pandemic-affected areas like cruises and sports — Rogers has long evangelized Madison Square Garden Entertainment as a favorite stock — and says that Nielsen and Mattel have done well for Ariel.
Kuhrt says that both Mattel and Nielsen are potential buyout targets, and Mattel is doing a good job at expanding the value of its business.
Bhansali, meanwhile, adds that Microsoft products like Outlook and Word and Excel are indispensable to businesses, which makes the company something like a consumer staple. It also has a lot of room to raise prices on numerous products. That would bolster its margins, revenue, and the stock's performance.
value stock rotation
Rupal Bhansali | 2022-05-13T10:50:08Z | www.businessinsider.com | Stock Picks for Value Investing: Ariel Investments Portfolio Managers | https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-market-picks-value-investing-ariel-investments-john-rogers-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-market-picks-value-investing-ariel-investments-john-rogers-2022-5 |
A still from a video of Russian tank commander Vadim Shysimarin, who is in Ukrainian custody.
21-year-old Russian soldier Vadim Shysimarin is accused of killing of an unarmed civilian near Kyiv.
Prosecutors say he was ordered to shoot the man through an open car window in February.
The trial, set to start Friday, is the first war crimes trial in Ukraine since Russia's invasion.
A 21-year-old Russian soldier is the first to stand trial for war crimes committed during the invasion of Ukraine, according to Ukrainian officials.
Tank commander Vadim Shysimarin is accused of the murder of a 62-year-old unarmed civilian in Chupakhivka, a village in northeast Ukraine's Sumy region, Prosecutor General Irina Venedyktova announced.
Venedyktova said that on February 28, Shysimarin shot at the man —who was on a bicycle and talking on the phone — from an open car window.
Shysimarin and four other Russian soldiers had been fleeing Ukrainian forces and fired at and stole a car to escape, Venedyktova wrote. As the car drove away, Shysimarin was ordered "to kill [the] civilian so that he would not report them to Ukrainian defenders," she alleged.
Shysimarin is in Ukrainian custody and is due to make his first court appearance Friday, The Guardian reported.
"Investigators have gathered enough evidence of his involvement in violating the laws and customs of war, combined with premeditated murder," Venedyktova wrote. It would mean 10 to 15 years imprisonment, or potentially a life sentence, she said.
Shysimarin appeared in a short video posted on May 4 by Ukraine's security service, in which he described the shooting, the Associated Press reported.
Venedyktova did not identify the alleged victim or the soldier who gave Shyshimarin the order.
Volodymyr Yavorskyy from Kyiv's Center for Civil Liberties, a prominent human rights group, said the trial would be monitored and Shysimarin's rights protected, according to the AP.
Venedyktova has earlier alleged thousands of war crimes since the outbreak of Russian President Vladimir Putin's war with Ukraine. As of Friday, her office said it is investigating 10,700 potential crimes relating to 600 suspects, according to Sky News.
She has called Putin "the main war criminal of the 21st century."
Soon after Russia invaded, the International Criminal Court announced it would begin an investigation into war crimes, at the urging of 39 countries.
In April, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, commented that in the war "international humanitarian law has not merely been ignored but seemingly tossed aside."
A single UN mission in April in Bucha, a city just outside of Kyiv, documented the unlawful killing of 50 civilians, including by summary execution, Bachelet's statement said.
More: ukraine-russia War Crimes Court Extrajudicial Killings | 2022-05-13T12:08:24Z | www.businessinsider.com | 1st Russian War Crimes Trial in Ukraine Over Alleged Civilian Shooting | https://www.businessinsider.com/1st-russian-war-crimes-trial-in-ukraine-alleged-civilian-shooting-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/1st-russian-war-crimes-trial-in-ukraine-alleged-civilian-shooting-2022-5 |
US domestic flight bookings fell by 17% in April compared to March, according to Adobe.
The drop in bookings comes as air fares continue to rise as a result of high fuel costs.
Despite higher prices, travel demand is still higher than pre-pandemic levels, according to the data.
US domestic flight bookings fell in April from the previous month, after high fuel and other costs continued to push up air fares.
Bookings for domestic flights fell by 17% in April compared to March, according to data from software company, Adobe, published Thursday.
Overall, passengers in the US spent $7.8 billion on domestic flights bookings online in April, down from the $8.8 billion spent in March, Adobe said.
The fall in demand between March and April comes after continued rises in individual air fares as a result of the rising cost of jet fuel and growing demand for travel. Prices for air travel rose 18.6% in April, government data published Wednesday showed, the largest one-month jump since 1963.
Air fares and oil prices were already rising as post-lockdown recovery prompted demand for jet fuel, but have spiked further on concerns over global crude oil supply following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The ease in demand indicates passengers are holding back from booking pricey tickets. According to Adobe, prices surpassed pre-pandemic levels in April for the third month in a row, rising 27% more than 2019 levels and 8% more than prices in March.
Despite elevated prices, travel demand is still above pre-pandemic levels. Online spend grew 23% in April compared to the same month in 2019, while bookings rose by 5%, according to Adobe. The gap shows that consumers "have been paying considerably more for the same amount of service," Adobe said.
Passengers have already spent $28.8 billion on online domestic flight bookings in 2022, over twice as much as what was spent in the first four months of 2021, the data added.
More: transport transportaion Airlines Flights
Booking travel | 2022-05-13T12:08:30Z | www.businessinsider.com | Domestic Flight Bookings Fell 17% in April As Fares Continue to Rise | https://www.businessinsider.com/domestic-flight-bookings-fell-17-in-april-as-fares-continue-to-rise-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/domestic-flight-bookings-fell-17-in-april-as-fares-continue-to-rise-2022-5 |
AP Photos; Aimee Dilger/ SOPA Images via Getty Images; Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images; Savanna Durr/Alyssa Powell/Insider
Retailers of all stripes are aggressively getting into the ad business.
Adtech firms have increasingly emerged to help them build and scale those businesses.
These 10 firms are helping companies like Walmart, Dollar General, and Klarna crack retail media.
This is the 10th in a 10-part series that examines Amazon's booming advertising business: The people driving it, the ripple effects on other companies, and what's next.
Retailers like Walmart, Michaels, and Kroger are aggressively building advertising arms, and advertising-technology companies want to cash in.
Retailers see an opportunity to get a piece of an industry that's dominated by Amazon but growing. Boston Consulting Group has estimated that e-commerce advertising will grow to $100 billion by 2026, representing 25% of total digital-media spending.
Retail media is also a way for retailers to offset their slim margins. BCG suggests that gross margins for ads sold on a retailer's own website are at least 70%, versus retail margins of 19% to 38%.
"Retail media produces a pool of profit that can be transformative in funding a retailer's core strategic bets — it's net-new profit," said Lauren Wiener, a managing director and partner at BCG.
With billions at stake, a cottage industry of startups and tech giants including Criteo, PromoteIQ, and The Trade Desk has emerged to help retailers sell ads on their websites and around the web.
These retail-adtech firms help retailers with a wide range of services. For example, Michaels outsources its ad sales to the adtech firm Criteo, while Walmart works with The Trade Desk for its programmatic advertising. Two competing adtech firms, CitrusAd and Criteo, both build tools for Target's ad platform. Other adtech firms help advertisers manage their buys across the sprawling retailer landscape so they reach a big-enough audience.
Matt Prohaska, the CEO of Prohaska Consulting, compared the growth of the retail-adtech industry to the early days of social-media advertising, when dozens of third parties sprang up to help advertisers buy ads on Facebook, Twitter, and Snap. Many of those companies struggled once the social-media companies began offering advertisers similar tools for free, and Prohaska predicted that retail-adtech firms could follow a similar path. He said he also saw these adtech firms as acquisition targets for retailers.
"There's definitely an appetite in the M&A market in picking off some of these firms when they are scaled and with appropriate valuations," he said.
Insider identified 10 firms, listed alphabetically, that are helping retailers build ad businesses. We've listed funding or revenue figures where available.
CitrusAd
Gopuff is a CitrusAd client.
Acquired by Publicis Groupe last year, CitrusAd powers on-site ads like sponsored ads and banner ads sold by retailers like Lowe's, Gopuff, and Target.
Publicis pitches CitrusAd alongside its data and marketing arm, Epsilon, which works with retailers like Walgreens to help advertisers run retail ads off their sites. CitrusAd is a part of Epsilon, which is a major contributor to Publicis Groupe's revenue.
CitrusAd raised $8 million from investors including Moelis Australia before its acquisition, according to PitchBook.
Criteo has helped retailers like Ulta Beauty build ad businesses.
The longtime ad retargeter has shifted toward retail media as the death of third-party cookies has slammed its business — retail media made up 14% of its business in 2021.
In the past year, Criteo has helped Best Buy, Michaels, and Ulta Beauty stand up advertising businesses. Its core retail-ad format, sponsored listings, promotes products in search results. Criteo also helps retailers sell display and programmatic ads that run on publishers' websites. In addition to setting up the infrastructure, Criteo sells e-commerce ads on behalf of retailers.
Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google and Alphabet.
Google has long dominated digital advertising and is now making a play to help retailers like Best Buy and Crate & Barrel develop their own ad businesses.
Google pitches its demand-side platform to retailers as a way to sell ads on publishers' websites. Unlike its competitor The Trade Desk, Google can help retailers sell ads on its video service, YouTube.
Retailers can also use Google's ad server to cap the number of ads a shopper sees and use its tools to manage search ads and see how campaigns perform.
Inmar has focused on grocers like Kroger.
Inmar Intelligence, backed by private equity, has for more than 40 years helped retailers like Kroger and Publix create loyalty programs, coupons, and promotions.
More recently the firm has been hiring ad and media talent and rolling out digital-advertising tools for retailers, with a focus on grocers. Inmar helps retailers sell e-commerce ads, in-store ads, and digital coupons. It also manages off-site ads like influencer marketing and personalized video formats for retailers.
In the past few years Inmar has acquired two digital-advertising and media companies, Aki Technologies and OwnerIQ, to grow its retail-media business.
Instacart has been building an ad business.
Instacart has quickly built an ad business over the past two years. Now it's pitching its technology to help grocers like Schnucks, a chain based in St. Louis, establish their own ad businesses, going up against longtime retail-adtech firms.
Instacart's advertising stack sets up ad products like sponsored products and measurement tools. It also gives grocers its data on which products people buy and will sell ads for grocers that don't have their own sales teams.
Kevel sells API software that companies use to sell ads on websites and apps, in emails, and on digital out-of-home ads. Kevel's clients — which include nonretailers like Klarna, Monster, and Ticketmaster — use the company's software to manage their ad reporting, targeting, and pricing.
The startup has raised $24 million from investors including Fulcrum Equity Partners and Commerce Ventures, according to PitchBook.
Microsoft acquired PromoteIQ in 2019.
Sam Yeh/Getty Images
Microsoft may not be the splashiest digital-advertising company, but it's become a big player in retail media.
Its PromoteIQ, acquired in 2019, helps retailers including Kroger and Home Depot run advertising businesses — it offers features to help retailers identify where to place ads on their websites and how to set prices. PromoteIQ also sells off-site and in-store ads for retailers.
Microsoft added to its retail-media arsenal last year when it acquired Xandr, an adtech firm that pitches its digital-ad platform to retailers.
Dollar General is a Quotient client.
Quotient, formerly known as Coupons.com, got its start helping retailers develop in-store advertising and promotions programs.
As retailers have moved into e-commerce, the firm has rolled out digital-advertising tools like sponsored search, display, and programmatic ads. It also offers creative services to design images and copy for retailers' advertisers.
Albertsons was a longtime client until last year. Its current clients include Dollar General.
Quotient made $522 million in 2021.
Swiftly
Swiftly wants to help legacy retailers catch up with e-commerce. It pitches them advertising as part of larger packages that include loyalty programs, pickup and delivery services, and retail analytics. For example, Swiftly powers part of Dollar General's e-commerce sites as well as its advertising business.
The firm says more than 100 consumer-packaged-goods brands use its tools to buy ads.
Swiftly has raised $116 million to date from investors including Liquid2 Ventures and Bramalea, according to PitchBook.
Walmart is a client of The Trade Desk.
The Trade Desk won the highly prized Walmart account last year, developing a demand-side platform to help advertisers target campaigns using Walmart's trove of data on shoppers. The Trade Desk cites successful results from brands like Bic as examples of how Walmart's DSP is driving sales for brands.
Walmart has been running its own ad business since 2019, hiring advertising pros and building out tools for advertisers to buy ads on its own site. Walmart and others have limited ad inventory on their websites because they don't want to clutter websites with ads; the Trade Desk deal is a way for it to expand its ad business by selling ads outside its properties.
More: Features Amazon Walmart | 2022-05-13T12:17:02Z | www.businessinsider.com | Adtech Firms That Are Helping Retailers Grow E-Commerce Advertising | https://www.businessinsider.com/adtech-firms-helping-retailers-grow-ecommerce-advertising-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/adtech-firms-helping-retailers-grow-ecommerce-advertising-2022-5 |
A single startup's success led to the creation of 'analytics engineer,' the hottest new tech job that's paying as much as $200,000 and is highly in demand at companies like Apple and Amazon
Many of the largest tech companies are hiring for a new, in-demand role.
Called the analytics engineer, the position has become one of the hottest jobs in tech.
Analytics engineers use a tool called dbt and can earn about $127,000, according to Glassdoor.
In the past few years, a new role in the world of data analytics has become one of the hottest jobs in tech.
While data analysts and data scientists previously had to go through incredibly messy data sets to report insights, a new role called the analytics engineer is tasked with cleaning up that data and making it more usable for them.
Analytics engineers are in demand at some of the largest companies — Apple, Amazon, Netflix , Discord , and Instacart are all hiring analytics engineers in some form. They specialize in using dbt, a tool to make it easier to build cleaner data sets that analysts can use.
"You can change your LinkedIn title from analyst to analytics engineer, and you instantly get a 20% pay bump and a bunch of job offers," said Jeremiah Lowin, the CEO of Prefect, a data-orchestration startup. "That was enabled in large part by dbt. It is a phenomenal example of category creation, which companies suck at these days."
Glassdoor, which crowdsources salaries for specific roles, suggests the typical salary for an analytics engineer is about $127,000. But it can vary — a job listing for a senior analytics engineer at Discord suggests the role pays more than $200,000 a year, while one from CircleCI says it pays $106,250 to $125,000. (Companies must list salary bands in New York and Colorado.)
While data analysts are primed to jump into this new position, Tristan Handy, the CEO of Dbt Labs, said the roles are substantially different. And while analytics engineers take on some tasks traditionally performed by data engineers, it's not just a rebrand.
"Along with the different job responsibilities come different career ladders and, most importantly, different compensation," Handy said. "Data professionals who make this shift are compensated extremely well for having done so."
One startup, Dbt Labs, is responsible for popularizing the analytics engineer
A Philadelphia startup founded in 2016 is essentially responsible for the emergence of the analytics engineer.
Dbt Labs, which created the tool critical to the role, is valued at $4.2 billion. Analysts can use dbt to translate complex, messy data sets into cleaner, easier-to-use tables in Snowflake or Redshift.
Data engineers have traditionally used Spark or Python to move data from multiple sources and build tables in Snowflake and other SQL warehouses. Rather than learning Python, data analysts could use dbt and the language they know best, SQL, to do what the data engineers do.
In the past few years dbt has caught the eye of larger companies, which are increasingly moving data to warehousing tools like Snowflake.
"In late 2018, early 2019 we started to see a real identity emerge around analysts who were frustrated with waiting in long data-engineering queues so started to learn the practices necessary to just do the work themselves," Handy said. "Dbt was a part of this journey for many people, but at the time there was also a rise in companies attempting to build dbt-like tools in-house to empower analysts and people looking for a new name for what they were doing."
Bob Muglia, a former CEO of Snowflake, said the increasing prevalence of SQL has made tools like dbt — and the analytics-engineer role — substantially more in demand.
"Dbt is winning in that space," he said. "They have definitely built the biggest community."
Analytics engineers are also often asked to have experience with Airflow, a popular open-source big-data tool to schedule data-crunching tasks. Astronomer, the startup that helps manage Airflow, said it's making it easier to use for analytics engineers.
"Traditionally, Airflow was great for people from more traditional data-engineering backgrounds, but we see this emergence of people who are less technical but want to crunch data, do analysis and model building," said Laurent Paris, Astronomer's senior vice president of research and development. "And we want to cater to them even with Airflow."
Though dbt is extremely popular and has essentially crafted a new role, its creator wants to expand beyond cleaning and organizing data using SQL — Handy said he expects the role to grow as dbt launches new tools like tracking essential metrics.
More: Machine Learning snowflake Big Data | 2022-05-13T12:17:14Z | www.businessinsider.com | Analytics Engineer Is the Hot New Tech Job With Salaries Over $125,000 | https://www.businessinsider.com/data-analytics-engineer-dbt-tech-job-salary-skills-needed-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/data-analytics-engineer-dbt-tech-job-salary-skills-needed-2022-5 |
Retailers are fueling an advertising explosion, and it could present a nightmare for brands
Patrick Coffee, Lucia Moses, and Lindsay Rittenhouse
Nam Y. Huh/AP Images; Savanna Durr/Alyssa Powell/Insider
Retail media is expected to grow 31% this year as chain stores use their shopper data to sell ads.
Big-box and online retailers have dominated, but service categories, such as travel, may be next.
Retail media's explosion brings opportunities and challenges for advertisers weighing their options.
This is the eighth in a 10-part series that examines Amazon's booming advertising business: The people driving it, the ripple effects on other companies, and what's next.
Retailers such as Macy's, Kroger, and Michaels have started their own advertising businesses as online shopping booms, realizing their first-party shopper data is a gold mine for brands looking to reach consumers as third-party targeting cookies are phased out.
Their businesses pale in comparison to Amazon, which is now the third-largest digital-advertising company behind Google and Facebook, raking in $31 billion in 2021 ad revenue.
To compare, Walmart, Amazon's biggest competitor in the retail-media space, brought in $2.1 billion in advertising revenue last year.
Still, there's money to be made.
Insider Intelligence, which shares a parent with Insider, predicted that retail media would grow 31% this year to $41 billion as advertisers diversify their ad spending beyond Amazon and longer term, and as retailers figure out how to tie online ads to in-store sales. Digital advertising, traditional channels, and trade dollars are expected to fuel the increase.
"Once brands, particularly CPG brands, get visibility into how online ads drive offline sales, huge budgets will be unlocked. This is absolutely the sleeping giant of digital advertising's next frontier," Insider Intelligence's Andrew Lipsman said.
Retailers stand to benefit from the end of targeting cookies
Mike Feldman, the SVP and head of commerce and retail media for Dentsu International, said any retailer with at least 10 million monthly visitors to its online store should consider monetizing its site for search.
"While Amazon is certainly the largest player in the space, and most can't compete at that same scale, there's still a significant opportunity for retailers to monetize their data and properties," Feldman said. "From a retail standpoint, purchase-based data is essential."
Retailers with first-party data from loyalty programs and the ability to track online and offline purchases are well positioned.
"When you look at the future state of digital media, this clock is ticking toward the final expiration date of third-party cookies as a means to target and measure ads online. The first-party shopper data that retailers amass will all but require that brands advertise through them to reach targeted consumers with their billions in shopper marketing spend," said Nich Weinheimer, a general manager at the e-commerce marketing platform Skai.
The proliferation of retail media presents a nightmare for brands since every retailer has its own way of selling and measuring ads.
"When advertising was dominated by social and search, advertisers mainly had Facebook and Google to figure out," said Zach Morrison, the CEO of the performance ad agency Tinuiti. "But the retail-media ecosystem is much more splintered. A brand like Kraft, for example, has figured out ways to advertise in all the places it sells snacks and cookies, which extends far beyond Amazon, and now to Walmart, Kroger, Target, Instacart, and many more."
A complex landscape for advertisers
Adding to the complexity, the retail-media map can be sliced and diced in many ways.
There are the strictly online players, with Amazon at the top; the department-store retailers, such as Macy's and Nordstrom; the grocers, such as Kroger and Albertsons; the pharmacies, such as Walgreens and CVS; the e-commerce aggregators, such as Instacart; the specialty retailers, such as Michaels and Wayfair; and the discount chains, such as Dollar General and Dollar Tree.
The list goes on, and it's only expected to grow, given the low barrier to entry and potential rewards. BCG estimated profit margins for advertising on retailers' own channels to be as high as 90%. It said that over time Amazon's share of retail media would decline to 61% in 2026, from 67% in 2021, as big-box stores, such as Target, and smaller retailers expand their ad businesses.
"The marginal cost of placing another ad on a platform once it's set up is zero. Whether they sell 100 ads or a million ads, it doesn't cost them any money. It's pure profit," said Yves Le Breton, the global head of e-commerce at Oliver Agency.
Retailers are expanding their advertising offerings
They're going beyond their websites to areas such as connected TV, product sampling, and in-store placements.
Weinheimer said big brick-and-mortar retailers could scale their physical stores with check-in identification, digital signage, and audio and video ads that target shoppers in-store.
Take Walmart, which, through The Trade Desk, lets advertisers buy ads across connected TV, mobile, and desktop, he said. Walmart also sells ads in its physical stores, on wall-mounted TVs and self-checkout kiosks.
But as the market gets increasingly crowded, each retailer must figure out its distinct value to compete.
Diana Gordon, the SVP of e-commerce and marketplace strategy at the agency 3Q Digital, expressed skepticism that discounters like dollar stores could become big ad sellers, given the low-consideration nature of their transactions. She also questioned the value of ad platforms from pharmacy chains: "There's very little scale and reach. Are the CPM premiums we pay actually worth it?"
Most retailers are still in stage one of selling ads, with little data on what advertisers can expect to get from their spending, said John Lods, the CEO of the media-intelligence agency Arm Candy.
Still, the field is open, and not just to retailers.
BCG said airlines, for example, could generate up to $100 million in additional media revenue because of their wealth of data, customer identification and match potential, robust loyalty programs, and ability to reach consumers from their initial booking to after they travel. BCG also mentioned that airlines already have marketing partnerships with hotels and credit-card companies.
"The retail-media opportunity extends well beyond retailers," Insider Intelligence's Lipsman said. "The near-term examples would be commerce intermediaries like Uber, DoorDash, and Gopuff. But there are also commerce platforms serving industries like travel, entertainment, auto, and financial services that could find a way into the space. These are huge advertiser categories that have mostly been on the outside looking in."
More: E-commerce advertising Amazon Walmart | 2022-05-13T12:17:26Z | www.businessinsider.com | Inside the Retail-Media Explosion: Amazon, Walmart, Kroger | https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-retail-media-explosion-amazon-walmart-kroger-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-retail-media-explosion-amazon-walmart-kroger-2022-5 |
Patrick Coffee and Lindsay Rittenhouse
Smith Collection/Gado via Getty Images; Kena Betancur/VIEWpress via Getty Images; Gene J. Puskar/AP Photo; Savanna Durr/Alyssa Powell/Insider
Retail has jumped on the ad-sales bandwagon, using shopper data to tap advertising's high margins.
A number of retailers are getting buzz as advertisers try to diversify their spending beyond Amazon.
Insider asked more than a dozen advertisers which retailers they were most excited about.
This is the ninth in a 10-part series that examines Amazon's booming advertising business: The people driving it, the ripple effects on other companies, and what's next.
As Amazon's ad business has soared, scores of other retailers have launched their own efforts to grab high-margin digital ad dollars — including big-box stores, such as Kroger; delivery services, such as DoorDash; and specialty chains, such as Ulta.
Amazon dominates the market, with $31 billion in advertising in 2021, leaving other companies to scramble for a slice of the remainder. An Insider Intelligence survey for its 2022 report on retail media networks' perception benchmarks found that while 93% of ad buyers had used at least one retail media network, 62% had used three or less.
Still, other retailers could get a piece of the US e-commerce ad pie. Insider Intelligence, which shares a parent with Insider, projected that the pie would grow 31% this year to $41 billion as advertisers diversified their ad spending beyond Amazon.
Buyers like Walmart for its physical stores, first-party data, and self-serve platform. Target is appealing for its loyalty program, which provides individual shopper data that advertisers can use to personalize ads. And Instacart is generating buzz for its ad business as people do more grocery shopping online.
Retail platforms have three basic components: sponsored product ads that show up in search results; display ads that appear on retailers' sites; and offerings that let brands and agencies use the retailers' consumer data to target people around the web, said Diana Gordon, the SVP of e-commerce and marketplace strategy at the agency 3Q Digital.
Advertisers evaluate these platforms using several factors, including total sales volume, online and in-store traffic, data-analytics services, and the number of rival brands an advertiser would compete against on a given platform.
Insider spoke with more than a dozen ad buyers about which retail ad platforms they were most bullish on.
Walmart Connect
Walmart, which reported $2.1 billion in ad revenue in 2021, is the platform that comes up the most as having the greatest promise. Its almost 5,000 stores in the US and first-party data from its millions of customers give it a big advantage. It also has a self-serve platform that lets marketers place ads directly, giving it a leg up on other retailers that sell ads through third-party vendors.
Walmart got serious about its ad game in 2020, after taking its ad-sales operation in-house. Buyers said Walmart lagged Amazon in tech, but that's changing. In 2021, it partnered with the adtech giant The Trade Desk to let advertisers target ads using its shopping data.
Walmart also finally shifted to a second-price model in online auctions, which is a more transparent way of awarding ad space because the final price buyers pay is determined by the second-highest bid. It's something advertisers have wanted from Walmart for a while, considering it's already used by other companies, such as Amazon and Instacart.
"Walmart is so far ahead of the game that it feels like the early days of Google," said David Mahaffey, the senior director of ad operations at the digital agency Arm Candy.
On the downside, Walmart said its data could show whether someone bought a product after seeing an ad, but buyers said it lagged Amazon's campaign-reporting abilities and ability to tie ads to in-store purchases.
After Walmart, Target is the second most prominent big-box retailer competing for ad dollars, buyers said.
Target, with almost 2,000 US stores, was way ahead of competitors when it rolled out its ad business, Roundel, in 2007. It now employs 500 people and brought in $1 billion last year.
Advertisers consider Target's secret weapon to be its loyalty program, which provides individual shopper data that can be used to personalize ads. Target's data can also be used to target online ads outside its own properties, which gives it an advantage over other retailers, Gordon said. And like other big ad platforms, Roundel incentivizes ad buyers with credits.
"This lets us reach people at different phases of their purchase journey, and it's more predictive than retargeting," Gordon said.
At the same time, Target has not promoted its ad product as aggressively as Walmart as it focuses on customer experience features, such as a service to let people order online and pick up in-store, said Elizabeth Marsten, the director of strategic marketplace services at Tinuiti.
Another common sticking point raised is that Target, like other retailers, cannot yet link ads to sales of individual products in-store. Amazon has been testing this option with Whole Foods stores. For example, Arm Candy can now connect an ad buy with the sale of a single carton of milk, Mahaffey said.
A Target spokesperson said the company introduced programmatic advertising, closed-loop measurement, and self-service performance tools to Roundel in recent years and planned to keep improving its ad products and personalizing the shopping experience.
Instacart, which has nabbed high-profile Amazon and Meta vets to build its ad business, is the popular recent addition to e-commerce advertising.
Mohammad Haque, the SVP and group director of SEM for the IPG media agency Mediahub, saw Instacart as attractive to grocery and advertisers of consumer packaged goods because more people are buying groceries online.
Liquor brands are particularly interested in spending with Instacart in states that allow liquor delivery. It recently passed Drizly to become the top online liquor retailer.
But Instacart has some flaws. As a pure online grocer, it can't provide data about in-store sales or tie ads to in-store sales because it doesn't share data collected by its retail partners. And its big-city focus makes it hard for advertisers to reach people in smaller markets, buyers said.
"Unless Instacart has a unique feature they can sell, they're just a middleman," said Yves Le Breton, global head of e-commerce at Oliver Agency.
Le Breton said Instacart's ads also cost more than those of other retail platforms that have physical stores.
With almost 3,000 stores, Kroger stands out among packaged-goods advertisers because of its foothold with grocery shoppers, self-serve ad-sales platform, and widely used loyalty-card program that can track whether people bought a product as a result of seeing an ad.
"99% of in-store transactions are tied to the loyalty card. That creates the digital breadcrumb trail for in-store purchases, so you can build a deterministic match in terms of ads driving sales, even if the customer uses cash," Gordon said.
Last year, Kroger upped its game with a new tool that lets advertisers use its first-party data to target people around the web and track things such as new buyers and sales lift.
Advertisers can also pinpoint people who buy online and pick up in-store, a lucrative demographic because those people tend to buy more when they go into a store to pick up an order, Le Breton said.
Kroger also gets points for having service teams that work well with ad agencies. "They also know the media lingo well, so they're a grade above others," said John Lods, Arm Candy's CEO.
On the downside, its stores are primarily located in the southeastern and central states, leaving out tens of millions of shoppers. As a grocery chain, Kroger doesn't sell almost as many brands as Walmart or Target, and advertisers also need a strong presence in Kroger's physical stores to take advantage of its ad services, Marsten said.
The entrance to a Gopuff warehouse.
Hannah Yoon
Also drumming up big advertiser excitement is Gopuff, the $15 billion food-delivery startup that has been hailed as the e-commerce Costco and just introduced its ad platform last year.
Among its selling points: Advertisers can target shoppers with ads on Gopuff's app, as well as on other sites through an ad network, and people only see ads for products that are available nearby.
Jessica Richards, the North American EVP and managing director of commerce at Havas Market, likes Gopuff because it's growing in urban centers, and its acquisition of BevMo makes it appealing to advertisers of alcoholic beverages.
Gopuff also stands out from rivals, such as Instacart, Getir, and Gorillas, in that it owns all the products it sells, which can make its ad prices favorable and give advertisers more data on consumer behavior, Le Breton said.
"It's very similar to Instacart, but it's cleaner for clients because you can tie spend directly to sales, and they share lots of information, while Instacart doesn't," Le Breton added.
Home-improvement chains aren't as competitive for advertising as Walmart, but they're relevant to advertisers in the DIY category.
Home Depot has the head start, launching its advertising business in 2019, two years ahead of Lowe's. It gives advertisers a variety of ways to reach consumers, including its app, email blasts, and promotions through Google Shopping. It also prepackages audiences for advertisers, which can lead to less precise targeting options, Marsten said .
To truly stand out, though, Home Depot must refine its data offering and move beyond its kitchen-sink pitch to advertisers.
"They have a huge menu of services. It's both freeing and paralyzing," Marsten said.
"We work with advertisers to reach customer groups who might be interested in their products by offering aggregated and deidentified first-party data sets of audience segments," a Home Depot spokesperson said in an email. "These audiences are classified by if the customer looks like a DIYer or professional contractor, and what kind of products or projects they might be interested in (i.e. new home owners, pros, etc.). We respect our customers' privacy rights, and so we aggregate and deidentify the information made available so that advertisers cannot individually identify or link back to respective customers."
Best Buy launched an in-house ad business in January with help from the adtech firm Criteo to sell a variety of ad formats on its site and beyond.
Its big advantage is scale: Best Buy has more than 1,000 stores in the US and Canada, and it says it processes 3 billion consumer transactions every year. It also has two loyalty programs that provide data on consumers. One, Best Buy TotalTech, has a paid-subscription model and makes Best Buy a natural choice for consumer-electronics brands, Le Breton said.
Other selling points: Best Buy lets advertisers send push notifications to people who use its app when they enter a store, and unlike most retailers, its shoppers skew toward the hard-to-reach male demo, Marsten said.
Macy's and Ulta
Macy's and Ulta aren't the biggest game in town, but they play well to cosmetics brands, with their loyalty programs that provide access to consumers.
Macy's gets points with advertisers for its wide array of ad formats and low ad load, as well as for serving advertisers better than other big retailers, while Ulta has a partnership with Target that lets advertisers pinpoint ads to subgroups, such as people who buy Black or male-focused beauty products.
Ulta said it planned to update its retail media network this year to give advertisers new ways to reach customers using its rewards program.
"UB Media's unique data and insights will create new opportunities for brands to hyper-focus advertising efforts and drive meaningful, measurable returns within an ecosystem that is dynamic and personal," said Brent Rosso, the VP of Ulta Beauty Media.
More: Walmart Amazon Target | 2022-05-13T12:17:32Z | www.businessinsider.com | Walmart, Target: How Advertisers Grade the Retail Media Platforms | https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-target-how-advertisers-grade-retail-media-platforms-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/walmart-target-how-advertisers-grade-retail-media-platforms-2022-5 |
A JBS meat packing plant in Colorado.
A report by a bipartisan House committee details meat-processing giants' response to the pandemic.
One hospital doctor told JBS that all its COVID-19 patients were linked to a JBS plant in Texas.
The companies exaggerated meat shortages to keep workers on site, according to the report.
Major US meat companies were aware that their sites were hotbeds for coronavirus transmission but exaggerated impending product shortages so they could keep workers on site at the height of the pandemic, according to an investigation by a House committee.
They also lobbied the White House and the US Department of Agriculture to minimize coronavirus safety measures on the industry, according to the report, which was released on Thursday by the bipartisan House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis.
Meat processing sites were a major source of coronavirus outbreaks, triggering a wave of lawsuits. This was largely down to their lack of safety procedures like social distancing and staff's inability to work from home.
The report focused on five of the US' largest meatpacking companies — Tyson Foods, JBS, Smithfield Foods, Cargill, and the National Beef Packing Company. During the first year of the pandemic, more than 59,000 workers at these companies were infected with the coronavirus and at least 269 died, the committee said.
The report details how meatpacking executives were allegedly aware of the high risks of coronavirus transmission inside their plants.
For example, a doctor at a hospital close to JBS' processing plant in Cactus, Texas, sent an email to a JBS executive on April 18, 2020, saying that "100% of all COVID-19 patients we have in the hospital are either direct employees or family member[s] of your employees."
"I am not sure this situation is being treated with the urgency it deserves," the doctor continued. "Your employees will get sick and may die if this factory continues to be open."
Claims of meat shortages were 'intentionally scaring people'
Despite awareness of outbreaks at some sites, meatpacking companies continued to push for their workers to stay on site. In the report, the committee dismissed claims that there would be meat shortages if sites closed as "flimsy if not outright false. It also said they were "an attempt to justify operating meatpacking plants under dangerous conditions."
Smithfield CEO Ken Sullivan said in April 2020 that the closure of meatpacking facilities "is pushing our country perilously close to the edge in terms of our meat supply. It is impossible to keep our grocery stores stocked if our plants are not running."
But an executive at trade body North American Meat Institute said in an email published in the committee's report that Sullivan was "intentionally scaring people." The email also said that three days after his statement, Smithfield had asked the Meat Institute to "issue a statement that there was plenty of meat," including enough for export.
"Smithfield has whipped everyone into a frenzy," the executive added.
Meatpacking companies' reports of impending shortages appeared to come as the companies bulked up their exports. The US exported around 640 million pounds of pork in April 2020 – a 22% increase on April 2019, per data from the Department of Agriculture. Pork exports to China more than quadrupled over that time period, the data shows.
The report also outlined how the meatpacking industry "worked actively to cultivate its very close relationship with USDA" at the start of the pandemic in an attempt to minimize coronavirus safety measures on the industry. This included the USDA under secretary for food safety being in regular communication with industry representatives and lobbyists, using both her personal and government phone and email, per the report.
The USDA and meatpacking companies also jointly lobbied the White House to dissuade workers from staying home or quitting during the pandemic.
"Meatpacking companies engaged in a concerted effort with Trump Administration political officials to insulate themselves from coronavirus-related oversight, to force workers to continue working in dangerous conditions, and to shield themselves from legal liability for any resulting worker illness or death," the committee wrote.
JBS, Smithfield, and the USDA didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
More: JBS Smithfield Tyson Foods Meatpacking | 2022-05-13T13:39:27Z | www.businessinsider.com | Meat Companies Lied About Shortages, Lobbied USDA Amid Pandemic | https://www.businessinsider.com/meat-companies-shortages-usda-pandemic-jbs-tyson-smithfield-coronavirus-covid-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/meat-companies-shortages-usda-pandemic-jbs-tyson-smithfield-coronavirus-covid-2022-5 |
Ole Spata/picture alliance via Getty Images
Regulators in five US states filed cease-and-desist orders against Flamingo Casino Club on Wednesday.
The orders allege the metaverse casino promoted fraudulent NFT investments to US residents.
The company is also accused of concealing alleged Russian ties with a fake office address.
Five states have accused a metaverse company called Flamingo Casino Club of concealing alleged ties to Russia while promoting non-fungible token (NFT) scams to US residents.
Securities regulators in Texas, Wisconsin, Kentucky, New Jersey and Alabama filed emergency orders Wednesday requiring the digital casino to cease its NFT business. The coordinated, cross-state effort is an example of how local laws may be enforced in the metaverse going forward as the tech industry continues to invest heavily in the concept.
"Although advances in technologies create exciting new opportunities for many businesses, scammers are already attempting to capitalize on the hype associated with metaverses and NFTs," the Texas State Securities Board said in a statement Wednesday. "Today's action may well be just the tip of the iceberg."
Regulators said Flamingo Casino Club concealed connections to Russia by using a fake office address, out-of-service phone number, and hiding the brand's actual physical location, which investigators say is in Moscow. The club also lied about having a partnership with the physical Flamingo Casino in Las Vegas and failed to back claims that it is buying digital land from Snoop Dogg, regulators allege.
Online scammers often hide their identities to allow them to "go dark" when the scheme is exposed, Texas regulators said. A spokesperson for Flamingo Casino Club could not be reached for comment.
According to the club's website, its NFT holders receive a share of the profits generated by the online casino. The NFT collection currently appears to be delisted from OpenSea. On April 13, the company tweeted it was experiencing technical issues due to website maintenance and could not mint its NFTs as a result.
More: Metaverse Gambling Online Gambling Russia | 2022-05-13T13:39:39Z | www.businessinsider.com | 5 States Allege Metaverse Casino Run by 'Russian Scammers' | https://www.businessinsider.com/states-accuse-metaverse-flamingo-casino-club-russian-ties-nft-scam-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/states-accuse-metaverse-flamingo-casino-club-russian-ties-nft-scam-2022-5 |
GoodRx built its prescription-discount business by playing by the rules. Now, that bet is threatening its bottom line.
GoodRx co-CEOs Doug Hirsch, left, and Trevor Bezdek.
GoodRx is bracing for a $30 million cut to revenue after a grocer paused discounts to some drugs.
Analysts think the grocer is Kroger, which makes up 25% of GoodRx's prescription volume.
GoodRx's stock tumbled this week as investors worried the conflict's effects could be lasting.
The country's biggest drug-discount card is caught in the middle of a pharmacy chain's pricing fight, and it could spell trouble for the business long term.
GoodRx's stock plummeted 28% on Tuesday after the company on Monday evening disclosed conflicts with a major grocer that it expected to shave $30 million off its second-quarter revenue.
GoodRx said the unnamed grocer was renegotiating its pricing contracts for a number of drugs, forcing GoodRx to take those discounts off its platform. Analysts think the grocer is Kroger, which makes up nearly one-quarter of GoodRx's total prescription volume. Kroger did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
GoodRx offers patients deep discounts on prescription drugs by working with players in the healthcare system, not by disrupting it. By partnering with those players, the consumer-focused company has exploded in popularity, leading to its $1.1 billion initial public offering in 2020. But investors are worried that if the grocer in question decides to no longer accept those drug discounts at all, GoodRx's core business will take a big hit.
Banking on the middleman
When consumers use drug-discount cards like the ones GoodRx provides, pharmacies pay a fee to pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, the middleman between drug companies and the pharmacy. GoodRx makes much of its money by partnering with the PBMs to take a portion of that fee in exchange for marketing the discounts to consumers.
Those partnerships are integral to GoodRx's business, and the company has spent years amplifying the reach of the PBMs.
"They're the premier player in the discount space, and they're able to demand certain things, given the volume they're able to give a PBM," said Michael Rea, the CEO of Rx Savings Solutions, which provides drug-discount software to employers and health plans.
Now, a major pharmacy chain seems to be renegotiating its contracts with "almost all" PBMs at once, which GoodRx said was an unusual situation, since those contracts usually don't line up with each other.
GoodRx didn't provide details about how long the negotiations might last. Trevor Bezdek, the company's cofounder and co-CEO, did say during the Monday earnings call that the grocer seemed to be making "substantial progress" in "working towards resolution" with the PBMs. Still, the company couldn't say how the changes might affect earnings.
If the grocer in question is Kroger, it's also unclear what the dispute would mean for the Kroger Rx Savings Club, Kroger's drug-discount program powered by GoodRx. That program is expected to last through 2023, according to the companies' contract renewal in 2020.
Some analysts have speculated that the conflict may not be between the grocer and the PBMs but between the grocer and GoodRx.
In a note about Monday evening's earnings, George Hill, a Deutsche Bank managing director, said it appeared Kroger was still accepting other drug-discount cards.
"We wonder if the dispute could simply be GoodRx considers the PBMs its primary business partners, as opposed to the pharmacies, and Kroger is growing less comfortable with this dynamic given the degree to which GoodRx monetizes the grocer between the number of prescriptions it fills at the companies' relationship around the Kroger Savings subscription product," Hill wrote.
Rea said it's less probable that Kroger was challenging GoodRx directly rather than the PBMs.
"The issue is probably with the PBM contracts, but GoodRx has accelerated utilization of those contracts," Rea said.
GoodRx said in a statement to Insider that the company still provided a "significant" number of discounts through the grocer.
More: Dispensed goodrx kroger
Pharmacy benefit managers | 2022-05-13T13:52:17Z | www.businessinsider.com | One Major Grocer Could Threaten GoodRx's Bottom Line | https://www.businessinsider.com/goodrx-earnings-prescription-discounts-pbms-grocer-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/goodrx-earnings-prescription-discounts-pbms-grocer-2022-5 |
A US Marine launches a Switchblade drone during an exercise at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton in California, September 2, 2020.
US Marine Corps/Cpl. Jennessa Davey
Fighting in Ukraine and other recent conflicts have demonstrated the utility of loitering munitions.
The US Marine Corps is pursuing those munitions in an effort to make its units lighter and more capable.
The Corps is also looking for ways to defend its units from those munitions.
"Kamikaze" drones like the ones being used in Ukraine offer troops on the ground major advantages, US Marine Corps leaders say, but the Corps is still figuring out how to defend Marines from these weapons.
The ability of these drones, known as loitering munitions, to linger over the battlefield gives Marines more flexibility, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. David Berger told an audience at the Modern Day Marine expo in Washington, DC.
Traditional mortars and artillery systems are limited to ballistic trajectories — "it fires, it descends, all predictable, all on a pre-positioned target," Berger said.
The advantage of a weapon that can be deployed "all the way down to the squad level," be launched by Marines from a mortar tube or from another vehicle, and then "loiter for 40, 45 minutes" before being directed to a target or finding the target itself "is huge," Berger said.
Those munitions can be launched before a target's "precise location" is known and the loiter time "gives you so much flexibility to engage either targets that are concealed or targets that are moving," Berger said.
A US Marine prepares a Switchblade drone for launch during an exercise at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, July 7, 2021.
US Marine Corps/Pfc. Sarah Pysher
Loitering munitions are a high-profile part of US military aid to Ukraine. As of May 10, the US had provided nearly 1,000 of them: 700 Switchblade drones and 121 Phoenix Ghost drones.
The US has been sending Ukraine the Switchblade 300, a lighter model designed for anti-personnel missions. The US Defense Department is still working to acquire the Switchblade 600, a heavier-duty variant designed for armored targets.
Little is known about the Phoenix Ghost, but it is "akin" to the Switchblade, according to chief Pentagon spokesman John Kirby, who said in April that it can "be used to give you a sight picture of what it's seeing, of course, but its principal focus is attack."
Both drones have started arriving in Ukraine, and the Switchblade is already seeing action.
Loitering munitions were put to similar use in the war between Azerbaijan and Armenia in 2020. Footage showed Azeri forces using foreign-made drones to find and attack armored vehicles, artillery, and troops.
Swarms of such drones are "a low-cost, low-risk way" to help Ukraine mount effective attacks on Russian artillery and missile batteries, Benjamin Jensen, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, wrote in March.
An Azerbaijani Defense Ministry photo shows Azeri forces destroying an Armenian anti-aircraft system, September 27, 2020.
Azerbaijan Defense Ministry via AP
US Marines have employed loitering munitions for some time. The Switchblade was used by Marines in Afghanistan a decade ago to attack small targets, such as insurgents placing bombs. More recently, the service has sought loitering munitions that can be launched from vehicles or by individual Marines.
A recent update on the Corps' Force Design 2030 — which envisions a lighter, more mobile Corps that can deploy small units for dispersed operations — notes that distributing loitering munitions "within our small units provide[s] the close-combat lethality enhancements long-envisioned by infantry Marines."
Those weapons can have a demoralizing effect on opponents, Berger said.
"From an infantry ground guy perspective, it's incredibly frustrating to know that there's a loitering munition up above your head. There's a psychological impact," Berger said Tuesday. "You don't know whether it's got a camera system or a lethal warhead on it, but it has an impact on the adversary."
But the Corps is still grappling with how to defend its own troops from that threat.
One way to do so is reducing Marines' "vulnerability to being detected" with camouflage, concealment, or deception, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Watson, commander of the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory's Futures Directorate, told reporters during the expo.
Marines mount a sensor on a Marine air defense integrated system vehicle somewhere in Southwest Asia, April 22, 2019.
US Marine Corps/Cpl. Alina Thackray
There are "two ways to go" if detected, Watson said: "How do you either counter the system directly ... or how do you keep the system from hitting you if it does in fact sense you."
The Corps is working "material and non-material solutions" to the drone threat as a part of a broader effort to improve its air- and missile-defenses, Maj. Gen. Eric Austin, director of the Corps' Capabilities Development Directorate, said at a press event.
"In some cases, it's cover and concealment. In other cases, it's material solutions," such as the vehicle-mounted Marine Air Defense Integrated System, Austin said.
The Corps and other service branches have put special emphasis on countering small unmanned aerial systems, which have already been used against US troops and for which current defenses are not well suited.
"You don't want to be launching Patriots against small UAS, right? That's cost-imposing the wrong way," Austin said.
The Corps is "pretty good" at detecting drones "for the most part," Austin told reporters Tuesday, "but the defeat mechanisms are challenging because there's kinetic and non-kinetic defeat mechanisms."
"There's really novel concepts coming out," Austin added, "but again, it's really complex when you think about setting the counter-small UAS capability in someone else's sovereign territory or in the continental US. There's a lot of policy implications here."
NOW WATCH: Watch Lockheed Martin's laser beam system burn drones out of the sky
More: Russia Ukraine US Marine Corps Switchblade
Loitering Munitions | 2022-05-13T15:11:18Z | www.businessinsider.com | Kamikaze-Style Drones Are Big Advantage and Challenge, Top Marines Say | https://www.businessinsider.com/kamikaze-style-drones-big-advantage-and-challenge-top-marines-say-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/kamikaze-style-drones-big-advantage-and-challenge-top-marines-say-2022-5 |
Top VCs predict which German e-commerce startups will become the next unicorns
Daniel Hüfner and Nathan Rennolds,
Insider forbade the venture capitalists from choosing a company from their own portfolio.
There were a record number of new unicorns in 2021, according to PitchBook.
Insider asked top VCs to predict which German e-commerce startups would achieve unicorn status next.
Here are the four companies they chose.
This is an edited, translated version of an article originally published on May 2.
Insider asked top European venture capitalists which startups they though would be next to hit billion-dollar valuations in Germany's e-commerce market, one of Europe's biggest and most well established, according to JPMorgan.
There was one condition: They each had to choose a company that wasn't from their own portfolio. These are the companies they chose.
1. The Stryze Group
Chosen by: Nikolas Krawinkel, a partner at Mangrove Capital, and Stefan Walter, a cofounder and managing partner at Cavalry Ventures
Founders: Mark Hartmann, Sascha Krause, Sebastian Funke, and Taro Niggemann
The Stryze Group is an Amazon aggregator, a company that buys Amazon sellers and scales them. While other rollups, like the Razor Group, have already achieved unicorn status, Berlin's Stryze is well on its way there, Krawinkel and Walter said.
The company has raised $100 million since it was founded, according to Crunchbase, and it now has more than 30 sellers in its portfolio. Its investors include Alstin Capital and the US fund Upper90.
2. Spryker
Chosen by: Jasper Masemann, a partner at HV Capital, Andre Retterath, a principal at Earlybird, and Shikha Ahluwalia, an associate at Balderton Capital
Founders: Alexander Graf and Boris Lokschin
Spryker's software allows corporate customers to build their own web stores, integrate subscription offers, and even build app stores. According to Spryker, its customers include Toyota, Ricoh, and Aldi.
It has raised a total of $152 million, including a $130 million Series C in December 2020. Investors include the Silicon Valley fund TCV, which has backed companies like Netflix and Airbnb, Berlin's VC Project A Ventures, and London's One Peak Partners.
3. Cargo.one
Chosen by: Luca Martinelli, a partner at Btov, Robin Godenrath, a founding partner at Picus Capital, and Andre Retterath, a principal at Earlybird
Founders: Mike Rötgers, Moritz Claussen, and Oliver Neumann
Cargo.one acts as an intermediary between airlines and freight forwarders. It offers an online platform to compare and book airfreight capacity, showing users live prices across multiple airlines, according to its website.
It has raised $63.8 million, including a $42 million Series B in December 2020. Its biggest investors are Bessemer Ventures, Index Ventures, and Creandum.
4. Hive
Chosen by: Claude Ritter, a cofounder and managing partner at Cavalry Ventures, Gesa Miczaika, a general partner at Auxxo, and Noel Zeh, a managing partner at Alstin Capital
Founders: Franz Purucker, Leonard von Kleist, and Oskar Ziegler
Hive takes care of distribution logistics for young companies. It provides storage and packing solutions for these companies before handing products over to a last-mile-delivery carrier, according to its website.
Its software allows retailers to manage their stock, and the company gives users access to live data and analytics on the process. The company also said it used sustainable packaging.
While it was founded in 2020, it's already raised $43.8 million, including a $34 million Series A, which was led by Tiger Global.
Read the original article on Business Insider Deutschland. Copyright 2022.
This post originally appeared on Business Insider Deutschland and has been translated from German.
Follow Business Insider Deutschland on Twitter.
More: Translation Team Nathan Rennolds Jack Sommers BI International | 2022-05-13T15:11:30Z | www.businessinsider.com | The Next E-Commerce Unicorns in Germany, According to Top VCs | https://www.businessinsider.com/next-ecommerce-unicorns-startups-europe-top-venture-capital-partners-investing-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/next-ecommerce-unicorns-startups-europe-top-venture-capital-partners-investing-2022-5 |
The Philadelphia Fed released an analysis on the student-loan payment pause and forgiveness.
It found the pause on payments is not sufficient to help borrowers chronically struggling with payments.
And while the majority of respondents support debt relief, most of them want it to be targeted.
Putting a pause on student-loan payments isn't much help to struggling borrowers, a new Fed report found.
On Friday, the Philadelphia Federal Reserve released an analysis of survey results on student-loan repayment and cancellation. Using a national sample of 13,423 consumers from the Fed's Consumer Finance Institute, the analysis found the more than two-year pause on student-loan payments is not sufficient to help the over one-fifth of "chronically struggling" borrowers who were making no or partial payments prior to the pandemic and don't see that changing once the payment pause ends.
"These borrowers would benefit from a more comprehensive solution than simply extending blanket administrative forbearance," the analysis said. "That is because their ability to afford payments has not materially changed since before the pandemic."
"In other words, for some borrowers, additional forbearance extensions are simply postponing a day of reckoning with loan payments that are unaffordable," the analysis added.
President Joe Biden has extended the pause on payments four times since he took office, with payments now set to resume after August 31. But for the duration of the pandemic, numerous reports detailed how even with the pause, borrowers would not be financially prepared to foot another monthly bill. For example, a Student Debt Crisis Center survey in February found 92% of fully-employed borrowers were worried about restarting payments amid rising inflation, and 27% said they would never be ready to resume paying off their debt again.
The Fed recommended that the Education Department consider policies that reduce debt for future borrowers, like increasing the use of grants over loans for more low-income students and strengthening implementation of income-driven repayment programs.
And when it comes to broad student-debt cancellation, the Fed found 86% of respondents with student debt supported some form of debt relief. Among that group, most of them preferred targeted relief, with 28% of them preferring income caps and 17% preferring forgiveness based on assets or outstanding debt balances.
As of now, it's unclear what type of relief Biden will actually implement. He recently said that while he is not considering $50,000 in forgiveness per borrower, which many progressive lawmakers had hoped for, he noted a decision on forgiveness will be made in the coming weeks. And his Press Secretary Jen Psaki said during a Thursday press briefing that while targeting relief to those making under $125,000 is something Biden considered on the campaign trail, it "necessarily" related to the final policy decision he'll make.
But some Democrats want borrowers to get relief soon — and for all of them.
"Now is not the time for half measures, extensions or patchwork solutions," eight state attorneys general recently wrote in a letter. "Now is the time for decisive action." | 2022-05-13T15:11:36Z | www.businessinsider.com | Student-Loan Pause Postpones 'Day of Reckoning' With Unaffordable Payments: Fed | https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-debt-payment-pause-not-helping-borrowers-philidelphia-fed-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-debt-payment-pause-not-helping-borrowers-philidelphia-fed-2022-5 |
US intel officials admit they missed that Russia's military was a 'hollow force' but say Putin is still a threat
Rebecca Kheel,
Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Navy Day parade in St. Petersburg, July 25, 2021.
Top US intelligence officials said Tuesday that they misjudged Russia's military strength prior to its invasion of Ukraine.
The military weakness revealed in Ukraine could lead Putin to be more volatile, the director of national intelligence said.
Top US intelligence officials acknowledged Tuesday that they misjudged Russia's military strength prior to that country's invasion of Ukraine, including failing to recognize Russia had a "hollow force" that would struggle against fierce Ukrainian resistance.
They estimated that Russian leader Vladimir Putin's conventional forces will take "years" to recover as a war that has seen thousands of Russian weapons destroyed, thousands of troop casualties and nearly a dozen generals killed continues.
"What we did not see from the inside was sort of this hollow force, lack of NCO corps, lack of leadership training, lack of effective doctrine," Defense Intelligence Agency director Lt. Gen. Scott Berrier told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Read Next: 6 Airmen Caught with Thousands of Rounds of Stolen Ammo, Federal Indictment Alleges
The current US National Defense Strategy, for which the Pentagon publicly released an unclassified summary in March, labels Russia an "acute" threat, apparently a step down from China's "pacing challenge" but still part of the basis for the Pentagon's record $773 billion budget request for 2023.
An abandoned Russian tank in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, April 13, 2022.
Prior to the war, which is nearing its 12th week, US officials predicted that Kyiv could fall to Russia in a matter of days. Instead, Ukrainian forces thwarted Russian attempts to take the capital, forcing Russia to retreat and refocus its efforts on the southeastern Donbas region.
Ukraine's latest estimate of Russian battlefield losses tallies about 26,000 casualties and the destruction of more than 1,000 tanks, more than 2,800 armored personnel vehicles, more than 300 planes and helicopters, and more. Those numbers could be overestimates fueled in part by the parallel information war between Ukraine and Russia.
Berrier said his agency estimates that eight to 10 Russian generals have been killed in the war and agreed with Arkansas Republican Sen. Tom Cotton's suggestion that's because they don't have lower-ranking officers they can trust to carry out orders on the front lines. Ukrainian officials have placed the number of Russian generals killed at 12.
While Berrier said the war appears to now be in a "stalemate," Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines, who testified alongside Berrier, suggested Russian military's weakness could lead to Putin becoming more volatile.
"The reality that Putin faces a mismatch between his ambitions and Russia's current conventional military capabilities likely means the next few months could see us moving along a more unpredictable and potentially escalatory trajectory," Haines said.
In addition to misjudging Russian capabilities ahead of the war, US officials, including Berrier at a previous hearing, have attributed their faulty prediction on Kyiv falling to underestimating Ukrainians' will to fight.
But on Tuesday, Berrier sparred with Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, when asked about the intelligence community's struggle assessing will to fight. King also cited overestimates about the now-defunct Afghan forces' will to fight the Taliban.
"There was never an intelligence community assessment that said the Ukrainians lacked the will to fight," Berrier said. "Those assessments talked about their capacity to fight."
Pressed further by King, Berrier acknowledged the assessments about Kyiv being overrun were "grossly wrong," but still held the issue wasn't US analyses about Ukrainians' resolve, adding, "I think the intelligence community did a great job" predicting the invasion.
"How can you possibly say that when we were told explicitly Kyiv would fall in three days and the government of Ukraine would fall in two weeks," King shot back. "If you don't concede there was a problem on this, then we've got a problem."
Asked Tuesday how Russian losses in the war affect the overall threat from Moscow, both Berrier and Haines said it will take "years" for Russia to rebuild its conventional forces and replace the equipment and soldiers it's lost.
"The overall threat level is not so much changed as it is the question of how it's evolving," Haines added. "The ground combat forces have been degraded considerably. ... That may end up meaning that they have greater reliance on asymmetric tools during this period. So they may rely more on things like cyber, nuclear precision, etc."
Related: Training, Weapons, Intel: The US Military's Slow Slide Toward Confrontation with Russia over Ukraine | 2022-05-13T15:11:42Z | www.businessinsider.com | US Intel Officials: Russia Is 'Hollow Force' but Putin Is Still Threat | https://www.businessinsider.com/us-intel-officials-russia-hollow-force-but-putin-still-threat-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/us-intel-officials-russia-hollow-force-but-putin-still-threat-2022-5 |
Here are the 10 biotech companies at the highest risk of bankruptcy as the bear market worsens
Credit Risk Monitor tracks the risk of bankruptcy across thousands of companies.
Maksim Safaniuk/ Getty Images
Insider got exclusive access to bankruptcy-risk ratings to identify vulnerable biotechs.
The biotech market has dropped 42% this year, putting cash-starved or debt-laden firms at risk.
The firm CreditRiskMonitor spotlighted 10 biotechs at high risk of bankruptcy.
2022 has been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad year for biotech.
The industry has suffered from the broader market environment and from some forces specific to biotech. Overall, investors have turned away from riskier growth-stage companies, as inflation and interest rates have ticked up. That pivot has stung biotech, an industry made up primarily of money-losing companies with intensive cash needs.
Biotech hasn't helped itself either, with a wave of clinical trial failures and a lack of M&A. The end result has been the leading index of biotech stocks dropping 42% in 2022 and about 60% from a February 2021 peak.
With biotech showing no signs of recovery yet, Insider got exclusive data from the credit-analysis firm CreditRiskMonitor to identify the most vulnerable biotechs. Analyzing more than 600 biotech companies provided by Insider, CreditRiskMonitor identified 10 biotechs carrying the highest risk of bankruptcy with market capitalizations of at least $50 million.
Credit Risk Monitor's FRISK score scale
Credit Risk Monitor
The firm uses FRISK scores to judge the risk of bankruptcy in the next 12 months. The 10-point scale is used by credit and supply-chain professionals to assess the financial health of companies they may extend credit to or work with. CreditRiskMonitor says 35% of Fortune 1000 companies use the service, and the FRISK score has a 96% accuracy rating.
Bankruptcies are a rare phenomenon in biotech. More often, distressed biotechs can become shells in reverse-merger deals or simply stop operations. The troubled microbiome company Kaleido Biosciences did just that earlier this year, deciding to wind down all activities in April.
But bankruptcies still happen, particularly in severe downturns. So far this year, three biotech firms have filed for bankruptcy: the Canadian cannabis and psychedelics firm BC Craft Supply Co., the Danish biotech Orphazyme, and Florida-based Generex Biotechnology. In the months before their filings, the three firms had respective FRISK scores of 1, 2, and 1.
Here are the 10 biotechs facing a high risk of bankruptcy, ranked by their market capitalizations.
ImmunityBio — $1.2 billion
Danny Moloshok/Associated Press
Billionaire scientist-entrepreneur Patrick Soon-Shiong's main biotech is facing a difficult financial picture — one that will likely hinge on his personal support. ImmunityBio has a $300 million loan that becomes due in December, which places significant liquidity or refinancing risk on the company, said Brian Sanders, a CreditRiskMonitor analyst.
The California biotech ended March with $193 million in cash, equivalents, and marketable securities. In its annual filing, ImmunityBio acknowledged its reliance on Soon-Shiong, saying its financial plan is based primarily on his "intent and ability to support our operations with additional funds."
ImmunityBio's stock has dropped more than 80% in the past year. The company did not respond to a request for comment from Insider.
Endo International — $279 million
Endo faces over 3,000 opioid-related lawsuits filed by governments, hospitals, health systems, and other groups.
Endo is an outlier on this list in that it is running a business that actually makes money today. But it faces big challenges from its debt level and legal risks.
According to Credit Risk Monitor, the business has more than $8 billion in debt on its books and nearly $1.6 billion in cash and equivalents. Additionally, Endo has been fighting a range of lawsuits related to selling opioids for the past several years. As of February, the company estimated it was facing more than 3,000 cases filed by governments, hospitals, health systems, unions, and other groups.
Endo's stock price has fallen nearly 80% over the past year. The company didn't respond to a request for comment.
CytoDyn — $217 million
Former CytoDyn CEO Nader Pourhassan meets with Samsung BioLogics CEO Dr. Tae Han Kim.
After stoking retail investor interest throughout the pandemic, reality has caught up to CytoDyn.
The company's former CEO Nader Pourhassan has drawn rare rebukes from the FDA for claiming in conference calls and YouTube videos that his company's experimental drug was shown to save lives in treating COVID-19.
In January, the board of directors fired Pourhassan. In February, the FDA sent a warning letter to the company about its executives mischaracterizing results from a COVID-19 clinical trial. In March, the agency placed its COVID-19 and HIV studies on hold.
Beyond those run-ins with regulators, CreditRiskMonitor cited CytoDyn's liquidity and cash burn rates. The company had just $2.4 million in cash and restricted cash at the end of February, according to its latest securities filing.
Sanders added that CytoDyn ranks in the bottom 10% of industry peers for its cash level compared to its liabilities. CytoDyn also appeared on Insider's list in March of 13 biotechs facing substantial doubt.
Omeros — $203 million
Scientist in lab.
The Seattle-based biotech Omeros has been reeling since October, when the FDA rejected its drug to treat a type of microscopic blood clots. In December, Omeros sold its only approved therapy, an eye drug called Omidria, to receive $125 million upfront.
Sanders said that sale provided a solid injection of capital but highlighted Omeros' debt level as a concern. The company plans to repay $95 million in debt due in late 2023. Omeros' stock price has plummeted more than 80% since the FDA rejected its blood-clotting treatment last year.
The company did not respond to a request for comment from Insider.
Humanigen — $125 million
Humanigen CEO Cameron Durrant
Humanigen
Humanigen has been studying its experimental antibody called lenzilumab as a potential COVID-19 treatment. The FDA declined the company's request for emergency authorization last year, and Humanigen's stock price has sunk nearly 90% since then.
The New Jersey biotech previously acknowledged it faces substantial doubt about its ability to continue, and an ongoing National Institutes of Health-sponsored trial testing lenzilumab will play a vital role in its ability to raise money.
Sanders noted the company's current rate of spending cash and its level of cash on hand will require Humanigen to raise more capital soon. The company ended March with $69 million in cash and equivalents, and recorded a $21.3 million net loss in the first quarter.
Clovis Oncology — $116 million
Clovis Oncology is a Colorado-based biotech that sells a cancer drug, Rubraca.
Clovis has become a cautionary tale in the drug industry since winning approval for its cancer drug, Rubraca, in December 2016. In the past five years, the Colorado-based biotech's share price has fallen more than 98%, as Rubraca has struggled to compete with rival treatments sold by the pharma giants AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, and Pfizer.
Clovis landed on Insider's list in March of biotechs that acknowledged "substantial doubts" about their future, as well as on Jefferies' list of biotechs set to run out of cash within a year. Clovis had $122 million in cash and equivalents at the end of March and recorded a $60 million net loss for the first quarter.
Credit Risk Monitor's Sanders highlighted Clovis' high debt level, which ranks in the bottom 10% of the industry when compared to its assets. To make matters worse, Clovis quietly disclosed in May that the FDA wanted additional data from a study to consider expanding its approval of Rubraca to cover a larger group of cancer patients. Clovis estimates it will take two years to get that data.
"We do not comment on specific cash needs or financing plans," Anna Sussman, Clovis' vice president of investor relations and corporate communications, said in a statement.
Sussman added that the company has acknowledged it needs to raise capital in the near term to fund operations through the next 12 months.
Epizyme — $90 million
The Cambridge, Massachusetts biotech has been trying to launch its first product, a cancer treatment called Tazverik that the FDA approved in 2020. Initial sales have disappointed, with the drug bringing in $31 million in 2021.
Epizyme spent $275 million on operating expenses last year, and rolled out a plan in March that included layoffs to preserve cash. Sanders said Epizyme's financial leverage is "reasonably manageable," but emphasized the company's significant cash losses are a key issue.
The company will be increasingly dependent on Tazverik's sales, as its stock price has fallen 94% in the past year, making it harder for the company to sell more shares to raise money.
Puma Biotechnology — $81 million
Puma Biotechnology sells Nerlynx, a breast cancer treatment.
Shawn Green/Cleveland Clinic
The California drugmaker sells a breast cancer drug called Nerlynx, but sales have disappointed investors. Sales fell in 2021 compared to 2020, and the first three months of 2022 showed no improvement.
The company's stock price has declined more than 90% over the past five years, and Sanders noted Puma is dealing with debt that has an effective interest rate of nearly 11%.
A company spokesperson declined to comment beyond saying Puma expects positive net income in the second quarter of 2022.
Akebia Therapeutics — $80 million
Akebia's lead experimental drug was rejected by the FDA in March 2021.
Cambridge, Massachusetts-based biotech Akebia is running short on cash, finding itself in a precarious spot after the FDA rejected its treatment in March. Akebia ended March with $175 million in cash and equivalents, and posted a $62 million net loss for the first three months of the year.
The company has taken drastic measures to reduce its spending, including laying off 42% of its workforce in March and additional layoffs in May. The company's CFO said in a May 9 statement these moves will fund the business for at least 12 months.
But Akebia is dealing with the terms of a $100 million loan and faces a risk of defaulting if it formally warns of substantial doubt in future financial reports. In its most recent filing, Akebia stated there's "uncertainty" as to whether the company will meet that requirement.
Athenex — $55 million
Screenshot from Athenex 2022 company presentation
The Buffalo, New York-based biotech is pivoting into cell therapy after it failed to get its experimental cancer drug approved by the FDA in 2021.
Since the FDA rejection, Athenex's share price has cratered, dropping more than 90%. At the end of March, Athenex had about $51 million in cash and equivalents. It projects it will have insufficient liquidity to fund operations through the next 12 months.
In particular, Athenex expects to fall below liquidity and revenue minimums on a loan from Oaktree Capital. Violating those minimums could speed up when payments are due, and Athenex acknowledged it doesn't have the funds to repay the $125 million debt.
More: Biotech Pharmaceutical Bankruptcy | 2022-05-13T15:23:38Z | www.businessinsider.com | List: Biotech Companies at Highest Risk of Bankruptcy | https://www.businessinsider.com/list-biotech-companies-risk-of-bankruptcy-creditriskmonitor-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/list-biotech-companies-risk-of-bankruptcy-creditriskmonitor-2022-5 |
Everything we know about Amazon Prime Day 2022 so far
Amazon Prime Day 2022, the huge savings event with deals rivaling Black Friday and Cyber Monday, kicks off in July.
Marcos del Mazo/LightRocket via Getty Images
Are early Amazon Prime Day deals worth shopping?
What deals do we expect during Amazon Prime Day 2022?
What should I buy during Amazon Prime Day 2022?
What stores are offering Amazon Prime Day discounts?
Amazon Prime Day 2022 is an annual deals event akin to Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Prime Day will happen in July, but Amazon hasn't released the exact dates yet.
Amazon and other retailers will have some early deals ahead of the big sale.
Amazon Prime Day 2022 will be held in July, but you can expect Amazon and competing retailers to start the discounts and deals early.
Prime Day deals often include sought-after items like Apple AirPods and Amazon Echo devices. You will also find answers to frequently asked questions about the sale below.
The Insider Reviews team will routinely add new deals, including Amazon's limited-time lightning deals, to this article. Revisit this article often ahead of and during Amazon Prime Day 2022 for the best deals.
Best early Amazon Prime Day 2022 deals
There are currently no early Prime Day 2022 deals, but we'll be updating this page in the lead up to July with applicable early and lightning deals.
Amazon Prime Day is a 48-hour sale. Right now, we don't have exact dates, but last year it was held at the end of June. This year it will be in July, but the exact dates are still unknown.
This Amazon Prime subscriber-only sale is one of the perks of a Prime membership.
Amazon Prime Monthly Subscription
An Amazon Prime subscription grants you access to a vast host of exclusive perks, including free two-day shipping on eligible items, entertainment options like movie and music streaming , and, of course, the ability to shop during Amazon Prime Day 2022 in July.
Some deals, like last year's early Audible and Music Unlimited promotions, offer really solid savings that are unlikely to get any better on Prime Day itself.
However, most sales during Amazon Prime Day itself are generally better than the early discounts. If you can't wait or don't think you'll be able to camp out short-lived Lightning Deals during the sale, then it might be worth shopping early.
Amazon Prime Day deals usually match or come close to Black Friday and Cyber Monday discounts. For Amazon brands like Echo, Ring, Eero, Kindle, and Fire, it'll be the best time of year to shop, with many products hitting all-time lows.
We also expect to see brands like Apple, Instant Pot, Shark, JBL, Eufy, and iRobot offering solid deals during the event too, across multiple retailers. In fact, many of these aforementioned retailers already have sales in play.
Be prepared to act fast, though: The best deals will generally be short-lived and limited in stock.
Amazon Prime Day has historically been one of the best times outside of Black Friday and Cyber Monday to shop for tech and home goods. We expect to see deals on Alexa smart speakers, Kindle E-readers, video doorbells, Instant Pots, vacuums, Bluetooth speakers, and laptops.
Though Prime Day is an Amazon deal event, other retailers often offer discounts and match prices, too. Walmart, Target, Best Buy, and Kohl's are a few of the stores that hold sales during Prime Day, and we expect other stores to have discounts, too.
These alternative options may be better to shop if you don't have an Amazon Prime account, though first-timers can get their first 30 days free. Make sure you wait until closer to Prime Day to sign up if you plan to cancel, though.
If you don't have an Amazon Prime membership, you should sign up for a free 30-day trial to participate in Prime Day deals.
More: IP Deals Amazon Amazon Prime Day 2022 Insider Reviews 2022 | 2022-05-13T16:41:55Z | www.businessinsider.com | Early Amazon Prime Day 2022 Deals: What to Expect | https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/deals/early-prime-day-deals | https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/deals/early-prime-day-deals |
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Olabisi Boyle, the vice president of product planning and mobility strategy at Hyundai Motor North America who lives in Laguna Beach, California. It has been edited for length and clarity.
I typically use the Apple calendar app to organize meetings and to-dos. I've recently switched from taking notes on paper to using a digital "Moleskine-like" tablet called the reMarkable 2. I love it — it allows me to take notes, organize, and best of all, doodle!
More: Careers Strategy morning routine VP | 2022-05-13T16:42:19Z | www.businessinsider.com | I'm a VP at Hyundai Motor — Here's What My Morning Routine Is Like | https://www.businessinsider.com/vp-at-hyundai-motor-morning-routine-work-life-balance-2022-4 | https://www.businessinsider.com/vp-at-hyundai-motor-morning-routine-work-life-balance-2022-4 |
Why more eyes are on a small JPMorgan team that influences boardroom decisions, from exec pay to climate action, at the largest companies
Last year JPMorgan hired Yo Takatsuki, who now heads up investment stewardship globally in the bank's asset management arm.
JPMorgan; Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Asset management firms' investment stewardship units have tended to fly under the radar.
But as investors' expectations mount, these influential teams are attracting more attention.
JPMorgan's global stewardship head spoke with Insider about how his work is changing.
Asset management firms' investment stewardship units have not historically been very glamorous places to be, at least by the financial industry's standards. Stewardship associates don't spend their time working on big, splashy deals to bring a company public or advising wealthy clients on how to invest their millions.
But as investors pay more attention to the way companies and their powerful shareholders respond to key business issues like workplace diversity and the climate crisis, the behind-the-scenes work that stewardship teams do is in the spotlight.
"This was something that you could say was happening within a smaller group of people, maybe in the corner of the office. But it's become much more firmwide," Yo Takatsuki, global head of investment stewardship at JPMorgan Asset Management, said in an interview with Insider.
Money managers like JPMorgan Asset Management, which oversaw $2.6 trillion as of March, have stakes in household name companies like Tyson Foods, Kroger, and Exxon through funds they manage on behalf of clients.
The way stewardship teams like Takatsuki's engage with those corporations can impact what top executives are paid, what companies tell the public about their climate- and employee diversity-related data, and other high-level matters.
For instance, last year, JPMorgan's team voted against then-Starbucks Chief Executive Officer Kevin Johnson's pay package because of the company's use of cash as part of his compensation. With Tesla, another company in which the firm holds shares through its funds, JPMorgan's stewardship team requested evidence of progress on better messaging unionization rights to employees.
JPMorgan has spent the last year growing the team under Takatsuki to just 13 people globally from seven in 2020. He joined the firm in February 2021 to lead stewardship for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and was named to the newly created role of global head in December.
Mounting pressure from the public on companies and institutional shareholders alike
The growth underscores growing scrutiny on the role giant asset managers like BlackRock and Vanguard, whose sway and size as institutional shareholders have captured more mainstream interest from everyday investors.
At the same time, regulators and investors alike are pressuring companies for more transparency on their policies and seeking responses to issues like the climate crisis and the US Supreme Court's likely decision to strike down Roe v. Wade.
Some groups like the shareholder advocacy non-profit As You Sow have filed resolutions seeking reports from companies on how their political contributions, such as those to lawmakers working to ban abortion, square with their corporate values.
"I think this is an issue that if it affects companies, it affects the ability for it to be seen as a responsible corporate citizen or the employees have a response to it, obviously as investors it will start to come into a view. And eventually, if it's material enough, it will become one of our priorities," Takatsuki said of examining companies' policies around reproductive healthcare.
"A lot of these things emerge over time. It took quite a long while for climate, for example, to get up that ladder of it being in the radar," he said, adding that some issues like reproductive rights are now going through that process.
Pressure from forces such as shareholder advocacy groups and new generations of investors are mounting on big investors and companies alike to address what they see as shortcomings.
Shareholders in big banks and publicly traded fund managers, too, have long tried to push for changes. For instance, last year, BlackRock said it would conduct a racial equity audit after shareholders requested it. JPMorgan, for its part, has faced intense scrutiny from shareholders and environmental activists for its fossil fuel financing.
The bank urged shareholders this spring to vote against a proposal requesting that JPMorgan adopts a policy curbing its fossil fuel financing, effectively arguing that its management team already addresses these concerns.
This push and pull between corporations, stewardship teams, investors, proxy advisors, and other parties is all part of the complex stewardship ecosystem that is coming into sharper focus.
JPMorgan's stewardship team said in a report published last month that in 2021 it voted on some 87,500 proposals across about 8,600 meetings, opposing management teams' suggestions 11% of the time by either voting against them or abstaining. That's up from voting on about 83,400 proposals in 2020, when it opposed management about 10% of the time.
Takatsuki said assembling an investment stewardship team and finding candidates with the right "balance" of skills is a challenge.
"We can't have someone who is just a spreadsheet person, but nor can we have someone who is just an environmentalist," Takatsuki, who is based in London, said. "What actually makes this area relatively hard to hire is you need the people who not just have a passion, but who have the expertise and knowledge to be able to do both — and also to be able to work with a complex stakeholder base."
The team is made up of specialists with a range of backgrounds. Takatsuki, for his part, has spent the last decade in stewardship and joined JPMorgan from AXA Investment Managers after switching careers. His team hired an investment stewardship specialist from ISS, the influential proxy advisory firm, last year in Hong Kong.
Engaging with companies and posing difficult questions is a skill that Takatsuki, who comes from a family of journalists, honed in his years as a reporter and producer at the BBC, CNBC, and Bloomberg News.
"I think an aspect of stewardship, as well as being a good journalist, is being able to ask the difficult question and hold companies to account," he said. "These people need to be held to account for the actions that they take."
More: Finance JPMorgan Asset Management | 2022-05-13T16:52:58Z | www.businessinsider.com | JPMorgan Grows Stewardship Team As Investors Put Pressure on Industry | https://www.businessinsider.com/jpmorgan-asset-management-stewardship-team-expands-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/jpmorgan-asset-management-stewardship-team-expands-2022-5 |
How three brands navigated the 'Route to Ready'
By Bethany Poole, Think with Google
If we've learned anything from each pivot and zigzag over the past 18 months, it's that things can — and do — change in an instant.
That's why we at Google spend a lot of our time thinking about readiness. It's a simple idea that's always been key to business success, and it's never been more important for marketers.
Today, a successful brand is ready for volatile markets and disruptive shifts in consumer behavior, supply chains, and society at large. It's also ready to deliver on the needs of every single customer, wherever they are, whether it's for the first time or the 100th.
We're in a new era, in which COVID-19 has accelerated digital consumption habits so much that analysts talk about seeing a decade's worth of change happening in a few short months. Marketers must create messaging that's agile and responsive enough to capture short-term opportunities, while also building long-term business resilience. But how?
The standard answer has been "digital transformation," but, too often, the term is used as a buzzword. And if we aren't clear about what we mean by "digital transformation," then it's easy to imagine a long, complicated journey.
At Google, we don't think transformation should be a grand project. It should be a self-guided, step-by-step journey, propelled by a flywheel like the one below. We call it the "Route to Ready."
Think With Google
The journey will also depend on your company's needs, which is why this approach lets you choose the entry point based on what makes the most sense for your business.
To inspire and help you begin the Route to Ready, here are examples of how three successful brands got started on their own journeys.
For Mondelēz International — one of the world's biggest snack food companies — the entry point was customer-centricity.
Its Route to Ready began with a single insight: That meeting each consumer where they are means evolving from a mass-marketing strategy to one that delivers a more personalized, helpful set of experiences. This helped galvanize the entire company.
With customer-centricity as the guiding principle, teams from across Mondelēz International — from marketing and information business systems to finance and customer service — broke down their organizational silos to align on shared goals and adopt an agile approach to a company-wide initiative called "Empathy at Scale."
An example is the "Don't go far for hunger" campaign the company launched in India for its Cadbury brand, which used automation to drive consideration among specific audiences. Optimized ad creative combined eight consumer passion points, like cricket or "Game of Thrones," with six other contextual elements, including time, day of the week, and location. In all, the process generated 92,000 unique, personalized assets that drove a 50% increase in ad recall, and a click-through rate 2.6X higher than the CPG benchmark.
Deploying its digital strategy across multiple markets has helped Mondelēz International outpace the rest of its sector and deliver double-digit growth in ROI. It has also given the company a template for reorganizing its entire long-term business strategy to focus on building deeper, longer-lasting relationships with consumers.
Well before the pandemic, automakers like Ford Motor Company faced massive disruption from self-driving cars, electric vehicles, and shared mobility. But COVID-19 dealt the industry another blow, forcing dealerships to close their lots and sell cars online and causing supply chain shortages that slowed vehicle production. In 2020 alone, US auto sales sank by 15%.
While years of disruptions led Ford to begin its business transformation, those efforts took on new urgency under the leadership of CEO Jim Farley and global CMO Suzy Deering. Both executives believed that providing new, differentiated customer experiences would be a key to long-term resilience. Getting — and staying — ahead of auto consumers' evolving needs required putting technology at the center of Ford's business.
As Farley recently explained, "The biggest transformation for us is to a software services-dominated company and brand. We have to invest in electric architectures and build software know-how in the company. And we need to integrate that know-how in ways we've never had to before."
For now, Ford is leaning on this technology to aid in vehicle electrification and develop other digitally connected products. To facilitate this shift, it has tapped strategic partners like Google to integrate software into its vehicles. Beginning in 2023, for example, millions of Ford and Lincoln models will be powered by the Android operating system, with Google apps and services built in.
The pandemic also accelerated the digital transformation underway at Crate and Barrel. Its online sales have jumped more than 40% since the pandemic started, and online sales now comprise more than 65% of its overall business.
But the retailer's Route to Ready hasn't been about abandoning its physical stores for an exclusively digital storefront. It has focused instead on making shopping experiences more inventive and inspirational, both online and offline.
To enhance its customer experience across channels, Crate and Barrel knew it needed a better way to understand and measure the full customer journey, and to respond to those insights in near real time. So the company's transformation journey has centered on building a more unified view of its customers, through a strategy that prioritizes organizational agility and outcomes.
Crate and Barrel began by leaning into the power of cloud computing to gather diverse data from various touch points — like traffic information in-store, mobile shopping patterns, and other online purchasing behaviors. Then they created a single data source to represent a holistic picture of the customer.
To save time preparing data sources, the company relies heavily on Google Cloud's BigQuery data warehousing and analysis tool, which allows it to draw on 10X more information sources compared to a few years ago. Data is then analyzed and transformed into actionable insights that can influence a customer's next interaction and, in turn, drive revenue.
BigQuery's machine-learning capabilities have also helped Crate and Barrel develop more models and recommendations at scale, without raising costs or overloading resources.
No matter where your business starts its Route to Ready, these actions — whether individual or collective — will pay immediate dividends. They'll help you infuse agility into your plan and create marketing-driven growth for your company's bottom line, all while future-proofing your business so you're ready for whatever comes next.
Learn how Think with Google can inspire and help you begin the Route to Ready. | 2022-05-13T16:53:22Z | www.businessinsider.com | In Today's Volatile Markets, Digital Readiness Is Key to Brand Success | https://www.businessinsider.com/sc/in-todays-volatile-marketplace-digital-readiness-is-key-to-brand-success | https://www.businessinsider.com/sc/in-todays-volatile-marketplace-digital-readiness-is-key-to-brand-success |
The three payment trends powering the digital economy
By Antoine Nougué, head of commercial, Checkout.com
The ability to securely, reliably, and seamlessly move money around the world has played a major role in the growth of ecommerce. Today, effective payments continue to play a critical role — not just as a facilitator of money movement but as a linchpin for innovation, helping companies redefine business models and build the next generation of the digital economy.
So, what are the trends in payments that are currently driving innovation?
Protecting revenue with optimized payments
The seamlessness of the payment experience can make or break a sale. Customers who face friction at the checkout, cannot use their preferred payment option, or have their payment wrongly declined are left frustrated and, often, will abandon their purchase. Our research illustrates this point. We found that 52% of customers will abandon their cart if the checkout and payment process is overly complex. That equates to billions of dollars in revenue needlessly left on the table.
This issue poses a real challenge for retailers, especially as a larger percentage of their sales are made online, and customer acquisition costs reach all-time highs.
Despite these facts, many businesses are unaware of the impact of poorly-functioning payments on their bottom line. Our research showed that 31% of European businesses reported losing revenue due to payment issues. The truth is that the real number is likely much higher. Underreporting generally stems from the fact many businesses just don't know what's happening with their payments. This is usually due to a lack of data on payment flows, not enough focus on payments internally, or a misunderstanding of how payments function – and often all of the above.
This reality is what we call the 'payments black box'. And we've helped countless businesses crack it open, shining a light on the impact of payments on their bottom line and working with them to build solutions that drive meaningful change.
Take Chrono24, for example. Since working with Checkout.com, it's achieved greater visibility into its payment flows. Visibility that's empowered it to take informed steps to improve how it processes its payments. As its Payments Lead, Christoph Emminger, explains: "We can now see why issuers in different markets are rejecting payments. And Checkout.com supports us to develop action points to drive improvements, such as optimizing the data we send alongside each payment."
Facilitating business innovation and growth
Optimizing payments to avoid revenue leakage is just the beginning. Once businesses start focusing on payments and have visibility into their cashflows, they see ways to use them to foster customer loyalty and grow their revenues.
For example, did you know that customers will frequently shop with businesses that allow them to pay with their preferred payment method? Take Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL), for instance. In just over a year, it emerged as a 'must have' payment option for businesses selling online, especially to younger demographics. According to PayPal, 28% of consumers ages 18-39 are now more likely to shop at a retailer again if they offer BNPL.
Unlocking new channels of commerce is another growth area where payments have a pivotal role to play. Social commerce, in particular, is trending in ecommerce. We found that 67% of US-based businesses believe social commerce is the most important retail trend this year.
Integrating payments is fundamental for all new sales channels. Checkout.com unlocks channels and facilitates new models because it enables a multitude of different payments through a single integration. Wherever customers are in the digital world, they can make payments through their preferred channel using a tool like Payment Links.
A final growth trend we see picking up the pace is retailers' adoption of subscription services. Our research finds that 50% of US businesses believe subscriptions will become an important part of their consumer offering, and 31% of US and UK businesses are launching subscription offerings. Again, the ability to effectively collect recurring payments is critical to the success of any subscription service.
Furthering trust in the digital economy
As the digital economy grows, maintaining consumer and business confidence will depend largely on the security of online payments. Fraud is a constant threat which can deter shoppers from buying online and damage both the reputation and revenue of retailers.
We find that businesses are acutely aware of the risk – which has increased markedly during the pandemic — with 41% of those we surveyed saying cybercrime and fraud are the top concerns for 2022. And there is an increased focus on leveraging the latest tools and technologies to minimize the risk.
However, the challenge we're helping businesses solve is how to mitigate the risk without impacting the customer experience. Access to data and flexibility is again key. Our platform provides a detailed view of transactions and counterparties. It ensures transparency and intelligent insights about every payment, and can be customized to merchants' specific needs and risk appetites. From simple rules to powerful machine-learning models, the merchants we support can build a risk strategy that's right for their businesses.
Spanish beauty disruptor, Freshly Cosmetics, is one company we've supported in this regard. Since working with Checkout.com to enable optimized customer authentication, it has experienced zero payment disputes and a near 100% payment acceptance rate.
The power of payments: Partnering with Checkout.com
Since 2012, Checkout.com has been at the forefront of development in digital payments. We've worked in partnership with businesses worldwide to build a flexible payments platform designed to empower them to succeed in the digital economy. But there's still much to learn and to build. Global payments are complex and ever-evolving. And we are, as our Founder and CEO Guillaume Pousaz often says, only at chapter one of the journey.
Customers as diverse as Grab, Getty Images, and Sony trust Checkout.com to provide seamless integrations and actionable payments data. Whatever the industry or sector, our platform can optimize every part of the payment journey and create the most robust foundation for ecommerce — today and tomorrow.
This post was created by Checkout.com with Insider Studios
More: Sponsor Post Studios Enterprise Finance eCommerce
sp-checkout-digital-economy-1 | 2022-05-13T18:28:01Z | www.businessinsider.com | How New Digital Payment Trends Are Driving Innovation in Ecommerce | https://www.businessinsider.com/sc/how-new-digital-payment-trends-are-driving-innovation-in-ecommerce | https://www.businessinsider.com/sc/how-new-digital-payment-trends-are-driving-innovation-in-ecommerce |
A $59 million mansion on a 300-acre island in Miami is now accepting Bitcoin as payment.
The listing could set a new record for the most expensive real estate bought with cryptocurrency.
It's located in "Billionaire's Bunker," a high-security enclave home to Tom Brady and Ivanka Trump.
This $59 million mansion in Miami's star-studded Indian Creek neighborhood is now accepting payment in Bitcoin.
A rendering of 37 Indian Creek in Miami Beach, FL.
It could be the most expensive real estate purchase ever made in cryptocurrency, as Forbes first reported. The record is currently held by a penthouse in nearby Surfside, which was bought by an unnamed buyer last year for $22.5 million in crypto.
A living room in Surf side's Arte condominium. One of its floor-through penthouses sold for $22.5 million in cryptocurrency last year.
Arte Surfside
Source: Forbes, Insider
The mansion sits on a 300-acre island known as "Billionaire's Bunker" connected to Surfside, Miami by a single bridge. The only entrance is patrolled by members of the community's private police force.
The wealthy enclave earned its name thanks to its high-profile residents including Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, and Enrique Iglesias.
Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen attend The 2019 Met Gala.
John Shearer/Getty Images for THR
It borders the Indian Creek Golf Course, home to an exclusive country club that was accused of discriminating against Black and Jewish residents in the early 2000s, local outlets reported. The club denied the allegations, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Source: Orlando Sentinel (2000), Wall Street Journal
Developer Todd Michael Glaser bought 37 Indian Creek Island Road for $24 million last summer from the TV host known as "Don Francisco," per the Miami Herald.
Source: Miami Herald
The original home will be demolished and replaced with a "tropical modern playhouse," a spokeswoman for Glaser told Insider. It's scheduled to be move-in ready within 18 months.
The new construction includes 12 beds and 13.3 baths, 12-feet tall ceilings, a club room, chef and prep kitchens, a media room, and a gym studio.
Source: Douglas Elliman
The spec home also features a four-car garage, pictured in the digital rendering below.
Rendering of 37 Indian Creek Island Road in Miami Beach, FL.
Its backyard contains "lush landscaping," 134 feet of water frontage, a large deck, pool, and tanning beds, the listing says.
When asked why he decided to accept bitcoin for this project, Glaser said: "If Gucci accepts bitcoin, then Todd Michael Glaser will too."
Photo by Gary Hershorn/Getty Image
"I think this would be a game-changer for the industry," the listing's realtor, Dina Goldentayer, told Insider. "As more methods of crypto conversion become popularized, and sellers become more comfortable with the process, buying and selling real estate with crypto is bound to become more common."
The Miami Bull is shown
Wilfredo Lee/ AP
The announcement comes amid a volatile week for bitcoin, which dropped 50% in value from its record-high on Thursday. But Glaser sees this as a potential upside for the listing as crypto holders may be looking to cash in and buy hard assets, he said.
Goldentayer believes the home will attract "a large family or a tech bachelor with an extended entourage who wants the highest level of luxury and privacy" and has a love for modern architecture.
Douglas Elliman's Dina Goldentayer
Courtesy of Dina Goldentayer
More: Real Estate cryptocurrency Bitcoin Miami | 2022-05-13T19:47:34Z | www.businessinsider.com | PHOTOS: 'Billionaire's Bunker' Mansion Accepts Bitcoin | https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-miami-billionaires-bunker-island-home-accepting-crypto-bitcoin-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-miami-billionaires-bunker-island-home-accepting-crypto-bitcoin-2022-5 |
Israeli police in East Jerusalem beat mourners in the funeral process of slain journalist Shireen Abu Akleh on May 13, 2022.
Israeli police beat mourners in the funeral procession of a prominent Al Jazeera journalist.
Bernie Sanders decried the incident as an "outrage," while Ilhan Omar said it was "just cruel."
Al Jazeera and eyewitnesses say Israeli forces shot and killed Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh.
Congressional lawmakers and both current and former US diplomats expressed outrage after footage emerged showing Israeli police officers beating mourners in the funeral procession of slain Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in East Jerusalem on Friday.
"The attack by Israeli forces against mourners at the funeral of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh is an outrage," Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont said on Twitter, adding, "The United States must condemn this, and demand an independent investigation into her killing."
"This is just cruel," Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota said in a tweet.
Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, a top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, in a tweet responding to the footage said, "This is awful to watch."
A picture of Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh, who was killed by Israeli army gunfire during an Israeli raid, according to the Qatar-based news channel, is displayed, in Doha
The Biden administration also weighed in on the funeral attacks. Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the UN, said she was "deeply distressed" by the images.
"The tragedy of her killing should be handled with the utmost respect, sobriety, and care," Thomas-Greenfield said via Twitter.
"We regret the intrusion into what should have been a peaceful procession," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday, calling the footage of Israeli police attacking mourners "deeply disturbing."
Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American journalist who was well-known and respected across the region, was shot and killed in the West Bank on Wednesday while reporting on Israeli military raids in the city of Jenin. Eyewitnesses said Abu Akleh was shot by Israeli forces. Al Jazeera also explicitly blamed the killing on Israeli forces, decrying it as "a blatant murder, violating international laws and norms."
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett suggested that the slain journalist may have been shot by Palestinians. But Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz later said that Abu Akleh was possibly killed due to fire from "our side."
In a statement, Israeli police said they were "forced to act" after "rioters began throwing stones toward the policemen," per the New York Times.
—Chris Murphy (@ChrisMurphyCT) May 13, 2022
—Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) May 13, 2022
Aaron David Miller, a former US diplomat who advised multiple secretaries of state on the Middle East, said in a tweet that regardless of what an investigation into Abu Akleh's death reveals the Israeli government has "already lost" the "battle for public opinion."
"Hard to imagine any greater self-inflicted wound than scenes of Israeli police attacking Palestinians, including those carrying her coffin," Miller added.
The Israeli government has proposed conducting a joint investigation into Abu Akleh's killing, but the Palestinian Authority refused.
"Israel requested a joint investigation and the handing over of the bullet that assassinated the journalist Shireen, and we refused that, and we affirmed that our investigation would be completed independently, and we will inform her family, America, Qatar and all official authorities of the results of the investigation," Palestinian Authority Civil Affairs head Hussein al-Sheikh said via Twitter.
The US State Department has urged for an "immediate and thorough" investigation of Abu Akleh's killing, stopping short of endorsing an independent inquiry.
UN human rights experts on Friday demanded an "independent, impartial, effective, thorough and transparent investigation" into Abu Akleh's killing. "The killing of Abu Akleh is another serious attack on media freedom and freedom of expression, amid the escalation of violence in the occupied West Bank," the experts said.
More: Shireen Abu Akleh Al Jazeera Israel Israel-Palestine | 2022-05-13T19:47:37Z | www.businessinsider.com | US Lawmakers Decry Israeli Forces Beating Mourners of Al Jazeera Journalist | https://www.businessinsider.com/us-lawmakers-decry-israeli-forces-beating-mourners-of-al-jazeera-journalist-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/us-lawmakers-decry-israeli-forces-beating-mourners-of-al-jazeera-journalist-2022-5 |
Left, Former President Donald Trump speaks on Feb. 28, 2021, at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Fla. Right, Post-it note cubes.
Left, John Raoux/AP. Right, File/AP.
A Manhattan judge wants to know what happened to the Post-it Notes Donald Trump used to give orders on at the Trump Organization.
A Trump lawyer suggested on Wednesday that they were filed 'in the round receptacle,' meaning they've been trashed.
The judge and lawyer waved their own sticky notes at each other in a comical exchange during a video hearing.
Post-it Notes that Donald Trump used to relay his orders at the Trump Organization are probably in the trash, a lawyer for the former president suggested during a virtual hearing on Wednesday.
Trump's lawyer, Alina Habba, suggested the Post-its were filed "in the round receptacle," as she and lawyers for New York Attorney General Letitia James battled over personal business records James wants for her ongoing probe of the Trump Organization.
New York State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron breached the sticky subject of Post-its mid-way into the hearing, before ruling that the former president must cut a $110,000 check to the AG's office as a contempt-of-court penalty.
"We've heard from an executive vice president or something that Mr. Trump would communicate through Post-its," Engoron said, referring to Alan Garten, the Trump Organization's top company lawyer.
Garten testified before the AG under subpoena last summer that Trump had "received and maintained hard copy documents, and that he used Post-it Notes to communicate with employees," according to an AG filing from January.
Engoron asked Andrew Amer, a lawyer for the AG's office who was on the video hearing, if any documents obtained by his office had Post-its attached to them.
"To my knowledge, we haven't seen any documents that have Post-its on them," Amer answered. "That's one of the odd things about the [document] production to date."
Amer said that if Post-its were a means Trump used to communicate, James would be entitled to those.
"And quite frankly we're still waiting," he said.
Trump's lawyer, Alina Habba, said, however, that any documents with Post-its on them would have already been turned over, so the court and the AG shouldn't expect to see any new ones.
"If there were Post-its on any documents that were there, they were produced with the Post-its on them," she said, adding that she has personally checked the files at Trump Tower, where the former president's real estate company is headquartered.
At this point in the virtual hearing, the judge began jokingly waving a pale yellow "sticky" at the camera. Habba responded in kind, though hers was neon yellow.
Habba then made the argument that Post-its are meant to be transitory.
"As you and Miss Greenfield are speaking," Habba told the judge, referring to Engoron's law clerk, Allison Greenfield. "You may hand her a note. And she would probably throw it away. And that's not going to be retained in the court's files."
Any Post-its that were on any Trump documents "were scanned as they are," she added.
The AG's lawyer then asked that Trump's personal assistants swear a new affidavit describing "what the retention and destruction policies were … with respect to Post-its."
Habba pushed back.
"I don't think any company or person has a formal practice in regard to Post-its," she said. "The fact that's even being asked by Mr. Amer — I mean, I don't have a formal policy on Post-its, do you?"
She added, "I write notes to my assistants, I write notes to [law partner] Michael [Madaio], and I can assure you these are not going anywhere but in the round receptacle."
"So then that was your practice?" the AG's lawyer cut in. "The practice was either to keep them or to not keep them and somebody should know."
The judge ordered Trump's side to produce a sworn statement from a Trump assistant saying what happened to any sticky notes — jokingly calling it "a Post-it affidavit." | 2022-05-13T19:51:40Z | www.businessinsider.com | Post-It Notes Donald Trump Used As CEO Were Likely Trashed: Lawyer Says | https://www.businessinsider.com/post-it-notes-donald-trump-attorney-general-letitia-james-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/post-it-notes-donald-trump-attorney-general-letitia-james-2022-5 |
The Savannah Bananas are bringing TikTok memes to baseball, charting a new path for America's pastime to reach Gen Z
The Savannah Bananas are a stunt baseball team that brings TikTok trends onto the field.
The team has amassed 2.5 million TikTok fans, more than double its follower count in March.
By merging TikTok with in-person entertainment, it's showing a new way baseball can win over Gen Z.
On April 9, in the middle of the third inning, just before the Savannah Bananas' pitcher Christian Dearman threw a fastball low and inside to the left-handed batter, the 25-year-old paused to do a 360-degree hip-swinging dance to the tune of "Cool for the Summer" by Demi Lovato.
The team's shortstop, second baseman, and center fielder joined in. "Cool for the Summer" (2015) has had a recent resurgence as a dance trend on TikTok. And bringing TikTok memes onto the field is the Bananas' specialty.
"Eighty percent of the things we do during games stem from a TikTok trend, or it stems from how well this would do on TikTok," Kara Heater, the team's 24-year-old marketing director, told Insider.
Dancing on the mound is, of course, atypical behavior for a pitcher. The Savannah Bananas aren't a MLB or minor league baseball team. They're a stunt team, formed in 2016, that play their own version of the game dubbed "Banana Ball" against a separate squad the organization created called the Party Animals.
Savannah Bananas.
The silly and skillful spectacle is similar to what the Harlem Globetrotters have done for basketball. Players swing flaming bats, throw pitches on stilts, and adopt unconventional batting stances.
Every Monday, the team's owner Jesse Cole, marketing staff, and director of entertainment sit down to plan out ways to incorporate TikTok trends into live games. For the Bananas, the line between social media and in-person games is often blurred. The team has used TikTok comments to decide which song players walk out onto the field to, for example.
The Bananas also have a separate more conventional team that competes in the Coastal Plain League, a summer league for college players.
The strategy is paying dividends in ticket sales and social-media stardom. The Bananas are selling out game after game, and now have 2.5 million TikTok fans, a following that trumps top MLB teams like the Chicago Cubs (719,000 fans), Boston Red Sox (600,000 fans), the New York Yankees (674,000 fans), and last year's World Series champions the Atlanta Braves (639,000 fans). The Bananas have about 10 times more followers than the average for all official MLB team handles, according to video-analytics firm Conviva.
"They have the creative freedom to produce the funny, irreverent on-the-field types of sports-related content on TikTok that you wish you could see from your favorite MLB team, but never could because they're playing serious baseball games," Conviva's VP of strategy Nick Cicero told Insider. "This gives them a little bit of an advantage you could say, but they've executed the platform strategy flawlessly."
Sports content in general has surged on TikTok. Fifteen of the 25 brand accounts that gained the most followers on the app in the past year were sports teams, leagues, or sports-media brands, according to Conviva's recent analysis of 1,500 verified accounts.
For sports teams, being funny and meme-able is how you win on TikTok
Sports-media accounts on TikTok often add comedic sounds or edits to game highlights as a way to stay in tune with the app's trends.
The MLB, like other professional sports organizations, has been looking for new ways to engage with Gen Z. The league hired its own roster of TikTok ambassadors, and posts clips and memes multiple times a day on its own TikTok account (around 5 million followers).
Like the Savannah Bananas' content, funny videos tend to overperform for the organization. An April clip of Oakland catcher Sean Murphy getting hit in the backside drew around 31 million views and 4.5 million "likes" on the app, for example.
For the Bananas, the winning strategy has been creating those meme-able moments from the start.
"In a sport like baseball that seems to be dying a little bit, it's kind of like, 'Okay, how do we get people involved in this?'" Heater said. "We're just a team that wants to have fun."
More: TikTok Baseball MLB | 2022-05-13T19:58:15Z | www.businessinsider.com | How the Savannah Bananas Are Bringing TikTok Trends to Baseball | https://www.businessinsider.com/how-the-savannah-bananas-are-bringing-tiktok-trends-to-baseball-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/how-the-savannah-bananas-are-bringing-tiktok-trends-to-baseball-2022-5 |
Pixel 6a vs. iPhone SE: Google is looking to one-up Apple's budget phone with improved features, like battery life and screen size
Google's budget Pixel 6a stacked against Apple's affordable iPhone SE.
The Google Pixel 6a and Apple iPhone SE 2022 are more affordable than their premium counterparts.
Both phones have excellent cameras and performance, and the major difference is screen size.
The Pixel 6a also has a larger battery than the iPhone SE that will likely last longer.
$449.00 from Google
You have incredibly effective and reliable smartphone options if you don't want to spend the money that premium phone models demand.
The two top options that immediately come to mind are Apple's $429 iPhone SE 2022, and Google's $449 Pixel 6a on the horizon. These phones cost hundreds less than their premium counterparts, like the iPhone 13 or the Pixel 6, and the compromises manage to maintain an excellent phone experience.
Google announced the Pixel 6a during its Google I/O event on May 11, and I haven't had a chance to test it out yet. Still, you have time to decide, as the Pixel 6a isn't going to be available for preorder until July 21, and it'll become fully available on July 28. This breakdown should help you decide whether to hold off or just go for the iPhone SE, if you're shopping for a new budget phone.
Google Pixel 6a vs Apple iPhone SE 2022
Specification Google Pixel 6a Apple iPhone SE 2022
Display 6.1-inch OLED, 60Hz 4.7-inch Retina LCD (1,334 x 750), 60Hz
Cameras 12-megapixel (MP) main and ultrawide cameras 12MP main
Selfie camera 8MP 7MP FaceTime camera
Battery and charging 4,400mAh battery, 18W wired charging 2,018mAh battery, 5 hours, 58 minutes in battery test. Up to 20W wired charging supported, Qi wireless charging
Memory (RAM) and storage 8GB RAM/128GB storage 4GB RAM (estimated) / 64GB, 128GB, 256GB storage
Biometric authentication In-display fingerprint sensor Touch ID fingerprint sensor
Network support 5G (mmWave in select models), LTE, WiFi 6e, Bluetooth 5.2 5G, LTE, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.0
Google Pixel 6a vs Apple iPhone SE 2022: Displays
The Pixel 6a has a much larger display at 6.1-inches — that's the same size as the standard iPhone 13. The Pixel 6a's display also uses an OLED panel that's superior to the LCD panel on the iPhone SE, thanks to per-pixel backlighting.
Basically, OLED panels can create amazing contrast to make things pop on the display, as they can turn off individual pixels to create a totally black color compared to the gray-ish black you see on LCD panels.
Google Pixel 6a vs Apple iPhone SE 2022: Cameras
The Pixel 6a has a dual-lens camera system compared to the iPhone SE's single-lens camera. No doubt, the iPhone SE's single camera takes beautiful photos, but single camera systems are outdated and limited compared to the multi-camera phones that have become the standard today.
Plus, Google has made a name for its phone cameras, which are typically among the best, or best of all, you can find.
And Google has some of the most unique and useful camera features, like Magic Eraser that lets you remove an unwanted object or subject from a photo. Google is even introducing a new version of Magic Eraser that also lets you change the color of an object to make it blend into the background if it distracts from what you're trying to capture.
Google Pixel 6a vs Apple iPhone SE 2022: Performance
The Pixel 6a runs on Google's Tensor processor that's also found in the premium Pixel 6 phones, so to an extent, I already know how well the Pixel 6a performs.
Right off the bat, it's not as powerful as Apple's A15 Bionic processor that's also found in the iPhone 13 series. In fact, I'm not aware of any mobile processor that's as powerful as Apple's products.
With that said, the Google Tensor processor is plenty powerful for the majority of people who run popular apps and games. Plus, it helps power some of Google's unique, AI-based smart and camera features.
Google Pixel 6a vs Apple iPhone SE 2022: Battery life
I'm also anticipating that the Pixel 6a will have significantly longer battery life than the iPhone SE.
Last year's Pixel 5a lasted 14 hours and 34 minutes in our battery test, and the iPhone SE 2022 lasted a mere five hours and 58 minutes.
I'd be very surprised if the Pixel 6a has a much shorter battery life than the Pixel 5a, but only testing will confirm that, which will be underway .
Google Pixel 6a vs Apple iPhone SE 2022: Which should you buy?
I haven't reviewed the Pixel 6a yet, let alone even checked it out in person, so I can't make a definitive recommendation here.
With that said, the Pixel 6a certainly has a lot going for it compared to the iPhone SE based on specs and my experience with Google's Pixel "a" models, particularly battery life. If you're at all on the fence regarding your next phone purchase, it may be worth holding out for these reasons.
At the end of the day, it might not even matter if the Pixel 6a has more to offer hardware-wise. If you own other Apple products, like the Apple Watch or a Mac, and you like the way they all seamlessly work together, the iPhone SE is going to be your best bet.
More: IP Tech Tech Guides Smartphones Google Pixel 6a | 2022-05-13T21:19:09Z | www.businessinsider.com | Google Pixel 6a Vs Apple iPhone SE 2022: Cameras, Battery Life, Specs | https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/apple-iphone-se-vs-google-pixel-6a | https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/tech/apple-iphone-se-vs-google-pixel-6a |
Is EquityMultiple right for you?
EquityMultiple vs. RealtyMogul
EquityMultiple vs. CrowdStreet
Ways to invest with EquityMultiple
EquityMultiple: Is it trustworthy?
EquityMultiple: Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
EquityMultiple review: Commercial real estate investing for accredited investors with at least $5,000
EquityMultiple best serves real estate-oriented accredited investors with at least $5,000.
EquityMultiple; Rachel Mendelson/Insider
Bottom line: EquityMultiple is best for accredited investors who have at least $5,000 to invest in commercial real estate assets like equity (via non-traded REITs and real estate funds), debt, and much more. Though minimums start as low as $5,000, they can reach $30,000 depending on the opportunity.
$5,000 (minimums can also range between $10,000 and $30,000)
Varies; typically 0.5% (EquityMultiple also charges annual administrative expense fee of $30-$70)
Institutional commercial real estate, equity, preferred equity, and senior debt
Option to invest in institutional commercial real estate, equity, preferred equity, and senior debt
Multiple property types
Self-directed IRAs available
Only accepts accredited investors
Consider it if: You're an accredited investor looking to invest at least $5,000 into commercial real estate.
Founded in 2015, EquityMultiple is a commercial real estate platform that offers managed assets — including equity, preferred equity, institutional commercial real estate, and senior debt — to accredited investors (individuals who have a minimum net worth of $1 million or make $200,000 annually, or $300,000 for couples).
The platform also gives investors the option to build wealth through self-directed IRAs, LLCs, trusts, LPs, and joint accounts. As of January 1, 2022, EquityMultiple has returned $176.2 million to investors.
RealtyMogul
REITs, single properties, 1031 private placement investments
Open account Open an account
While EquityMultiple and RealtyMogul have the same account minimum requirements ($5,000), there are a couple of key differences between the platforms. The first is that EquityMultiple only serves accredited investors, while RealtyMogul serves both accredited and non-accredited investors.
Another thing to consider is investment types and fees. Both EquityMultiple and RealtyMogul offer commercial real estate, but EquityMultiple is the better choice for accredited investors in search of professionally managed, institutional-level real estate and equity and debt investments. RealtyMogul offers multiple REITs, individual properties, and more.
$25,000 (up to $100,000 for some offerings)
0% investors; 1-5% fee for sponsors; 0.25% to 2.5% tailored portfolios
Single-sponsor funds, CrowdStreet funds, individual deals, tailored portfolios
EquityMultiple and CrowdStreet both only offer real estate investing for accredited investors. But the platforms vary when it comes to account minimums, fees, and investment choices.
You'll likely pay more to get started with CrowdStreet since its base minimum requirement (which can be $100,000 for some products) is $25,000. However, CrowdStreet doesn't charge investors fees to buy stake in its deals and funds — but sponsors typically pay between 1-5%, and tailored portfolios cost investors 2.5%.
EquityMultiple, on the other hand, best suits accredited investors who want to get started with lower minimum requirements and invest in institutional commercial real estate, equity, and more. It has a base minimum requirement of $5,000, but minimums can also range from $10,000 to $30,000, depending on the offering.
EquityMultiple's offerings are divided into three strategies:
Fund Investing: This investment approach has the highest minimum requirement. Minimums start as low as $20,000 and span up to $30,000. It best suits those in search of diversification across several asset types. EquityMultiple targets debt, equity, Opportunity Funds, and CRE securities with this approach. Plus, it has an investment term of 1.5 to 10+ years.
Direct Investing: With minimums as low as $10,000, this approach caters to investors who prefer to focus on individual properties. EquityMultiple's target duration for this strategy ranges from six months to five (or more) years, and it leans toward debt, preferred equity, and common equity.
Savings Alternative: This strategy is perfect for investors who want shorter terms. EquityMultiple primarily uses diversified, short-term notes here, and the investment term ranges from three to nine months. This approach also has the lowest minimum requirement, as you can get started with as little as $5,000.
As for returns, debt strategies generate 7-12% per year. Preferred equity strategies have a current preferred return of 6-12% and a total preferred return rate of 10-18%. Common equity strategies have an internal rate of return of 10-24%, and returns vary for its funds.
Prospective investors should also note that joining EquityMultiple doesn't give you access to publicly traded REITs. When it comes to its fund strategies and diversification approach, it mainly invests in non-traded REITs and real estate funds (non-traded REITs can't be publicly traded on the market).
EquityMultiple currently has an NR ("No rating") with the Better Business Bureau. BBB ratings usually range from A+ to F, but the bureau says it doesn't have sufficient information to issue a rating on the real estate platform.
BBB ratings reflect the bureau's opinion of how well a company interacts with its customers, and takes into account factors like type of business, time in business, customer complaint history, licensing and government actions, advertising issues, and more.
However, it's still important that you do your research before setting up an account. This is because the bureau's ratings don't guarantee performance or reliability.
EquityMultiple's record is clear of any major lawsuits or scandals. The platform's BBB profile also shows that it has zero complaints filed.
What is EquityMultiple?
EquityMultiple lets you invest in professionally managed commercial real estate. The platform's investment choices include institutional commercial real estate, senior debt, equity, and preferred equity. Plus, you can invest through self-directed IRAs, LLCs, LPs, trusts, and joint accounts.
Is EquityMultiple only for accredited investors?
Yes. EquityMultiple only serves accredited investors at this time.
What does it take to be an accredited investor?
In order to qualify as an accredited investor, you need to either have a net worth of at least $1 million, or make $200,000 annually ($300,000 for couples).
REIT: Real estate investment trusts are companies that own multiple income-generating real estate assets. Both publicly traded and non-traded REITS exist, but you can buy shares of public REITs through online investment platforms and brokers. Non-traded REITS aren't listed on public exchanges, so you'll usually have to consult a broker or advisor to purchase one.
Accredited investor: Accredited investors are individuals who either make $200,000 per year ($300,000 for couples), or have a net worth of at least $1 million.
Self-directed IRA: Similar to regular IRAs, you can set up a traditional or Roth SDIRA. However, SDIRAs let you build wealth through alternative assets like real estate, precious metals, and cryptocurrencies. Non-self-directed IRAs are for assets like stocks, ETFs, mutual funds, and other assets.
Illiquid: An asset is considered "illiquid" when it can't be easily converted to cash. Unlike REITs and real estate funds that you can quickly trade on exchanges, many tangible real estate investments — like commercial properties — include longer investment terms.
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More: EquityMultiple Real Estate Real Estate Investing Personal Finance Insider | 2022-05-13T21:31:09Z | www.businessinsider.com | EquityMultiple Review: Pros, Cons, and Who Should Set up an Account | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/equitymultiple-review | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/equitymultiple-review |
10 ways to teach teens to be financially responsible adults
1. Earning money
4. Debit or prepaid cards
6. Paying for college
7. Understanding compound interest
10. Money management and saving apps
Help your teen build a solid financial future
10 ways to put your teen on track to financial responsibility
Jill Burke
Setting a good example for your teen to follow is key to helping them learn to be responsible with money.
Valeriy_G/Getty
Purposeful lessons and thoughtful role modeling will instill your teen with lifelong financial skills.
Parents should aim to teach their teenagers the fundamentals of earning, saving, budgeting, and managing credit.
You should also help your teen differentiate between wants and needs, and enrich their financial literacy through educational apps and websites.
Managing money doesn't come intuitively. It's learned by watching others do it and from first-hand experience. How parents talk about money and the choices they make with it send powerful messages to teenagers.
However, watching parents make good decisions isn't enough. Teens want responsibility, and they want to be involved. Introducing purposeful discussions and expectations about money will launch your teen into adulthood with the experience and knowledge they need to protect their finances and avoid costly mistakes.
Whether your teen is managing money from a job or budgeting an allowance, developing good habits will help them make good decisions once they're on their own. Here are ten hands-on ways you can help get them started:
Before your teen can manage money, they need to earn money. It can begin at home or with a first job. Consider paying your teen for doing extra housework. Encourage them to do yard work or pet care for neighbors. If they're old enough, guide them into a part-time job. There's a wide range of jobs available for teenagers, from internships to camp counselors, babysitters, and restaurant workers.
Once they're earning, have your teen divide their money into dedicated amounts for saving, giving, and spending. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) recommends saving at least 10% of each paycheck and teaching teens about payroll deductions. Another option is 70-20-10 budgeting. Under this strategy, 70% goes to needs and wants, 20% to savings, and 10% to donations.
Having money available to share, and being intentional and consistent with it, is rewarding for your teen and good for your community. Setting aside funds for giving, especially when your budget is tight, requires commitment and discipline. Donations don't need to be large sums or given to large organizations.
A few dollars dropped into a collection box, supporting youth sports teams, refugees, the environment, or an animal shelter are great starts. Motivate your teen by encouraging them to give to organizations or causes they are passionate about.
Having a bank account gives teens the ability to manage their money independently while still receiving guidance from their parents. This offers benefits to both parents and kids, explains Matt Gromada, head of youth, family, and starter banking at Chase.
"First, it opens the door for important conversations and real-world scenarios about the basics of finance – from spending and saving to explaining interest and how it accrues," Gromada says. "Second, it gives the child a sense of independence and freedom, providing the opportunity for real-life experiences and learning."
If your child is earning a paycheck, direct deposit is a convenient option. The financial institution should be federally insured and offer online and mobile access, giving your teen the ability to check balances from their phone.
With money in the bank, your teen will need a way to access it. Debit cards draw down their account balances as they spend, and may be accepted in place of a credit card at the point of sale. They can be convenient but may come with fees and hefty penalties if the account is overdrawn.
Prepaid cards offer more safeguards but less real-life learning. The parent determines the amount available and preloads it onto the card. Purchases that exceed the available balance are not approved, but linked parent and teen apps allow parents to transfer money instantly when needed. They can be a reasonable solution for those who aren't yet ready for a traditional debit card.
When choosing between a debit or a prepaid card, consider your child's money skills and maturity, along with your needs and wants as their parent.
Learning to save money will help your teen prepare for everything from special purchases, to college, retirement, and emergencies. Develop a budget with them and show them the value of being frugal. Prioritize needs over wants.
The CFPB encourages teens to "save 10% of what you earn, and have at least three months' worth of living expenses saved up in case of an emergency."
Make a budget and discuss with your teen how much they can save. Ask them to think about what they'll have to give up to meet their savings goals and why it's worth it.
Modeling restraint with purchases also shows teens they are in control of their money and choices. In doing so, Varda Meyers Epstein, parenting expert and writer at Kars4Kids, advises to not tell a teenager that you "can't afford" to buy something you really want, like a new cell phone or other expensive items.
"The phrase implies passivity and a lack of control over one's finances," Epstein says. "It makes more sense to say, 'I prefer not to buy that phone because I'd rather put that money toward your college fund,' or, 'I don't want to spend money on a phone right now,' or, 'If you can find it at a better price, I might consider it.' The point is to show that you are in control and that you have choices and a way to use what you have, wisely."
Paying for college may be one of your teen's most essential financial goals. Having real conversations with them about the costs, how much you'll be able to contribute as a family, and how much they'll be responsible for on their own will help them understand the financial burden. They'll benefit from saving early, making a plan, and seeking grants and scholarships. The less debt they get out of school with, the better.
The college costs calculator from the College Savings Plan Network, which advocates for tax-free state savings plans known as 529s, can help you understand what to expect.
"As long as you do it for long enough, you're going to see really good returns," says Jordan Lee, founder of Backer, an investment platform that makes it easy for friends and family to contribute to a child's college account. "You never have to pay capital gains tax when you actually use the money, or on the growth of the fund over time."
Lee also notes that it isn't too late to start a 529 even when a student is in their teens. "Having four to seven years to build and invest a college account with help from family and friends should grow enough money for a student to cover a semester or year's worth of tuition, or room and board, depending on the school they choose," he says.
Compound interest can be a financial amplifier or a wealth-eroding foe. Teach your teen how it works, with tangible examples, so they understand its power. Compound interest is an excellent financial ally when it increases investments.
"If an 18-year-old invests only $37 a month and gets a 12% annual return, they will have over a million dollars by the age of 65!" says Matthew Robbs, founder of the website Smart Saving Advice. "If they wait ten years until the age of 28 and invest that same $37 at the same return, they will only have $300,000 at age 65."
But racking up credit card and other high-interest debt can cause the same principle to work against them.
"Teaching young people this one important money management fact will allow them to save and invest for the future rather than wasting years paying back credit card debt for foolish decisions that they made," Robb says.
Want to see how fast your money will grow? Sit down with your teen and experiment with different contribution amounts and interest rates using Personal Finance Insider's compound interest calculator.
Teens must understand how credit cards work, even if they're not getting one until college or later.
"Being aware and practicing good credit card habits like spending within your means and paying your balance on time and in full can help pave the way for major purchases and life moments since credit impacts future living arrangements, the ability to purchase a car, and even employment opportunities," says Mary Hines Droesch, head of consumer and small business products at Bank of America.
Secured credit cards and adding your teen as an authorized user on your account can be ways to help them build credit with lower risk.
Prepare your teen for top-notch credit scores by teaching them how a credit score is calculated and why it matters.
Broadly, paying bills on time and in full, and avoiding big loans will give you more options and lower interest rates when seeking loans or credit cards. Credit scores can also have an impact on the rates you're offered for insurance and even some job opportunities.
Talk with your teen about credit limits and credit utilization, and make sure they understand buying on credit means using borrowed money.
Modern teens are growing up in a digital world that's vastly different from their parents and grandparents. Why not meet them there? Online tools and apps can make learning about finances easy and fun. For example, the platforms Acorns and Wealthsimple promote saving and investing spare change. Simplifi by Quicken allows you to set goals, track spending, and create budgets — a time-saving, one-stop app the company says will help you take control of your finances.
"Teens use their phones a lot," says Julien Brault, CEO of the financial management app Hardbacon. "Why discourage that? Instead, using apps and tools available on their cell phones will help them be better equipped to manage their own finances."
Financial institutions also have tools to help your teen get the most out of their money. For example, Chase autosave allows you to set and fund savings goals either as deposits are made or on your chosen schedule. Greenlight, which offers prepaid debit cards to families and comes with robust support, has dedicated content to improve your child's financial literacy.
You don't have to be a money expert to help your teen on their financial journey. Help is available through educational content from Jump$tart Coalition and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation's Money Smart curriculum, which offers games and online lessons targeting specific age groups, including teens.
Speak openly with your children about finances, and set an example for them to follow. Include them in budgeting. Ask them to help pay for items they want. Follow sound principles. Through Mymoney.gov, the congressionally-chartered Financial Literacy and Education Commission offers advice on earning, saving, protecting, spending, and borrowing money. Demonstrate in your day-to-day decisions that you control where your money goes and what you spend it on.
"As in every other area of life, kids will pick up financial habits from their parents," says Tanya Peterson, vice president of brand at Freedom Financial Network. "If parents argue about money, or spend like it's going out of style, that's what kids will pick up. On the other hand, if teens hear parents discussing, or acting on, how they can live within their means (even simple things like refilling water bottles versus buying individual drinks or cooking more meals at home), that's what they'll learn."
Jill Burke is an Edward R. Murrow-award-winning journalist with experience in broadcast, online, and print. Based in Alaska and Oregon, she most recently headed the investigative unit at Alaska's News Source, the NBC affiliate in Anchorage. She previously worked for Alaska Dispatch, the Anchorage Daily News, and CBS affiliate KTVA. Her byline has appeared in the Guardian, High Country News, and the New York Times.
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More: Personal Finance Insider PFI Reference Freelance Financial Literacy for Kids | 2022-05-13T21:31:18Z | www.businessinsider.com | 10 Ways to Teach Teens About Money | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/teaching-teens-about-money | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/teaching-teens-about-money |
Leaked data shows shares of Bolt, Thrasio, Udacity, Mapbox, Cameo, and other startups have plunged by 21% to 50%
Many startups are seeing their valuations chopped in half on secondary markets.
Insider spoke with five investors who trade secondary shares and viewed confidential market data.
Buyers are happy to snap up bargains but fear prices may go much lower.
While shares of publicly traded tech companies have plunged this year for all to see, there's also been a less visible crash among privately held startups.
The share values of many later-stage pre-IPO companies are significantly down — including those of Bolt, Cameo, Thrasio, and Udacity — according to confidential secondary-market data seen by Insider.
"Generally, the sentiment is companies that raised rounds in 2021 are now experiencing a 40 to 60% discount," said Andrea Walne, a general partner at Manhattan Venture Partners, a merchant bank focused on secondary shares bought from existing shareholders like founders, employees, or venture capitalists, rather than the company itself.
A record-shattering $329.5 billion worth of funding poured into startups last year, according to Crunchbase data, up 92% from the year before, with some startups obtaining valuations that even the founders themselves said were too high. That circumstance is leaving a wide swath of carnage as VC money gets tighter, inflation rises, and the economy generally contracts.
Those who trade in secondaries caution that the market is highly opaque and individual bargain trades can happen for many reasons that have nothing to do with the overall health of the company being traded, like the seller suddenly needing cash to buy a home or pay for college. Stronger companies should have enough cash on their balance sheets from raising last year, or through generating revenue, to wait out the bear market and fundraise when conditions improve, not at these lower valuations.
Still, none of those Insider spoke with think the markets haven't hit bottomed.
"Even on the buyer side, it's really scary because I don't know how much worse it's going to be," said one New York secondary trader who asked not to be identified to avoid damaging professional relationships. "I think we could be at the halfway point."
SaaS startups have been hit hardest
Software-as-a-service startups have been among the hardest hit, with many valuations chopped in half, according to Karim Nurani, the chief strategy officer at Linqto, which provides liquidity in the private tech sector.
"The realization of the big markdowns have come up in the last several weeks," Nurani said. "The reality took a little bit of time and will still take a little bit of time to sink in for folks who are trying to offload secondaries."
The selling is coming mostly from three sources, these traders said. First, employees of late-stage companies who had expected to finally cash out their shares in an initial public offering this year are selling their shares. With the IPO market frozen, employees may need liquidity to pay for large purchases or, in some cases, cover margin calls on plunging brokerage accounts. Or they may just be freaking out.
"Half the time, it's emotional," one New York secondary trader said. "The average startup employee who's under 35 hasn't seen this kind of market in their working career. They want to sell, and they are panicking because they think the world is going to change."
Second, there are early-stage venture funds that are selling because they want to lock in some profits before prices drop further.
"The price that we get out at, as long as we came in at a fair price, is probably still going to be good," Hussein Kanji, a partner at the London early-stage firm Hoxton Ventures, said. "It may just not be as good as it would have been in a bull market ."
Finally, there are giant crossover funds that waded into startup investing in recent years and could be facing margin calls on their public-stock portfolios, so they're dumping shares to raise cash.
"They will call us and beg us to take their stock at a 40-times discount," the New York secondary trader said. "In a bear market, everyone is trying to get liquidity, and I'm providing liquidity. Everyone wants to talk to me."
Secondary traders say they have been busy all year, but it has gotten especially frenetic this month as the descent in public markets has worsened.
"We're busier now more than ever," Walne said. "My team is drowning right now."
Below are some of the decreases in startup valuations from one secondary market based on May data that Insider has seen.
(Udacity and Bolt declined to comment. Thrasio, Udacity, Mapbox, Density, and Cameo did not respond to a request for comment. Standard Cognition wrote in an email: "We do not comment on secondary market activity or valuations. We are focused on building our business.")
Percentage of valuation decline
Thrasio Shares of the major Amazon aggregator, which recently replaced its CEO and announced layoffs, are trading at about 50% of what they were late last year, when the company was valued at $5.5 billion
Udacity Shares of the Google and Andreessen Horowitz-backed edtech company are being offered at a $560 million valuation, cut nearly 50% from its last fundraising in 2015.
Shares of the autonomous-checkout-technology provider, which raised $150 million in funding at a $1 billion valuation led by SoftBank last year, are now valued at about 50% of that.
Shares of the one-click startup founded by Ryan Breslow that was recently sued by one of its biggest customers are selling at a 28% discount to the $11.1 billion valuation it achieved five months ago. Another secondary trader said Bolt had been one of the most volatile movers and had seen it discounted by about 50% by some sellers.
Mapbox Shares of the mobile-location-data platform have been offered at a 32% discount to its last round in 2020.
Density Shares of the office-space-utilization startup backed by Kleiner Perkins have been cut by 26% from the $1.1 billion valuation it achieved late last year.
Shares of celebrity-messaging app Cameo, which laid off 87 people last week, are being offered at an $851 million valuation, a 21% discount to the company's round last year that minted it a unicorn.
More: Venture Capital secondary markets | 2022-05-13T21:31:24Z | www.businessinsider.com | Bolt, Thrasio, Udacity, Cameo Shares Decline, Leaked Data Shows | https://www.businessinsider.com/startup-shares-bolt-thrasio-udacity-cameo-dropped-value-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/startup-shares-bolt-thrasio-udacity-cameo-dropped-value-2022-5 |
Cryptocurrency is crashing. What does that mean for you?
While UST and Tether fell off their pegs, Coinbase also announced $340 million in net losses.
Damircudic/Getty
Severe dips in crypto prices are a reaction to economic trends like the rise in inflation and the Fed's attempt to control it.
Meanwhile, Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency trading platform, announced net losses of $340 million and a 2.2 million decrease in monthly users.
It's unlikely that TerraUSD or Luna will be able to recover.
The cryptocurrency world has had a rough May so far.
Since the start of the month, cryptocurrency has lost $600 billion of value. Bitcoin dropped to prices that haven't been seen since 2020, briefly dipping as low as $26,000 — though prices are currently sitting at around $30,000 as of today.
To some extent, the crypto price fluctuation is a reaction to wider economic trends, such as the rise in inflation and the Fed's attempt to control it. "These are impacting your traditional capital markets, but you're also seeing it have an impact on cryptocurrency," says Gabriella Kusz, the board director at the Global Digital Asset and Cryptocurrency Association.
Though it's true that we're seeing similar price drops across the market, they aren't nearly as drastic as the current volatility that cryptocurrency is seeing. So what else is at play here?
A significant portion of cryptocurrency's value is in its market perception, which took a nosedive as investors started losing confidence in cryptocurrency as an asset.
While cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ethereum are considered volatile investments, stablecoins are supposed to be the exact opposite. These coins are usually pegged to some underlying asset that guarantees its price stability, usually held at $1.
There are two types of stablecoins: algorithmic and collateralized. While collateralized stablecoins are backed by a fiat currency, algorithmic stablecoins "instead are pegged to the value of other digital assets via smart contracts," says Simon Furlong, co-Founder of Geode Finance.
TerraUSD, also known as UST, is (or was) an algorithmic stablecoin that held a constant value of $1. TerraUSD is backed by another cryptocurrency called Luna, which is based on a blockchain called Terra. On May 9, TerraUSD fell off its peg and its value dropped dramatically as the initial destabilization triggered a max exodus. Currently, UST is hovering around 20 cents. This also caused Luna's value to drop to $0 as its main use case, the backing of TerraUSD, was now obsolete.
Tether, another stablecoin with the largest market cap, also temporarily fell off its peg though much less drastically from $1 to $0.95 cents, which is significant for a collateralized stablecoin that is, as its name implies, supposed to be unshakable.
To make matters worse, while this was happening, Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange, released its Q1 earnings report, which revealed a net loss of $340 million as well as a decline in monthly users from 11.4 million to 9.2 million.
Coinbase's report also revealed a lack of bankruptcy protections for its users. This means that if the company goes bankrupt, Coinbase users lose their accounts and the coins that they hold in those accounts. Coinbase chief executive officer Brian Armstrong took to Twitter to dissuade fears that the platform would go bankrupt.
—Brian Armstrong - barmstrong.eth (@brian_armstrong) May 11, 2022
Though these coins are not explicitly tied to cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin or ethereum, the incident heavily impacted the level of trust investors place in cryptocurrencies. "Billions of dollars have been wiped off peoples' balance sheets and the uncertainty around these tokens has bled into the wider crypto markets," Furlong says.
When the value of UST and Luna began tanking, an organization called the Luna Foundation Guard, established by Luna founder Do Kwon, attempted to stabilize the coin by liquidating massive amounts of bitcoin they held in reserve — they had over $3 billion worth of bitcoin.
Even if the LFG manages to re-peg UST to $1, which is very unlikely, trust in Luna is virtually non-existent. "Many people lost funds in this LUNA + UST event, and there's little reason to trust that this won't happen again with this project in the future," Furlong says. This distrust extends to other cryptocurrencies, which will only recuperate their value as fast as they can re-earn the trust of investors.
While the current market conditions might be less conducive to new stablecoins, Kusz says that cryptocurrencies need more self-governance, particularly regarding which coins can be considered stablecoins. "If you're not able to maintain your price stability during the high periods of volatility, then you are, by definition, not stable," she says.
What does the crypto crash mean for your investments?
Most investment advisors will recommend that you have a diversified portfolio, meaning you have investments in a wide variety of industries and asset types with varying ranges of risk and volatility. Adding a cryptocurrency component to your investment portfolio has always been synonymous with adding volatility. To some extent, the events that caused this price fluctuation to validate this assumption.
This incident also serves to highlight that while cryptocurrencies can differ significantly in their communities, cryptocurrencies are often lumped together when an incident like this occurs.
"Not all cryptocurrencies are created equal," says Rob Chang, chief executive officer of Gryphon Digital Mining. "A thorough understanding of the mechanics and fundamentals of a particular cryptocurrency is very important to avoid these issues."
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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaking at the annual National Rifle Association (NRA) convention in May 2018.
Texans can now sue large social media companies after the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated HB20.
Gov. Greg Abbott signed HB20 in September, but a judge blocked the law from going into effect.
The constitutionality of the law is still being contested in district courts.
A Texas law that prohibits social media companies like Facebook and Twitter from banning users based on political views was reinstated Wednesday in a 2-1 split panel decision by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
Gov. Greg Abbott signed HB20 in September 2021. The law allows private Texas citizens and the Texas attorney general to sue social media companies with more than 50 million users for issuing bans based on "political viewpoints."
The law also requires that social media companies be transparent about how they moderate content.
Abbott is one of many voices who claim that social media companies censor conservative voices.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis tried to instate a similar bill in Florida, but a judge blocked it, saying it would violate social media companies' first amendment rights.
Industry groups NetChoice and CCIA, which include members like Twitter, Google, and Meta, sued the state, citing the law infringed on their "first amendment rights to engage in their own speech and to exercise editorial discretion over the speech published."
A judge blocked the law from going into effect in December 2021, but Texas appealed the decision.
According to a statement on Twitter from counsel at NetChoice, the decision did not address the constitutionality of the law but simply reinstated the law while the case continues in district court. The counsel also said a written order or opinion was not handed out.
"HB 20 is an assault on the First Amendment, and it's constitutionally rotten from top to bottom. So of course we're going to appeal today's unprecedented, unexplained, and unfortunate order by a split 2-1 panel," wrote Chris Marchese, counsel at NetChoice.
Representatives for Abbott, the Texas Attorney General, NetChoice, or CCIA did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
More: Texas Greg Abbott Twitter Meta | 2022-05-14T06:32:18Z | www.businessinsider.com | Texans Can Sue Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube for Being Banned | https://www.businessinsider.com/texans-can-sue-facebook-twitter-and-youtube-censorship-hb20-abbott-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/texans-can-sue-facebook-twitter-and-youtube-censorship-hb20-abbott-2022-5 |
A bad boss can make your life hell and even hurt your health. Here's how to deal with your toxic manager.
Harmony Cobel, the mercurial manager featured in the TV drama "Severance."
Bad bosses can affect employees' mental and physical health negatively.
Confronting a bad manager is difficult because they often control an employee's career prospects.
Tessa West, author of "Jerks at Work," told Insider how workers can deal with each type of bad boss.
It's hard to know what to do with a bad boss at work.
Going over their heads can have consequences, and confronting them directly can be awkward.
Bad bosses are more than a simple annoyance; they can have serious effects on an employee's mental and physical health.
Abusive managers create harmful work environments for their employees, leading to smaller toxic subcultures existing within a larger organization, said Donald Sull, a senior lecturer at MIT.
These work environments can lead to heightened stress and anxiety, and on the extreme end, can cause serious illness. According to a 2015 study on workplace stress, employees working for toxic bosses were 35% to 55% more likely to develop a major ailment such as coronary disease or diabetes .
Tessa Victoria West, author of "Jerks at Work."
Blaise Heyward Studio
According to Tessa West, a professor of psychology at New York University and the author of "Jerks at Work," a self-proclaimed guide to dealing with terrible bosses and coworkers, pinning down what kind of terrible your boss is can help you deal with them.
"Understanding what type of behavior you're dealing with — and its underlying causes — is the most critical first step in dealing with jerks at work," she said. "Once we know the causes, we can start crafting solutions."
1. Micromanagers need managing themselves
Micromanagers are the most common type of bad boss. Micromanagers are often just unprepared for taking on management roles, said West.
"They're really good at your job, because that's the job they used to hold," West said. "So to feel good about themselves, they're just going to oversee your job in way too much detail."
She added that micromanagers aren't intentionally malicious, and their traits "often hurt them as much as their victims."
"They have a lot of good traits," West added. "But they probably have some kind of weak history of management training."
West said the micromanagers might need some tighter management themselves.
"Set small, weekly goals, not big, lofty ones. Micromanagers get overwhelmed at the thought of big-picture failures. By keeping them at the right level, you can manage their behavior better," she said.
Setting up short meetings can also help them feel involved. "These short meetings, set up to check in on those small goals, will help alleviate their anxiety and allow you to get stuff done," she said.
2. Neglectful bosses need supplementing
Neglectful bosses are another type of unintentionally bad manager.
"Neglectful bosses are really tricky because they're the least offensive and they're not explicitly trying to tear you down," West said. "But they're actually one of the most harmful types of people that we can work for."
"What we want at work are consistency and feedback," she said. According to West, neglectful bosses cause "massive uncertainty" by not providing either of these things, which can lead to stress and anxiety.
West suggested that when dealing with a neglectful boss, an employee should seek out coworkers' opinions.
"Learn how to supplement your boss with other experts," she said. "Most bosses, especially neglectful bosses, are actually really grateful when people learn how to supplement them with other individuals."
3. Keep records of a gaslighting boss
Sometimes bosses are knowingly toxic. At more senior levels, there is a higher likelihood of employees encountering damaging supervisors.
Sull said that workplaces often reward narcissistic behavior — narcissists are often self-confident, more extroverted, and more willing to take risks — which allows them to progress to positions of power.
"People do talk in couched terms and politely about these attributes," Sull said. "They never say narcissistic, but they list attributes consistent with a pattern of narcissistic leadership."
But narcissists are also known for big egos, an excessive need for attention and admiration, and lack of empathy, which means they can be among the most damaging type of bosses.
"The gaslighter is the scariest boss," West said. "They cause more psychological damage to their victims."
"These bosses need to isolate you and create an alternative reality," she said. "Sometimes that reality is: 'You're so incompetent that you wouldn't work here if it wasn't for me.' The reason they tell people this is so then they can get individuals to do their dirty work."
West advised that if an employee ends up with a boss who knows exactly how their behavior hurts you — or even revels in it — the employee should keep a written record of meetings and interactions with the boss.
More: Bosses Toxic Workplace career advice | 2022-05-14T09:46:07Z | www.businessinsider.com | How to Cope With a Bad Boss at Work, According to Author Tessa West | https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-cope-with-a-bad-boss-at-work-2022-4 | https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-cope-with-a-bad-boss-at-work-2022-4 |
A prominent market bear who called the dot-com bubble says Jeremy Grantham is right to say stocks are in one of the biggest bubbles of the last century — and warns that stocks could be down 40% in short order
Stocks are off to a dismal start to 2022, with the S&P 500 down more than 16%.
According to Albert Edwards, the total decline could end up being about 40%.
Edwards said he thinks Jeremy Grantham is right to say stocks are in a bubble.
Investing legend Jeremy Grantham has been warning over the last year that a considerable bubble is developing in stocks.
On Thursday, Societe Generale's Albert Edwards joined Grantham in that assessment. The end result isn't going to be pretty, the global strategist and self-styled "uber bear" said in a note to clients.
"If GMO's 'premier league' investor Jeremy Grantham is right and we've just 'enjoyed' the fifth great bubble of the modern era, the coming bust will surely be devastating," Edwards said. "I think GMO's Jeremy Grantham is right."
Stocks are off to a dismal start to 2022, with the S&P 500 down more than 16% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 down 25%.
According to Edwards, the pain is just getting started. He said the Fed wouldn't step in and reverse their hawkish stance until the S&P 500 is down 40%.
"It's now consensus that the Fed will tolerate a deeper equity bear market because of the inflation situation. Still, I think investors will still be shocked when a massive 30% decline in the S&P (and all the associated carnage) doesn't force the Fed to deviate from its current aggressive chest-beating stance," Edwards said.
"But at a decline of around 40% (close to 3,000 on the S&P), the soothing 'brrrr' of the QE printing presses will likely once again be heard," he continued. "And that point might be closer than people think."
While Edwards didn't predict a specific timeline for when stocks would suffer this drop, he said he believes the peak federal funds rate will be around 1%. The rate is already in a range of 0.75-1%, and the Fed is expected to hike rates by 25-50 basis points again in mid-June, which would bring the rate to 1-1.25% or 1.25-1.5%.
That means the rest of the decline would have to happen before the Federal Open Market Committee's July 26-27 meeting for the central bank to back off of rate hikes.
Over the last half year, the Fed has become increasingly hawkish as inflation has consistently surpassed expectations. The Consumer Price Index, or CPI, rose to a 41-year-high of 8.5% in March and stayed elevated in April at 8.3%. The central bank, feeling pressure to reel in runaway prices, hiked interest rates by 50 basis points at their May meeting for the first time in 22 years.
As a result, investors are selling stocks and other risk assets as economic growth is expected to slow amid tighter financial conditions. The cost of borrowing — whether it be interest rates on mortgages, auto loans, or credit cards — has already substantially risen over the last four months.
Tech and growth stocks are suffering most, as they typically benefit from lower interest rates. Given this, Edwards compared the current environment to the dot-com bubble — which he predicted would burst — and warned that some investors may be underestimating future earnings destruction in the sector, not just great yield competition in the bond sector. (Yields on risk-free bonds are surging as inflation remains elevated).
The below chart shows a similar divergence between valuations and earnings in the tech sector around 2000 and today.
"I absolutely believe the turmoil that US tech and internet stocks, including the FAANGs, are now experiencing is something similar to what was seen in 2000/01," Edwards said.
He added: "My thinking is that most commentators are rightly focused on the vulnerability of the US tech sector to rising bond yields by dint of that sector's 'Growth'-style credentials. However, no-one has been making the argument that the sector would implode because profits would begin to disappoint for these 'Growth' stocks in a slowdown - and most dangerously, in any recession ."
It is still unclear how the US economy will react to the hawkish tilt of the Federal Reserve .
The labor market remains exceptionally strong with unemployment at 3.6% and robust job growth. The US added 428,000 jobs in April, 28,000 more than expected. Wage growth also grew by 5.5% in April, year-over-year.
Still, high inflation is the economy's biggest boogeyman, and it's starting to spook consumers. Consumer sentiment is at its lowest point since 2011, according to data collected by the University of Michigan.
The Fed is attempting to save the day by tightening policy enough to cool off inflation without triggering a recession. But it's up for debate where that fine line is.
Edwards believes the Fed won't get much past a fed funds rate of 1% before the economy is in recession. Scott Minerd, the global CIO at Guggenheim Partners, warned earlier this month that consumer demand is already being damaged by Fed tightening, and urged the central bank to proceed with caution.
"There's a lot of things that are happening in the underlying economy right now where you have demand destruction going on in certain sectors," Minerd said at the Milken Institute Global Conference on May 2.
"I'm a great skeptic that the Fed can figure out where this rate is. I don't think any of us are smart enough to do this," he added, referencing the neutral rate of interest, the point between hawkish and dovish policy.
Minerd said he expects a recession at the end of 2023.
In April, economists at Deutsche Bank made a recession call with that same timeline. However, they said the fed funds rate would peak at around 2.6%.
Wei Li, the chief global strategist at BlackRock, also said in April that she sees the neutral rate of interest at 2.25-2.5%. However, if the Fed overshoots this, she said, the economy will likely go into recession.
As for stocks, most of Wall Street remains constructive, with the median S&P 500 price target for 2022 among top strategists at around 4,900. The index currently sits at 4,020.
But some are calling for further downside. Mike Wilson, the chief US equity strategist at Morgan Stanley, said last week that he expects the S&P 500 to fall to at least 3,800 and as far as 3,460.
"We can't rule anything out in the short-term, but we want to make it clear this bear market rally is far from completed," Wilson said in a note.
The state of the stock market and economy remains up in the air. Geopolitical tensions could cool. Inflation could continue to moderate. Or not.
But with a Fed hellbent on crushing inflation and stock valuations high, investors might do well to keep Edwards' warnings in mind.
More: Investing Stock Market Crash Stock market bear | 2022-05-14T09:46:19Z | www.businessinsider.com | Stock Market Crash: Expert Who Called Dot-Com Bubble Warns of 40% Drop | https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-market-crash-bubble-further-downside-inflation-grantham-albert-edwards-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/stock-market-crash-bubble-further-downside-inflation-grantham-albert-edwards-2022-5 |
The investigation was launched after a tweet showed Samuel Adams beers priced at $27.85.
Officials launched an investigation after a viral tweet showed that a Sam Adams beer cost $28.
An audit found that 25 diners were charged between $23 and $27 for a beer at OTG-run eateries.
The rules will force eateries to charge "off-airport, street prices," plus a 10% maximum surcharge.
New York airports will be banned from charging up to $28 for a single beer after an audit by the State's Port Authority.
The audit follows a viral tweet posted last summer.
An audit by the Port Authority Office of the Inspector General (OIG) found 25 customers were charged "indefensible" amounts between $23 and $27 for a seasonal beer at LaGuardia airport.
The audit was instigated by a tweet in July 2021, when Cooper Lund showed a list of beers that included a Samuel Adams Summer Ale Drought priced at $27.85. The beers were subject to a 10% "COVID-19 Recovery Charge" that didn't go to employees.
—Cooper Lund (@cooperlund) July 7, 2021
At the time, The City reported that the Port Authority had asked OTG management, which owns eateries in LaGuardia, JFK, and Newark airports, to audit its menu prices including the $28 Sam Adams, which the company said was a mistake in a follow-up tweet.
The OTG and OIG didn't immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment made outside normal working hours.
At the time, an OTG spokesperson told The City the prices on the beer at LaGuardia and fries at Newark were "incorrectly posted" and "quickly corrected" — to $18.15.
"Because of these posted-pricing hiccups, our in-house menu teams have been diligently working to ensure pricing across all restaurants are, in fact, rendering correctly," the spokesperson added at the time.
The new policy will cap beers in New York airports at local, off-airport "street prices," plus a 10% concession.
"Nobody should have to fork over such an exorbitant amount for a beer," Kevin O'Toole, Port Authority board chairman, said in a statement.
He added: "The Aviation Department's new compliance and enforcement measures announced today make it crystal clear that all prices at concessions will be routinely monitored to ensure they are aligned with the regional marketplace."
More: Weekend BI UK Airport LaGuardia Beer | 2022-05-14T11:13:00Z | www.businessinsider.com | NY Airports Banned From Charging Customers up to $28 for a Beer | https://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-airport-beers-audit-otg-management-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/new-york-airport-beers-audit-otg-management-2022-5 |
Mannequins dressed as soldiers have been pictured in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city.
A Ukrainian advance appears to have triggered a Russian retreat from the city in recent days.
Decoy soldiers waste the opposing side's effort and ammunition, experts say.
Decoy mannequins dressed as soldiers have been seen in Kharkiv, days after Ukraine appeared to have pushed Russian forces out of the city.
The mannequins, armed with fake weapons, were pictured in positions near a road in the north of the city on Friday.
Since the beginning of Russia's invasion, reports have emerged of Ukrainian forces using decoy soldiers to confuse attacking Russian forces.
Along with the mannequins seen in Kharkiv, scarecrow-style decoy soldiers were also previously seen in other parts of the country.
Justin Crump, a military strategist, previously told The Times of London that decoy troops were "mostly effective against helicopters and aircraft."
"Targeting fakes wastes effort and ammunition, which is how Serbia made effective use of decoys in 1999. It can also fool reconnaissance efforts."
Russian forces have also used decoys to try and trick Ukraine during the war.
Photos taken in a recaptured Ukrainian town showed that retreating Russian forces dressed an ordinary car to look like an armored vehicle carrying a surface to air missile system, per The Times.
It is unclear who set up the dummies in Kharkiv and for what purpose.
Ukrainian forces appeared to have "won the battle of Kharkiv", the Study of War, a US defense think tank said Saturday, The Guardian reported.
Despite being under heavy bombardment since the beginning of the war, Ukrainian forces have routed Russian troops from around the city, the institute said.
Ukrainian forces have continued counterattacks on Russian positions outside Kharkiv, reports say.
More: Russia Kharkiv Ukraine Mannequin | 2022-05-14T11:13:00Z | www.businessinsider.com | Photos of Decoy Mannequins With Weapons in Kharkiv As Russia Retreats | https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-of-decoy-mannequins-with-weapons-in-kharkiv-as-russia-retreats-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-of-decoy-mannequins-with-weapons-in-kharkiv-as-russia-retreats-2022-5 |
Russian oligarch secretly recorded saying Putin is 'very ill with blood cancer,' report says
A Russian oligarch was secretly recorded claiming that Vladimir Putin has blood cancer, reported New Lines magazine.
The oligarch, whose identity was withheld for his protection, said he hoped "crazy" Putin would die of cancer.
Rumors have long swirled about the Russian leader's health.
A Russian oligarch was secretly recorded saying Russian President Vladimir Putin is "very ill with blood cancer," a report says.
A Western venture capitalist taped the conversation in mid-March without the unnamed oligarch's consent, and the recording was obtained by New Lines magazine.
The oligarch claimed that Putin's well-reported back problems are linked to blood cancer and claimed he underwent back surgery in October.
New Lines said it had authenticated the oligarch's voice and identity but chose not to disclose it because it would likely lead to state retaliation.
The secret recording emerges amid ongoing speculation about the Russian leader's health. It has not been independently verified
During his public appearance on Victory Day, Putin appeared to be limping and sat a blanket over his lap. Videos have also emerged showing him tightly gripping a table and appearing to shake uncontrollably.
Russian investigative news outlet Proyekt recently claimed that Putin has thyroid cancer and was visited by a cancer surgeon dozens of times in 4 years.
In the 11-minute recording obtained by New Lines, the unnamed oligarch spoke critically about Russia's invasion of Ukraine and said, "We all hope" Putin dies from cancer or a coup.
"He absolutely ruined Russia's economy, Ukraine's economy, and many other economies — ruined [them] absolutely," the oligarch said. "The problem is with his head. One crazy guy can turn the world upside down."
The magazine said it spoke to sources close to the oligarch to verify his authoritativeness.
The oligarch was once part of a "close circle of 20 to 30 people" with whom Putin met in 2014 in advance of the annexation of Crimea, a former European security chief told the magazine, suggesting the Russian leader once trusted him.
One of the oligarch's associates told the magazine that he is still in a position to provide "concrete information" about the inner workings of Putin's world.
The magazine said that the oligarch currently lives outside of Russia and, in 2021, was listed as one of Russian Forbes' 200 richest businesspeople.
While the rumors about Putin's health are impossible to confirm, they have even reached Russia's security services, according to the magazine.
In March, officers in the Federal Security Service (FSB), Russia's main security agency, were sent a memo to dispel rumors about the president's health, Bellingcat investigator Christo Grozev told New Lines.
"According to a source at one of the regional units who saw the memo, this unprecedented instruction had the opposite effect, with most FSB officers suddenly coming to believe that Putin indeed suffers from a serious medical condition," Grozev said.
More: Putin Russia Cancer oligarch | 2022-05-14T11:13:21Z | www.businessinsider.com | Russian Oligarch Recorded Saying Putin Has Blood Cancer, Report Says | https://www.businessinsider.com/russian-oligarch-recorded-saying-putin-has-blood-cancer-report-says-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/russian-oligarch-recorded-saying-putin-has-blood-cancer-report-says-2022-5 |
Here are the top 15 cities where home price appreciation has outpaced wages: 'When there's then a deviation in home prices above inflation and wages, that's historically the sign of a bubble.'
Austin, TX leads the pack of biggest US housing bubbles.
Real estate consultant Nicholas Gerli says the next housing crash won't be "binary."
Instead, it'll be mostly driven by several overvalued cities where annual home costs have surged.
Using this calculation, Gerli shared the top 15 cities in the US most due for a correction.
The real estate market may finally be reversing from its breakneck traction, lifting bubble popping woes even closer to the surface.
Data from the St. Louis Fed showed that median home prices skyrocketed almost 33% from spring 2020, driven partially by the mass migration of wealthy remote workers with deeper pockets to smaller, less expensive metropolitan areas. But real estate markets have already begun to seemingly cool down since the Federal Reserve began hiking interest rates in March.
Mortgages have since risen from last year's historical lows, with the 30-year fixed-rate currently rising to the highest levels in well over a decade. While Freddie Mac pegs the current weekly average rate at 5.3%, there are plenty of borrowers who are brushing up against 6% territory. After months of a massive deficit, housing inventories finally began rising again in March, and rising price cuts of listed homes may now indicate softening markets.
Still, considering the more optimistic metrics in today's housing market — particularly stricter underwriting standards following the subprime loan crisis and a more balanced own-to-rent ratio — analysts have called into question whether or not today's high real estate prices are still due for crash like in 2008.
A housing bubble ready to pop?
Nicholas Gerli, the CEO of real estate data analytics firm Reventure Consulting, believes that investors should prepare themselves for another housing bubble pop.
"The simplest way to think about it is that home prices are at an all-time high today, both in nominal terms and adjusted for inflation," Gerli told Insider during a phone interview. "For most of the last 130 years, home prices adjusted for inflation are very stable — they don't really go up much because the housing market is fundamentally linked to inflation and wages."
But what happens when this balance seemingly goes far out of whack?
"When there's then a deviation in home prices above inflation and wages, that's historically the sign of a bubble," Gerli suggests.
That's because eventually wages and home prices have to converge again, whether it's by wages catching up or by home prices coming down.
According to Gerli, this only marks the second time in US history that home prices have grown rampantly ahead of inflation and wages. The last time was in 2006, just before the housing crash of 2008 — and Gerli warned that prices today are even higher by comparison.
But home buyers don't necessarily need to panic, suggests Gerli, because the current breakneck growth in home prices is primarily driven by housing markets in a few specific metropolitan areas. He cautions buyers against thinking of a crash in a "binary" way.
"When you do that calculation of home prices to inflation and wages locally, you see that there's certain areas of the country which are more fundamentally supported today while there's certain areas of the country that are really leading that bubble," he explained. "I would say it's like 15 to 20 different markets that are responsible for most of that growth over the last three to four years."
For instance, home prices in Las Vegas, NV dipped 60% during the 2008 housing crash, but Gerli believes the downturn will be more muted this time due to less homebuilding activity combined with high demand. On the other hand, prices in Austin, TX only dropped 4% in the last housing crash, but Gerli predicts they're due to plummet much further from their current sky-high levels.
Beware of cities tangential to tech
When considering the valuation of an area, Gerli considers four factors in conjunction, the first two being a locality's growth in home prices versus wages and its housing supply, both on the market or in the process of being built. He also examines the presence of real estate investors, who inherently carry more risk because a loss in investor capital creates a hole in demand for a particular market.
Gerli also analyzes an area's economy, particularly considering whether it's especially concentrated in any industries that could be hurt by rising rates.
As an example, Gerli listed areas like Spokane, WA, Reno, NV, Seattle, WA, and San Francisco, CA that are especially tangential to technology hubs. These cities are most at risk of a potential tech downturn, said Gerli, who cautioned that many tech firms today are unprofitable and overvalued.
"Tech employs a relatively small amount of people in the US economy compared to all the other industries, but they dominate an exorbitant amount of wealth and housing demand. Now that stock prices are crashing and we're starting to see layoffs, that's a big economic risk factor for these housing markets," he said, referencing specific firms like Robinhood, Netflix, and Better.com which have announced job cuts in recent months.
Austin leads the pack of housing bubbles
To estimate the US's current largest real estate bubbles, Gerli examined an area's surge in housing costs during the pandemic using data from Zillow, the St. Louis Fed, and the US Census Bureau. Specifically, he looked at an area's growth in annual house payments, calculated by combining its growth in mortgage payments and property taxes.
Using this methodology, Gerli identified the top 15 markets with the highest growth in annual costs between April 2020 to April 2022. He found that Austin, TX led the pack, with annual housing costs rising 93.5% over the last two years.
According to Gerli, this nearly doubling in growth of housing costs has far outpaced Austin's wages and rent growth, which rose only 7% and 24% respectively over the same time period. For this reason, he believes that Austin and other cities that have experienced the highest growth in annual house payments are currently in a housing bubble.
Courtesy of Nicholas Gerli/Reventure Consulting
Even more striking is that the annual house payments in these smaller cities have become equivalent to or more expensive than their larger counterparts, said Gerli, who estimated that annual house payments in Tampa, FL (ranking 7th) are now nearly as expensive as Chicago, IL. He also said that costs in Salt Lake City, UT (in 9th place) are now higher than Washington DC, while costs in Austin are more expensive than costs in the entire New York metropolitan area.
The top 15 markets identified by Gerli with the highest growth in annual costs between April 2020 and April 2022 are listed below in descending order. Following Austin in the lead, the top three cities are rounded out by Boise, ID and North Port, FL.
2020 average payment: $23,593
% increase: 93.5%
2. Boise, ID
Anna Gorin/Getty Images
3. North Port, FL
Jack Elka Photo/Getty Images
4. Cape Coral, FL
Keita Araki/EyeEm via Getty Images
mandicoleman.com/Getty Images
Busà Photography/Getty Images
8. Provo, UT
Darwin Fan/Getty Images
10. Raleigh, NC
Kevin Ruck/Shutterstock
11. Spokane, WA
Kai Eiselein/Getty Images
12. Lakeland, FL
13. Knoxville, TN
Henryk Sadura/Getty Images
Murat Taner/Getty Images
More: Investing Real estate bubble real estate 2022
housing market crash | 2022-05-14T11:17:16Z | www.businessinsider.com | The Top 15 Cities Most Likely to Witness a Real Estate Price Correction | https://www.businessinsider.com/housing-bubble-crash-real-estate-investing-overvalued-cities-austin-texas-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/housing-bubble-crash-real-estate-investing-overvalued-cities-austin-texas-2022-5 |
A trader gained about $1.5 million from crypto-yield farming in seven months, but is it a Ponzi scheme? He explains the types of farms, the levels of risk, and how to steer away from shaky protocols like UST's ecosystem.
David Malka went from being a poker player and equity trader to a yield farmer. He's now the founder YieldFarming.com
There are various types of yield farming protocols based on utility and tokens staked.
David Malka details the variations and the due diligence investors must do before trying it.
Enormously high yields, a lack of utility, or a low total value staked are all red flags.
On August 27, 2021, David Malka, who had spent seven years as an equity trader, was playing a game of musical chairs. But instead of risking his seat, it was more like risking the shirt off his back.
He was yield farming, an application of decentralized finance, or DeFi, that pays out yields in exchange for depositing crypto into a shared pool. In this instance, Malka was on a very new and risky protocol called Frost Finance. So he decided to film himself trying it out.
Frost Finance was offering outrageous APRs of 37,000% to 47,000% at the time of his recording. Was it a Ponzi scheme? Definitely, Malka said. In a typical Ponzi, the investor pays out juicy 'returns' from a shared pool with all the clients' deposits.
But why did Malka do it? First, he claimed to have earned about $14,000 worth of tundra, the platform's native cryptocurrency, in an hour. During the nine-minute video, he made about $1,000 within seven minutes. One tundra was trading just below $7,000 at the time.
Secondly, he's a gambler — literally. Malka played professional poker online for about seven years, winning tournaments such as the 2016 Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown, which earned him $658,000. So when it came to this high-stakes protocol, he took it like a gamble.
"You have to buy a complete shitcoin, deposit it in this yield farm — it's going to pay a really high yield," Malka said. "And then eventually people are going to take all their profits out of this yield farm and sell that shitcoin as fast as possible."
The video shows him weaving in and out of the protocol using tundra paired with a crypto called wrapped AVAX. He would dump his bag every time he noticed high selling pressure. Malka told Insider he did this for about six hours until he took his earnings and traded them for USD coin.
As for Frost Finance, the music eventually ended, and all the chairs were gone. The price of tundra crashed and burned. By January, it was trading below $1. As of Monday, it was at $0.53.
Malka, who's now the CEO of Yieldfarming.com, an educational platform that teaches users about yield farming, says there are probably thousands of these types of schemes that have zero utility. They offer very high returns that aren't sustainable, creating inflated, short-term demand.
"Eventually, the selling pressure overwhelms the buying pressure, and the music stops," Malka said.
For now, Malka is still playing the game. He has a cost basis — or original value — of about $777,800 on yield farming since October 24, 2021, according to a screenshot of his account on Koinly, a crypto tax tracker. His profile on DeBank, a DeFi platform tracker, showed an overall value of about $2.5 million as of Tuesday, meaning he had gained over $1.5 million.
Tony Dhanjal, the head of tax at Koinly, viewed both documents and said that DeBank's overall value was an accurate reflection of his portfolio's value. Dhanjal said in an email to Insider that the figures above display the best available information to gauge a return on his investment.
Most of Malka's earnings from yield farming came from risky protocols — that approach may not be for beginners, especially at a time when token holders are seeing steep losses in their portfolios. He also has assets staked across a variety of platforms that require regular monitoring. Some of the underlying cryptocurrencies are volatile and have dropped by as much as 90% year-to-date. This also impacts the overall value of his gains.
Not all yield farms are created equal
Yield-farming protocols are not all are Ponzi schemes or high-risk.
Hannes Graah, the founder and CEO of Gro, a company that creates products that combine DeFi and traditional technology, says a project must provide utility to be sustainable. Usually, these platforms provide liquidity for lending protocols or trading on decentralized exchanges. As a participant, you contribute crypto to that liquidity pot.
Malka said that while there isn't a ton of utility in yield farming, at a high level it allows you to be the bank. Traditional finance requires an intermediary like a bank or exchange to provide liquidity and execute transactions. In DeFi, that intermediary is replaced with smart contracts, while the lenders are decentralized users earning the interest.
Dan Reecer, the chief growth officer at Acala, a platform that's building out DeFi protocols including yield farming, says yield farming is more of an early marketing expense for user acquisition than anything permanent. The intent behind the high rewards is that users will remain on the platform once the yields end.
"It does depend on the tokenomics of the specific project, but it usually is kind of a temporary or fixed-duration-campaign type of a thing," Reecer said.
Malka agreed with this statement but described the approach as no different from a company granting customers loyalty points to incentivize them to use its credit card. However, Malka added that cryptocurrencies such as stablecoins are an integral part of DeFi protocols, so while yields may be reduced over time, they are very rarely eliminated.
Lowering the risk
Malka began yield farming in the spring of 2020 to earn a market-neutral yield, a strategy aimed at reducing a portfolio's risk by generating returns that are not dependent on the market. In traditional equities, this can be equivalent to a bond. In crypto, the approach works best with stablecoins such as USD coin or tether because they are pegged to the value of the dollar. About 30% of his staked assets are in stablecoin protocols, he said.
Graah said that depositing a stablecoin in a lending protocol is probably the most conservative approach to yield farming. It has very limited risk because you're not betting on the price movement of any specific crypto asset, he added.
But it doesn't mean that investors won't have any risk exposure. Graah pointed out that even within stablecoins, there's a broad spectrum. On one end, coins can be backed by the dollar and audited regularly. On the other end, they can be backed by nothing more than an algorithm.
Malka noted that stablecoins not fully backed by the dollar face the risk of getting depegged, meaning their value can drop below $1.
"For every issuance of USDC, they put $1 in the bank account. Somehow if there's a lot of selling on USDC and it drops to, like, $0.97, they can literally take money out of their bank account and go buy USDC back up to $1. So that's an example of a temporary depegging," Malka said. "But a riskier stablecoin, like USDT [Tether], it's not backed one-to-one. So if it fell to $0.75, they can't actually take dollars out of the bank account and go buy it back up to $1."
On Saturday, terra's UST depegged when it plunged to $0.90 in response to high selling pressure. As of Friday, it hadn't recovered.
Another risk Malka pointed to is a rug pull, which he described as when developers of a protocol just steal your money by withdrawing large sums of crypto from the pot and sending it to their wallets.
Finally, Malka said, there's the risk of exploits or hacks through vulnerabilities within the smart contract. Malka pointed to the hack earlier this year of Wormhole, a bridge that links ethereum to solana's blockchain. Hackers walked away with $320 million.
Reecer highlighted the increasing number of anonymous or "undoxxed" teams behind DeFi projects as a red flag, obscuring whether the teams and developers have relevant experience.
What to consider before yield farming
While there's no way to guarantee safety, Malka says investors should do three things before trying a yield-farming protocol.
First, get familiar with a metric called total value locked, or the sum of all staked crypto assets within a protocol that are earning yields. He recommends using a website called Defi Llama, a TVL aggregator tracking the dollar value of coins staked in different protocols.
Malka said that, generally, anything above $1 billion in TVL is going to be very safe, indicating that massive funds deposited their money in the protocol after doing their research. As an example, he pointed to Curve, which had about $16.4 billion staked as of Monday, according to Defi Llama.
He said a TVL of$100 million to $1 billion is medium-risk, adding that once a protocol slips below $100 million in staked funds, it becomes high-risk. For example, tundra had a TVL of only $40 million.
Second, link a browser wallet such as MetaMask — required to connect to these DeFi protocols — to a hardware wallet rather than a centralized exchange.
Third, navigate to the protocol's website and read through its documentation. Malka said that specifically you're looking for whether the project has been audited, meaning a security firm has reviewed the smart contracts on the platform for vulnerabilities. Ideally, you'll want to see multiple audits, Malka said.
"If they have audits, and if you click on the audit and actually read it and make sure that they have no critical items, then that is generally a good indicator that the protocol is pretty safe," Malka said.
He added that if you want to go deeper, see who the auditors are and how many other notable protocols they've audited. He said there are about 10 respected companies, including CertiK, Trail of Bits, Quantstamp, Paladin, and OpenZeppelin.
Overall, Malka's biggest tip is to start small. Set up a MetaMask wallet and a hardware wallet, then deposit just $100. Move this amount to a yield-farming platform like Avee or Curve, wait a couple of days to get some returns, and withdraw your profits and principal. Do this a few times before you increase your position.
Reecer added that if the yields seem too good to be true, don't take the risk.
A widely highlighted issue with how the structure of yield farming is set up is known as impermanent loss, which is when the value of the token is lower at the time of withdrawal than when it was deposited. This happens when traders take advantage of volatility in asset prices and arbitrage crypto. If you're part of a protocol that provides liquidity to an exchange, the loss from the difference in price comes from the yield-farming pot. Depending on when the farmer withdraws their assets, they could get hit with the losses.
Malka said the losses are trivial for most yield-farming positions because the yields are typically higher than the losses. He recommends using a free impermanent-loss calculator to determine the possible margins on each protocol.
More: Investing Yield Farming crypto 2022 | 2022-05-14T11:17:28Z | www.businessinsider.com | Yield Farming:Trader Who Gained $1.5 Million Weighs in on "Ponzi" | https://www.businessinsider.com/yield-farming-crypto-explained-risks-rewards-trader-defi-ponzi-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/yield-farming-crypto-explained-risks-rewards-trader-defi-ponzi-2022-5 |
3 policies in Biden's 2023 budget proposal that will restrict corporate power and benefit workers
President Joe Biden's 2023 budget plan includes additional funding to antitrust agencies and a tax increase on capital gains profits of the top .01%.
He spoke with the Roosevelt Institute's Niko Lusiani about proposals in Biden's 2023 budget plan.
Lusiani says the restrictions on stock buybacks and tax increases on the .01% will aid economic growth.
In his time in office, President Joe Biden has demonstrated his support for everyday Americans by backing labor unions, supporting a $15 minimum wage and implementing it for federal contractors, and calling for robust investments with his Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Most recently, his 2023 budget plan offered several economic proposals that would do even more to reduce income inequality and invest in middle-out economic growth.
This week, Niko Lusiani, the director of corporate power at the Roosevelt Institute who leads the progressive think tank's program to analyze corporate behavior, joined the "Pitchfork Economics" podcast to discuss what he considers three of the strongest policies in the 2023 Biden Budget proposal: a new rule on stock buybacks, more funding for antitrust regulation, and changes to the tax code.
1. Restricting corporate stock buybacks
First, Lusiani praised the budget's call to "tackle the pernicious use of share buybacks," which is when corporations buy back a large amount of stock from investors in order to intentionally elevate stock prices and earnings per share.
Stock buybacks reached a high last year, with companies spending a record $882 billion to repurchase shares from investors. Instead of companies putting profits back into their business by raising wages, expanding benefits, hiring more workers, or making other investments in their workforce, stock buybacks transfer profits away from workers and benefit only a small class of investors. And the C-suite executives that approve the buybacks are often incentivized to burn cash on buybacks because they're paid based on earnings per share and other stock-related metrics.
Under President Biden's proposed budget plan, corporate executives would be required to hold onto their stock for three years after a buyback, which "Pitchfork Economics" host Nick Hanauer said would have a cooling effect on stock buybacks by ensuring that CEOs wouldn't be able to extract short-term profits at the expense of their companies.
This isn't the first time the Biden administration has made a pass at limiting corporate stock buybacks: The ill-fated Build Back Better Act included a 1% tax on buyback profits.
2. Investing in antitrust agencies to break up monopoly power
Second, Lusiani praised the Biden budget's extra $227 million in funding to the antitrust divisions of the DOJ and the FTC to break up monopolies.
The monopolization of American firms in monolithic corporations has helped create what President Biden called "capitalism without competition" — which in turns means a labor market without competition that would incentivize companies to attract and retain employees by offering higher wages, better benefits, more flexible workloads, and other worker protections and benefits.
But antitrust lawsuits are expensive, in part because large corporations can afford pricey legal teams and long, expensive court battles, which discourages pursuit from agencies like the DOJ and FTC.
"Those agencies are incredibly understaffed, and we need to build them up to be able to take on corporate power," Lusiani said.
3. Raising taxes on the top .01%
Third, and perhaps the most transformative feature of the new budget, Lusiani said, is Biden's proposed changes to the tax code that, per the administration's slogan, promises to "Reward work, not wealth."
President Biden's budget proposes a 20% tax on both the income and capital gains profits of the top .01% — including on profits earned through unrealized appreciation, which is how many of the uber-rich build their wealth.
Centi-millionaires and billionaires don't get biweekly paychecks the way most Americans do. Their wealth is in unrealized assets, which are stocks or other commodities that haven't yet been sold for cash, and instead of selling those assets, they borrow against the unrealized gains — profits that haven't yet been cashed out by selling the underlying asset — at low interest rates whenever they need cash, which allows their income to grow even while they're spending it.
"So if you're [Mark] Zuckerberg and Facebook stock jumps 20%, you're going to pay the existing capital gains tax on that unrealized gain — even if you didn't sell the stock," Lusiani said.
For too long, Lusiani said, the tax code hasn't reflected the reality of how wealthy people amass and store their wealth, which is why the wealthiest 400 American families pay a lower tax rate than the average taxpayer.
Balancing the federal tax code to ensure that the super-rich and wealthy corporations pay more in taxes is a fundamental piece of creating a more prosperous economy for everyone. It would also help fund programs — like the incredibly popular Child Tax Credit that Congress let expire — that deliver broad-based benefits to a majority of Americans and lead to economic growth from the middle out.
Despite the positive impact these proposals could have — and even though taxes on the wealthy poll exceptionally well — due to a hairline majority of Democrats in the Senate, Biden's budget will likely not be approved by Congress this year.
Still, federal budgets are directional documents that signal the future of policy and lawmaking. By overtly calling out the ways that America's wealthiest people amass and protect their fortunes, and by centering the American middle class in economic policy, Biden is potentially shifting the economic focus of Democratic politicians for years to come.
More: Opinion Economy Paul Constant Pitchfork Economics
Biden budget | 2022-05-14T12:44:16Z | www.businessinsider.com | 3 Ways Biden's 2023 Budget Proposal Will Tackle Wealth Disparity | https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-2023-budget-proposal-restrict-corporate-power-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-2023-budget-proposal-restrict-corporate-power-2022-5 |
Former President Donald Trump, left, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, right.
Donald Trump said there is "no way" Elon Musk is going to go ahead with his Twitter purchase.
The former president said Musk wouldn't buy it at a "ridiculous" price because of the number of spam accounts.
Musk said on Friday that his Twitter buyout is on hold until he works out how many Twitter users are actually bots.
Former President Donald Trump responded on Friday to the news that Tesla CEO Elon Musk's planned Twitter buyout is temporarily on hold.
Posting on his social media platform, Truth Social, Trump told his followers that he believes Musk will not go ahead with his Twitter purchase.
"There is no way Elon Musk is going to buy Twitter at such a ridiculous price, especially since realizing it is a company largely based on BOTS or Spam Accounts," Trump wrote on Friday, per Mashable. "Fake anyone?"
Musk said in a tweet on Friday that he plans to conduct his research to determine the amount of Twitter users that are bots before his purchase of the social media platform goes ahead.
He said that the $44 billion deal was on hold until he could verify that fake accounts represent less than 5% of users. "To find out, my team will do a random sample of 100 followers of @twitter," Musk said in a tweet.
Trump addressed the spam account concern in his Truth Social post. He wrote, "By the time you get rid of them, if that can even be done, what do you have? Not much?"
The former president went on to say that "Elon would have already been long done" if it wasn't for the breakup fee.
Musk and Twitter have signed an agreement that includes a $1 billion break fee payable by the Tesla CEO if he walks away.
"Just my opinion, but Truth Social is MUCH better than Twitter and is absolutely exploding, incredible engagement," Trump wrote on his social media platform.
Trump's Truth Social launched in February. According to Insider reporter Rosie Bradbury, who spent a week on the platform, it feels like a "conservative ghost town that had been overrun by bots."
Musk said this week that he would reinstate Trump's account once he owns Twitter, calling the decision to ban him a "morally bad decision." Trump has previously said that he would not rejoin if his account were reinstated.
More: Donald Trump Elon Musk twitter buyout TRUTH Social | 2022-05-14T12:44:18Z | www.businessinsider.com | Donald Trump: 'No Way' Elon Musk Will Buy Twitter Now | https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-no-way-elon-musk-buy-twitter-now-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-no-way-elon-musk-buy-twitter-now-2022-5 |
I tested the electric Ford F-150 Lightning in the Texas countryside.
It's a great truck all around, but its best feature is its front trunk, also known as a frunk.
The Lightning's frunk is large, easy to access, and offers power outlets and USB ports.
Ford's new electric F-150 offers a boatload of new benefits over the company's gas-powered truck.
The F-150 Lightning, despite its heft, promises to speed to 60 mph in just over four seconds. It can share electricity from its giant battery pack with appliances, tailgating gear, or, in the event of a blackout, an owner's home.
And while automatic backup power could be a lifesaver in an emergency, it isn't something owners will use on a daily basis. For better or worse, it's not a capability I got to see in action when I spent a couple of days testing the Lightning earlier in May.
What I did get to use — and what I'm convinced is the Lightning's greatest feature — is its front trunk. Ford calls it the Mega Power Frunk, which is an extraordinarily silly name for an extremely useful feature.
Like most modern electric vehicles, the F-150 Lightning's underlying structure looks kind of like a giant electric skateboard. Its motors are mounted down by its axles and its battery sits in its belly. This means Ford can do fun things with all the space that isn't occupied by a conventional engine.
Pop the Lightning's "hood," and you'll find a generous cargo area that's larger than the trunk of a Toyota Corolla. Of course, trucks offer plenty of storage space as it is. That's kind of the whole point. But pickups have generally lacked substantial weather-proof, lockable storage, and the frunk adds just that.
It's not only spacious — capable of hauling around a few carry-ons and a maximum of 400 pounds — but easy to access.
The whole grille area lifts up, revealing a loading floor that's low enough for almost anyone to use. By way of comparison, the Rivian R1T, another electric pickup, has more of a conventional hood, so you need to lower cargo into it from above. That could be tough for smaller people.
Imagine you're traveling with four people and a bunch of bikes or camping gear in the bed. An extra trunk for bags and smaller items would be more than welcome. Or, consider that some owners might like to keep things in their truck permanently, but not have them exposed in the bed.
And the frunk offers some other cool extras.
There's additional under-floor storage with a drain hole, so owners can fill the frunk with ice or hose it down. A removable panel doubles as a divider that can keep groceries from sliding around. There are a handful of hooks and tie-down points for securing cargo.
The aforementioned "Mega Power" comes in the form of a USB ports and power outlets built into the frunk's wall, opening up possibilities like charging devices or power tools while on the go.
Zero tailpipe emissions and brisk acceleration are cool and all. But I could see the Lightning's frunk being the factor that pushes some more hesitant buyers over the edge. And although I can immediately see how useful the frunk could be, future Lightning owners will surely come up with loads of innovative uses nobody expected.
More: Transportation Electric Vehicles Auto Industry Electric Cars | 2022-05-14T12:44:24Z | www.businessinsider.com | The Electric F-150 Lightning's Giant Frunk Is Its Best Feature | https://www.businessinsider.com/ford-f150-electric-lightning-frunk-best-feature-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/ford-f150-electric-lightning-frunk-best-feature-2022-5 |
Larry Summers called the energy price-gouging bill 'dangerous nonsense,' per Bloomberg.
Democrats are set to vote on a bill next week targeting price-gouging at gas pumps.
Summers said inflation could be slowed by restarting student loan repayments.
Former US Treasury secretary Larry Summers has branded a Democratic bill designed to stop price-gouging at gas pumps "dangerous nonsense," comparing it to Donald Trump's suggestionthat bleach injections could fight Covid-19.
A veteran of the Clinton and Obama administrations, Summers made the comments on Friday, while speaking on Bloomberg's Wall Street Walk. Democratics are set to vote on a bill targeting 'price-gouging' at fuel outlets next week, as average gas prices exceed $4.45.
"The price-gouging stuff is to economic science what President Trump's remarks about disinfectant in your veins was to medical science," Summers said, referring to Trump's spurious claim from 2020. "It is dangerous nonsense."
He added: "There is no material prospect that in any enduring way gouging legislation can have any substantial effect on inflationary pressure."
Instead, Summers said, such legislation could contrive "all kinds of shortages", and inhibit supply responses which he argued was the best way to overcome current issues, calling gouging talk a "diversionary confusion."
The best response, Summers argued, would be to reduce tariffs, let more immigrants into the country, reduce regulatory burdens, and limit demand by restarting paused student debt repayments.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi previously told reporters Thursday that "price gouging needs to stop." She said: "While families are struggling to pay higher prices at the pump, oil and gas companies are recording record profits.
"This is a major exploitation of the consumer, because this is a product the consumer must have."
Summers indicated inflation, which hit 8.3% last month, was likely to persist at a much higher level over this decade than the previous one, due to labor shortages and more protectionism.
"I'd be surprised if the average inflation rate during the 2020s wasn't materially higher than the average inflation rate during the decade of the teens," he said.
More: Weekend BI UK Biden Inflation Gas Prices | 2022-05-14T12:44:36Z | www.businessinsider.com | Larry Summers Compares Price-Gouging Bill to Trump 'Bleach Injections' | https://www.businessinsider.com/larry-summers-compares-price-gouging-bill-to-trump-bleach-injections-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/larry-summers-compares-price-gouging-bill-to-trump-bleach-injections-2022-5 |
A rescue mission is underway to evacuate traumatized Holocaust survivors from Ukraine's most dangerous cities
A Holocaust survivor is seen next to a converted jet being used for emergency flights from Moldova to Israel.
Yeshsayah Abelsky
Holocaust survivors are being evacuated from Ukraine and transported to Moldova.
The survivors are deeply traumatized and in a vulnerable physical state, according to Chabad Moldova.
The majority of the rescued Ukrainian refugees are being transported to Israel in converted private jets.
An operation is underway in Moldova to rescue vulnerable Holocaust survivors from war-torn Ukraine.
Volunteers drive for hours, sometimes days, to evacuate Ukraine's elderly Jewish population from Bucha, Kyiv, Mariupol, and Kharkiv — putting themselves in the line of fire and grave danger of bombardment by Putin's forces.
"If you land in the wrong spot at the wrong time, it could really be really dangerous," Mendel Abelsky of Moldova's Chabad-Lubavitch community told Insider. "They are risking their lives going in."
Working closely with Israeli search and rescue charity ZAKA, Chabad Moldova, a Jewish Hasidic group, has helped rescue more than 75 Holocaust survivors from Ukraine.
An elderly Ukrainian is transported into the 24-room hotel in Chișinău, Moldova.
After long drives out of their war-ravaged homeland, the survivors are often in need of medical help. They are placed in triage centers in Chișinău, Moldova's capital, before being settled in a 24-room hotel nearby.
There are ten doctors on-site, Abelsky said, who attend to the medical needs of the "weak, old, and sick" patients.
Often the survivors, who witnessed unspeakable Nazi horrors eight decades ago, are in a vulnerable mental state, too, retraumatized by the Russian atrocities they have witnessed in Ukraine in recent weeks.
"There's trauma on many levels," Abelsky said. "For some of them, they're going back to the same bunkers they were in 80 years ago."
Insider previously reported on Vanda Semyonovna Obiedkova, 91, who evaded Nazi capture by hiding underground and died last month while taking shelter in a Mariupol basement.
Between 1.2 and 1.6 million Jews from Ukraine were murdered during the Nazi Holocaust. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's great-grandparents died when the Nazis burned their village, he told CNN, in March.
The survivors, Abelsky said, are often triggered by their childhood memories of mass murder by the Third Reich and are in shock that history seems to be repeating itself.
"It's people that lost everything, and they persevered to rebuild," he told Insider. "And then it's trauma again. It's pain. I don't even have the right words for it all."
Tatiana Riabaya — a Ukrainian Holocaust survivor.
Mendel Abelsky, International Fellowship of Christians and Jews
Holocaust survivor Tatiana Riabaya, 99, never expected that she would have to flee her home again after Hitler's onslaught on the Soviet Union was defeated.
"Now, at my age, I'm running away from my city again," she said in an interview conducted by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews.
"I did not believe that at my age, almost 100 years old, I would have to go through this again," Riabaya added.
Elderly Ukrainians at a triage center in Moldova.
The Ukrainian Holocaust survivors arrive at the triage centers in Moldova with an understandable pessimism, Abelsky said. "When they see what's going on right now, they predict the worst because they have seen so much crazy," he said.
The Jewish survivors are being sent primarily to Israel to spend their final years safely.
"For weeks, we have been treating wounded Holocaust survivors who came as refugees from the war in Ukraine," said Mendy Axelrod, a Chabad rabbi in Moldova, in a press release. "We gave them the most dedicated care, hot food, and medicine. I am so glad that they will now start a new life in the Holy Land."
Chabad Moldova is working with volunteer groups ZAKA, the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, the Jewish Agency for Israel, the Ohr Avner Foundation, and the JDC to find new homes for the elderly refugees.
Most go to Israel, but those who elect to stay in Europe are placed in nursing homes.
A Holocaust survivor on a converted private jet which will take him to Israel.
The rescue flights take off from Chișinău in converted private jets — redesigned to accommodate immobile passengers.
The operation, Abelsky said, has been sped up in recent weeks due to rising tensions in the separatist Transnistria region of Moldova. Due to security concerns, the volunteer groups are now working overtime to get emergency flights out of the country as quickly as possible.
The fear of war in Moldova is another worry for the survivors of Hitler's genocide of six million Jews. Abelsky said the job of his team is to calm those fears. "I feel like every word we say. We're taking away from how crazy their experience right now is," he said.
More: Holocaust Survivor Ukraine ukraine-russia rescue missions | 2022-05-14T12:44:54Z | www.businessinsider.com | PHOTOS: the Rescue Mission to Save Ukraine's Holocaust Survivors | https://www.businessinsider.com/moldova-operation-rescue-ukraine-holocaust-survivors-chabad-israel-jewish-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/moldova-operation-rescue-ukraine-holocaust-survivors-chabad-israel-jewish-2022-5 |
Brett (left) and Jason Oppenheim have built the Oppenheim group to nearly $2 billion in sales around LA and Orange County.
Brett and Jason Oppenheim are stars of "Selling Sunset" and owners of the show's real estate group.
They buy properties based on "perception," buying poorly presented homes where they can add value.
They say low supply, high equity, and difficult financing mean there is no housing bubble.
From a bedroom office to Sunset Boulevard
Despite hailing from a legacy of real estate dating back to their great-great-grandfather, who sold ranches in the 1800s, Jason started The Oppenheim Group brokerage in his spare bedroom with one intern. They eventually moved to Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, and now have another California office in Newport Beach.
He said the brokerage had seen revenue growth of 20-25% each year since, and that its smaller model allowed it to build partnerships with agents and maintain quality with only a handful of employees, which they argued protected them more from economic downturns than a typical, large-scale company.
"If there was a recession you're going to see a lot of the major brokerages go bankrupt, or at least close to it," Jason said. "Whereas our model can survive."
A post shared by The Oppenheim Group (@theoppenheimgroup)
Look for 'hidden value' and ignore 'staging'
Brett and Jason always look for hidden value in a listing. While their standards and expectations are likely incredibly different from the average US resident, they argue it's a strategy that scales down to first-time buyers who are increasingly priced out of a highly competitive market.
First-time buyers, Jason said, should first find a good agent in the area where they want to own a home, then focus on the detail of a property.
Jason described residential real estate as "emotional", and that beyond the "intrinsic value" found in square footage, lot sizes and location, the presentation of a home could markedly change its valuation.
"You can turn a $300,000 home into a $330,000 home with the right framing," Brett said.
Taking photos of your home on an iPhone, failing to tidy up, and bad "staging" — the presentation of a home — were red flags that the brothers said could devalue a home for a seller, and where buyers might find a bargain.
"I would try to pretend that the place is not furnished, and look at the views, how bright it is, the floor plan, the size, the location, and don't be tricked by staging and paint and carpets," Brett said.
Jason and Brett said they almost always buy poorly presented properties as they have the biggest potential to appreciate in value.
But Brett said these issues were mostly irrelevant if a buyer was prepared to sit on a house for at least 10 years.
It's almost impossible to lose money in real estate if you can hold it for 10 years, according to Jason.
"The only time you get hurt in real estate is if you're in a situation where you're forced to sell," Jason said. "If you are financially capable of holding the real estate through a downturn you will inevitably, at some point, have financial success with your asset."
Why a housing crash is 'unlikely'
The potential for that downturn has divided analysts, as annual price growth exceeds 15%, much higher than in the build-up to the crash of 2007-08. Brett and Jason, perhaps inevitably, fall on the bullish side.
Brett argued the last bubble was a result of too many buyers being accepted for a mortgage, which isn't the case now. Meanwhile, Jason highlighted the lack of supply of homes, around half the rate of that at the time of the housing crash, as a major difference now.
"You have record equity in properties right now, and record low supply, and that's going to continue," Jason said. "So I think the market will continue to be stable for the foreseeable future."
More: Weekend BI UK Real Estate Negotiate Housing Bubble | 2022-05-14T12:45:12Z | www.businessinsider.com | Oppenheim Twins' From 'Selling Sunset' Share Top Home Buying Tips | https://www.businessinsider.com/selling-sunset-oppenheim-twins-home-buying-tips-get-best-deal-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/selling-sunset-oppenheim-twins-home-buying-tips-get-best-deal-2022-5 |
I got my bank to waive $74 in overdraft fees with a 5-minute phone call
The author, Leo Aquino.
Courtesy of Leo Aquino
I forgot to cancel an automatic subscription on time and was charged two overdraft fees of $37 each.
I called my bank to see if they could waive both fees — and it worked.
Some banks will waive overdraft fees if you give a good reason.
It's the day before payday. Just when I thought I'd budgeted everything to a tee and had my ducks in a row, I was charged a subscription fee for a dental care delivery service that I forgot to cancel.
They charged me twice for two different products, which resulted in two overdraft fees totaling $74. An overdraft fee occurs when you don't have enough money in your bank account to cover your purchases.
In the past, when I got hit with overdraft fees, I would just curl up in bed and stay in a depressive funk, canceling all my plans with friends because I was too embarrassed to share my situation. This time, after years of tending to my internalized shame and guilt of experiencing poverty and homelessness, I decided to take action.
The first step was to see if it was too late to cancel the subscription order that put me in the red. Thankfully, the company was able to cancel the order and issue a refund. Still, I was left with two overdraft charges on my checking account.
A friend suggested calling my bank
Next, I called a few friends to vent about my situation. In my experience, dealing with debt and poverty is incredibly isolating. It can make you feel like you're the only one who has ever overdrafted your account in the history of humankind, and that you should be ashamed to talk about it because it's all your fault.
Again, I've done a lot of emotional work around my debt and relationship to money, which helped me pick up the phone and call a friend immediately to talk about what was happening.
A friend suggested that I call my bank just to see if there's anything they could do for me. I instantly thought, "There's no way that that's going to work." But what did I have to lose?
The phone call took 5 minutes — and it worked
I called my bank and explained my situation. Luckily, they were able to see that the company that charged my account had also posted a refund. The sweet lady on the customer service line said she could waive both of the overdraft fees on my account.
She also let me know that my bank, OneUnited, the largest Black-owned bank in America, waives up to three eligible overdraft fees per year for its cardholders. This isn't a policy written anywhere online, and they were pretty vague about which fees were "eligible" to waive. But it's a policy nonetheless.
After doing some research, I realized that many banks might waive overdraft fees if you call them right away and explain the situation, especially during the pandemic. I also learned that, in 2019, big banks collected more than $11 billion in overdraft fees — roughly 10% of their annual revenue — and that overdraft fees disproportionately affect people experiencing poverty and people of color.
At the end of the day, I needed that $74 more than my bank did, and I'm glad I advocated for myself.
PERSONAL FINANCE How much different banks charge for overdraft fees and overdraft protection
FINANCE Banks earn billions of dollars charging overdrafts fees, and the burden falls on those least able to afford it
FINANCE Bank of America will reduce overdraft and bounced-check fees, which regulators have said punish poorer customers
More: Overdraft fees Banking Personal Finance Insider PFI Storytelling | 2022-05-14T12:48:38Z | www.businessinsider.com | I Got My Bank to Waive $74 in Overdraft Fees in a 5-Minute Phone Call | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/bank-waive-overdraft-fees-phone-call-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/bank-waive-overdraft-fees-phone-call-2022-5 |
Lobbyists argue the law would allow extremist content to proliferate.
The Supreme Court has been urged to block an anti-censorship social media law in Texas.
Lobbyists for firms like Google and Facebook said 'HB 20' would allow extremist content to flourish.
A similar bill was previously struck down by a Florida judge last year.
Two leading tech lobby groups have called on the US Supreme Court to strike down a Texas anti-censorship law, according to court documents filed Friday.
Texas' HB 20 law was reinstated on Wednesday, having been blocked by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals last year. The legislation makes it illegal for social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to "block, ban, remove, deplatform, [or] demonetize" users' accounts.
Social media companies have historically had to make their own decisions when it comes to banning individual users. In perhaps the most notorious case, US President Donald Trump was banned from Facebook and Twitter, while YouTube banned him from uploading new videos, in the wake of the January 6 attacks on the US Capitol.
The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) and NetChoice – which represent companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter and Tiktok – is contesting HB 20, warning it would encourage extremist content on the platforms.
The groups have called on the Supreme Court to block the law, warning it allows extremists to sue social media giants for censorship.
The CCIA and NetChoice urged the Supreme Court to not block government interference in online speech, arguing HB 20 would allow extremist content like "ISIS propaganda claiming that extremism is warranted, neo-Nazi or KKK screeds denying or supporting the Holocaust" to proliferate.
The law would lead be a "massive change" for social media platforms, potentially costing the companies "billions of dollars" if companies are forced to undo years of work spent trying to improve content moderation standards, the CCIA and NetChoice said.
"Left standing, Texas HB 20 will turn the First Amendment on its head—to violate free speech, the government need only claim to be 'protecting' it," Chris Marchese, counsel for NetChoice said in a statement.
"Texas HB 20 strips private online businesses of their speech rights, forbids them from making constitutionally protected editorial decisions, and forces them to publish and promote objectionable content," Marchese added.
A similar law was struck down in Florida last year, after a judge ruled the bill violated social media companies' First Amendment rights.
CCIA, Google, Facebook, Twitter and TikTok did not immediately respond to Insider's request to comment.
More: Big Tech Censorship Texas Facebook | 2022-05-14T14:19:45Z | www.businessinsider.com | Big Tech Lobby Groups Ask Supreme Court to Stop Texas Censorship Law | https://www.businessinsider.com/big-tech-lobby-supreme-court-stop-texas-censorship-law-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/big-tech-lobby-supreme-court-stop-texas-censorship-law-2022-5 |
Disney CEO boasts that people are spending 40% more at its parks. Here's what's driving up costs.
Disney said visitor spending at its US parks is up 40% from pre-pandemic levels.
Guests are spending big on tickets, hotels, food and beverage, and merchandise.
New, paid services that let visitors skip lines are also paying off for Disney, the company said.
Visitors to Disney parks are spending big these days — even higher than pre-pandemic levels.
Disney reported second-quarter earnings Wednesday, beating Wall Street expectations on streaming subscriber growth and reporting that revenues from its parks, experiences, and products segment more than doubled compared to last year. And while the pandemic is still impacting Disney's parks in Asia, its US parks are seeing a major boost.
CEO Bob Chapek called its domestic parks performance a "standout" in the second quarter due to high volume, plus high guest spending.
"They continue to fire on all cylinders, powered by strong demand coupled with customized and personalized guest experience enhancements that grew per capita spending by more than 40% versus 2019," Chapek said.
It's the second quarter in a row Disney has reported a 40% jump in spending compared to pre-pandemic times.
So how are Disney World and Disneyland guests spending so much? A combination of inflated prices and the ability to pay to skip the lines.
Ticket prices are on the rise
Visitors pose for a selfie at the Disneyland Resort on April 30, 2021 in Anaheim, California.
Christian Thompson/Disneyland Resort via Getty Images
In February, popular Disney theme park blog WDW News Today reported that Disney raised prices on multiday tickets for guests visiting its Florida parks. Visitors looking to buy passes for between four and 10 days saw an increase of between 2% and 6%, according to the site's tracking, the first time Disney had made a significant adjustment to ticket prices since March 2019, CNBC reported.
Specialty experiences cost even more. The newly opened, two-night Star Wars experience at Disney World — which has seen a "phenomenal" response so far, Chapek said — starts at $4,809 for two guests.
At Disneyland in California, prices jumped an average of 6% last October, with some ticket prices increasing as much as 8%.
Hotels have gotten more expensive too
Disney said in its earnings that it's seeing "higher average daily hotel room rates," which is helping to fuel guest spending.
The Washington Post reported in March that rates were rising sharply at several Disney World hotels. At the Pop Century Resort, a value option near the Epcot theme park, the cheapest room cost $95 in 2013 — this year, it had jumped to $168, a 77% increase. Rooms at the Port Orleans Riverside and the Animal Kingdom Lodge, two other Disney World hotels, have climbed over 60% during the same period, the Post reported.
Food, beverage, and merchandise spending is up
Goofy visits with a family over breakfast at Disney World.
Disney said in its earnings that spending on food and beverages has increased, and so has spending on merchandise at its parks' bevy of gift shops.
While Disney didn't dive into detail, its easy to see how that spending would add up. For example, the new Star Wars experience includes a curated, themed menu, access to a Star Wars-themed lounge, and gift shops with Star Wars costumes and other merch.
One Disney World visitor told the Post that she and her husband spent $600 just on food during their visit; another said her family of four spent a total of $1,100 for a one-day visit, which included tickets, food, and merchandise.
Skipping lines is generating income for Disney
Back in December, Disney rolled out two new "enhancements" for guests visiting its parks: Genie Plus and Lightning Lanes.
Genie Plus allows guests to pay $15 or $20 — in Florida and California, respectively — to skip the line on select rides at the parks. Visitors can also pay to access individual "Lightning Lanes" at in-demand attractions, where they select an arrival time and skip the line.
During Disney's first-quarter earnings call in February, Chapek said that more than a third of visitors to its domestic parks purchased either or both services the previous quarter, and over 50% did during the holidays.
"While we anticipated these products would be popular, we have been blown away by the reception," Chapek said.
More: Disney Disney World Disney land Bob Chapek | 2022-05-14T14:19:46Z | www.businessinsider.com | Disney Parks Guests Spending Big on Line-Skipping, Tickets, Hotels | https://www.businessinsider.com/disney-parks-visitor-spending-increase-line-skipping-tickets-hotels-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/disney-parks-visitor-spending-increase-line-skipping-tickets-hotels-2022-5 |
I spent $200 at the Rainforest Cafe in Las Vegas. It perfectly recreated my '90s childhood nostalgia.
Alanis King
The Rainforest Cafe — a jungle-themed restaurant with animatronics — was magical for me as a kid.
The chain peaked in the 1990s then fell from popularity, but it's been on my mind for months.
There are still 19 locations worldwide, and I went to one in Las Vegas recently. It was incredible.
For years, I went without thinking about the Rainforest Cafe — a chain restaurant characterized by its fake plants, animatronics, and indoor thunderstorms. I'd graduated to older, more refined palates, such as my local Chili's, because adulthood meant trading jungle themes for combo meal deals and sports on television.
But at some point, I had a flashback: a green tree frog with large red eyes and a snaky smile that either said "Come inside" or "I'm going to spit some unidentified rainforest poison on you." I remembered the ambient noises of the forest, fed to me through hidden speakers as I ran around the gift shop asking my parents to buy me a cuddly stuffed snake. I thought about the majesty of it all, with the fake sky above me cycling from day to night as I ordered macaroni and cheese, a drink in a souvenir cup, or a sparkling chocolate volcano. I wondered if as an adult, that childish joy would disappear.
The first Rainforest Cafe opened in Minnesota's Mall of America in 1994, and early on, it was a hit. A September 2000 story from the Los Angeles Times said the chain's stock traded as high as $25 per share in the mid-1990s, but its value plummeted alongside other themed restaurants around the turn of the century.
The LA Times wrote that Houston-based company Landry's Seafood Restaurants offered to buy the Rainforest Cafe in February 2000 for $125 million — or $5.23 per share — but a major shareholder stopped the sale. Landry's eventually took over anyway, offering $75 million at $3.25 per share a few months later.
The Rainforest Cafe lived on, albeit without the same popularity it once had. Some of its most iconic locations have closed in recent years, including one in San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf and another in Chicago, whose 27-foot outdoor frog is one of the few things I remember from visiting the city as a kid. They were open for 17 and 23 years, respectively.
The Rainforest Cafe's rise and fall was a microcosm of the world around it. Themed restaurants were a product of their time, due to expire as the culture around them evolved. In 1998, a New York Times headline from reporter Charles V. Bagli painted the picture well: "Novelty gone, theme restaurants are tumbling."
"Industry analysts and restaurant consultants cite various reasons," Bagli wrote. "The food was often dismissed as terrible. The elaborate decor — rock-and-roll collectibles, racing cars, animatronic jungle habitats — was impressive but distracting."
Rapid expansion hurt the novelty, Bagli wrote, and the same Wall Street financiers who helped theme restaurants boom left them behind.
"The life cycle of theme restaurants has been a lot shorter than anyone expected," restaurateur Ron Paul told the Times. "It turns out that the consumer had a lot more entertainment alternatives."
Worldwide, the Rainforest Cafe still advertises 19 locations — including one that overlooks the Las Vegas Strip from the second and third floors of a shopping center. A few months ago, I decided I had to go.
As I walked into the shopping center, its white walls and square ceiling tiles reeked of commercial development — boring not because they had to be but because people would visit anyway, pulling out their wallets at the nearby Walgreens or Taco Bell Cantina. But at one entrance, bursting into the mall walkway, were fake vines, flowers, topiary, and pre-recorded sounds of the jungle, painting the bland facade of modern consumerism that surrounded me with a younger, more fun version of it.
My husband walked to the reservation counter while I ran into the gift store behind it, squealing at an animatronic snake that hung from a tree limb and squatting to greet a plastic alligator. A growl erupted nearby, and I looked up to see a robotic cheetah sitting on a display shelf of T-shirts for sale, wagging its stiff tail and arms near my head. The fact that it moved so unnaturally was part of the fun.
—Alanis King (@alanisnking) May 5, 2022
We soon climbed a set of stairs to be seated in the restaurant level above. The deeper we got, the more it felt like the walls and ceiling were closing in on us — fake vines and flowers draped just over our heads, while wooden stairs and fencing made of knotted rope kept us on our path.
The cafe's signature green tree frog met me near the top, advertising a $19 "sparkling volcano" brownie with a stack of ice cream and syrup oozing from it. Of course I ordered one.
By the time we reached the dining area, I'd forgotten I was in a mall. Those bland white walls were miles away, and in front of me was a sparkling expanse of plastic forestry. The furnishings were aggressively '90s; cartoon animal illustrations lined the tabletops, while the carpet looked like someone poured a spinach smoothie into a lava lamp. (Some of the animatronics looked like they'd been in service that long, too).
Everywhere I looked was a new, captivating decoration: gorillas shaking trees and grunting into the wind, a plastic zebra peeking out from the vines, a large butterfly hanging from the ceiling, monkeys swinging from the branches, birds perched above the tables, elephants wagging their ears, and so much more.
—Alanis King (@alanisnking) April 25, 2022
I stared at the fake starry sky as it transformed above me throughout the night, and I did a little hand drumroll every time the robotic animals set the stage for a waterless indoor thunderstorm and light show.
Sure, I only saw the restaurant with the lights dimmed. Perhaps it looks like a storage facility for a local carnival with them on. But magic comes from your imagination — and in mine, this place was mesmerizing.
While my husband and I waited on food and drinks, we took turns touring the restaurant floor. We watched two older women sit in a booth below a family of animatronic gorillas, constantly recording their movements and noises. (The servers later brought out a birthday cupcake for them, and I thought: "I only hope to be that cool in 40 years.")
I couldn't believe how many other adults were there without children. I went onto the outdoor dining balcony that overlooked the Strip, glancing over to see the people eating on the patio of the neighboring Bubba Gump Shrimp.
I laughed at their dinner choice. They had no idea what they were missing.
We ate a giant appetizer sampler tray, two entrées, and a chocolate volcano. We raved about the southwest egg rolls and spinach dip, and we ordered fruity alcoholic drinks like the "Green Python" and "Mongoose Mai Tai" (both very good, by the way). We took home the glass souvenir cups that came with them.
The plates hovered around $24 apiece. My husband said they didn't taste like $24 — his pasta was bland but salty, and our chocolate volcano had two scoops of ice cream and two "scoops" of whipped cream that just looked like ice cream. (I have the taste buds of an animatronic elephant, so I don't know what a $24 plate tastes like. You'll have to trust him.)
At some point, the restaurant photographer came by and posed us outside with the Strip in the background, offering free keychains with our photos in them. The Mongoose Mai Tais got me drunk enough that when they came back to ask if we wanted $20 photo prints, I handed them my credit card without a single question.
We probably should have noticed that in addition to the photos, the $24 plates landed us a nearly $200 bill after tip. But the thing was, we didn't care.
Before I went to the Rainforest Cafe that night in Vegas, I'd begun to doubt myself. I'd built up this image of the restaurant in my head — a living jungle, majestically cawing and growling and whistling at me as I ate overpriced appetizers.
But touring the city that week made me wonder: Was it all in my mind? Even the most beautiful themed buildings in Vegas feel like cheap imitations, because they are. Perhaps my plastic rainforest would be the same.
It wasn't. I had more fun at the Rainforest Cafe than I could have in any club or casino, perhaps fueled by the phantom joy of my childhood or perhaps because it truly was that magical. Either way, it didn't matter.
All that mattered was feeling like a kid again. It's something the Rainforest Cafe specializes in — and something none of us do often enough.
More: rainforest cafe restaurant chains Food INSIDER Food | 2022-05-14T14:19:48Z | www.businessinsider.com | I Relived My Childhood at the Rainforest Cafe in Las Vegas | https://www.businessinsider.com/i-relived-my-childhood-at-rainforest-cafe-in-las-vegas-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/i-relived-my-childhood-at-rainforest-cafe-in-las-vegas-2022-5 |
Former President Donald Trump is giving a series of motivational talks in partnership with the American Freedom Tour, Axios reported.
Ticket prices run the gamut, with rallygoers paying up to $4,995 to see him give the speech live on stage.
Included in the $4,995 package is a photo op with Donald Trump Jr.
Former President Donald Trump charges up to $4,995 for a chance to see him deliver a motivational speech at a rally, Axios reported.
The events, which attract thousands of his supporters, are hosted by the American Freedom Tour, according to Axios.
Trump has not yet announced a 2024 presidential bid but has signaled a potential run. The former president's rallies also have served as a barometer of his popularity among conservatives and could help him maintain momentum for a possible campaign.
Chris Widener, the founder of the American Freedom Tour, told Axios that "most all of our speakers get paid an honorarium for the event." Widener did not disclose to Axios how much AFT is paying Trump to speak at these events.
Trump is scheduled to speak at another American Freedom Tour rally on Saturday.
For $9, rallygoers can pay to watch the event from a TV screen in an overflow room, the AFT website says. For the presidential package set at $4,995 per person, rallygoers can attend a reception and get a photo with Donald Trump Jr.
Above the presidential package is the patriot, for which the price is not disclosed on the site. Included in the patriot package is a chance to get a photo with Trump after watching his speech from the very front of the stage, according to the AFT website.
AFT told Axios these rallies are not a political venture, saying it's "not a Republican-aligned event or a Trump-aligned operation."
On the AFT website, Trump's speaking partnership with the organization is described as "a celebration of faith, family, unalienable rights and God-given American freedoms."
"Never before have America's greatest conservative insiders and influencers come together for an event to unify an entire nation of silenced voices," the event description continues. "In a time when so many in the media and government are tearing down America and its people, the American Freedom Tour celebrates America and what makes us great."
More: Donald Trump Trump rallies trump rally | 2022-05-14T14:20:17Z | www.businessinsider.com | Trump Charges Supporters up to $4,995 for Motivational Rallies: Report | https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-charges-supporters-up-to-4995-for-motivational-rallies-report-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-charges-supporters-up-to-4995-for-motivational-rallies-report-2022-5 |
Elon Musk's Twitter deal is looking shakier than ever. Here are all the ways the leveraged buyout could crumble.
Graham Starr
Musk's Twitter takeover is financed partially by a huge loan secured against his Tesla shares.
He cut this loan in half with additional funding, but as Tesla shares fall, the deal looks shakier.
If Tesla stock drops below $420, Musk won't have enough to cover the loan, Bloomberg reported.
If Tesla shares continue to drop, Elon Musk might not have enough money to buy Twitter.
Musk's takeover relies on a $12.5 billion loan secured against his Tesla shares. But plummeting tech stocks have imperiled this crucial part of the deal. Tesla has slumped more than 20% to $769 since the loan agreement was signed in April. If it falls below about $420, Musk wouldn't have enough unpledged Tesla stock to cover the margin loan, Bloomberg calculated on Thursday.
This creates a foreboding though not unavoidable risk for Musk. He's raising an additional $7.1 billion from Sequoia Capital, Qatar, Oracle founder Larry Ellison, and Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, whittling the margin loan down to $6.25 billion. Without that, Musk would already have run out of collateral when Tesla dropped below $837, which it did last Friday.
The billionaire may also be able to eliminate this margin loan altogether via another round of financing, although that route would likely come with punishing interest rates of as much as 14%, according to Bloomberg. And there's already concern about how Twitter, with its meager record of profitability, would be able to pay off such pricey debt.
The market is betting that the deal will fail, or at least get repriced much lower. On Friday, Twitter shares closed at $40.72. That's a 25% discount to Musk's $54.20 per share offer on April 25.
On Friday morning, Musk tweeted that the deal was "temporarily on hold" to check if spam and fake Twitter accounts make up less than 5% of the company's total users. A little over two hours later he tweeted that he was "still committed to acquisition." However, this smacked of buyer's remorse, or some sort of effort to renegotiate the purchase price, and triggered a sudden 25% slump in Twitter's stock.
The deal can still fall through, but the terms of the agreement would make that expensive for Musk. In addition to a $1 billion breakup fee, Twitter can sue him for damages and breach of contract and collect more than the $1 billion, according to CNBC.
"While I expect the deal to close, we need to be prepared for all scenarios and always do what's right for Twitter," Parag Agrawal, the company's CEO, wrote on Friday.
Are you an insider with insight to share? Contact this reporter via encrypted email at grahamstarr@protonmail.com or Twitter DM @grahamstarr. Reach out using a non-work device. Check Insider's source guide for suggestions on how to share information securely.
More: Twitter Elon Musk Tesla | 2022-05-14T20:24:24Z | www.businessinsider.com | Here Are All the Ways Elon Musk's Twitter Deal Could Crumble | https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-twitter-deal-could-crumble-tesla-stock-420-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-twitter-deal-could-crumble-tesla-stock-420-2022-5 |
Kelsey Vlamis and Michelle Mark
The gunman in a mass shooting that killed 10 people at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, on Saturday live-streamed the attack on Twitch , the platform confirmed.
"They can be in a sense an accomplice to a crime like this. Perhaps not legally, but morally. They created the platform to allow this hate to be spewed," Hochul said. "The act of live- streaming this. The fact that this could even be hosted on a platform. It's absolutely shocking."
More: Buffalo New York Mass Shooting Twitch | 2022-05-15T01:01:46Z | www.businessinsider.com | Buffalo Mass Shooting Live-Streamed on Twitch by Gunman | https://www.businessinsider.com/twitch-buffalo-mass-shooting-live-streamed-platform-by-the-gunman-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/twitch-buffalo-mass-shooting-live-streamed-platform-by-the-gunman-2022-5 |
Kathy Barnette, a Pennsylvania candidate for Senate, tweeted "Pedophilia is a Cornerstone of Islam" in 2015.
Dr. Oz, who would be the first Muslim US senator if elected, said the tweet was "reprehensible."
Barnette denied ever tweeting the statement, but it was still on her Twitter as of Saturday night.
Pennsylvania GOP Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz said GOP opponent Kathy Barnette is "reprehensible" for a tweet posted in 2015 in which she said Islam is based on pedophilia.
"It's reprehensible that she would tweet out something that is defamatory to an entire religion," Oz, who would be the first Muslim US senator if elected, told The Associated Press. "This state was based on religious freedom. I'm proud as a Pennsylvanian to uphold those founding beliefs that every faith has its merits."
Barnette, who has recently been making headlines for moving up in the polls for the Pennsylvania Senate race, tweeted a link in 2015 to a post from the now-defunct conservative site UFP News with the headline "Pedophilia is a Cornerstone of Islam."
Barnette denied tweeting the story, even after NBC News Correspondent Dasha Burns showed her the tweet during an interview on "Meet the Press."
"I don't think that's me. I would never have said that," Barnette replied.
The tweet, however, was still up as of Saturday evening.
Barnette has posted other Islamaphobic and homophobic tweets, including one where she condemned former President Barack Obama for supporting "all things homosexual" and "all things Muslim," and another one calling for a ban on Islam in America.
Barnette's polling numbers were bolstered after she released an anti-abortion campaign ad following reports that national abortion rights may be overturned by the Supreme Court.
In the Pennsylvania primary race, she is currently polling at number two, behind Oz, and has found support among voters frustrated by former President Donald Trump's endorsement of Oz.
Barnette has been endorsed by former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, Pennsylvania Senator Doug Mastriano, the Club for Growth, and the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List.
Representatives for Barnette and Oz did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.
More: Dr. Oz Kathy Barnette Pennsylvania GOP | 2022-05-15T04:05:14Z | www.businessinsider.com | Dr. Oz Calls Opponent Tweet About Islam and Pedophilia 'Reprehensible' | https://www.businessinsider.com/dr-oz-calls-opponent-tweet-about-islam-and-pedophilia-reprehensible-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/dr-oz-calls-opponent-tweet-about-islam-and-pedophilia-reprehensible-2022-5 |
Today's mortgage and refinance rates: May 15, 2022 | Rates remain at a 13-year high
The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate is currently at its highest level in 13 years, according to Freddie Mac. Mortgage rates shot up in early 2022 and have continued increasing in May. However, recent rate increases aren't quite as dramatic as they have been in previous months, a sign that rate growth may be moderating.
If you're getting ready to buy a home, locking in your rate sooner rather than later can help insure you against future increases while you shop.
"With such fluctuation happening daily, what you will lose usually will be a lot more than what you can gain by not securing your interest rate," says Ralph DiBugnara, president of Home Qualified and senior vice president of Cardinal Financial. | 2022-05-15T10:08:25Z | www.businessinsider.com | Today's Mortgage, Refinance Rates: May 15, 2022 | Rates Remain at a 13-Year High | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/best-mortgage-refinance-rates-today-sunday-may-15-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/best-mortgage-refinance-rates-today-sunday-may-15-2022-5 |
The bank's "flexible vacation" scheme took effect at the start of May.
Goldman Sachs has introduced a "flexible vacation" scheme with unlimited leave, Telegraph reports.
The move seeks to offset burnout by staff routinely working 100-hour weeks.
Goldman Sachs joins a wave of companies trying to woo workers and retain staff.
Goldman Sachs will let its senior bankers take an unlimited number of days off, according to a leaked memo seen by the Telegraph.
The "flexible vacation" scheme, which took effect on May 1, lifts a cap on the number of holidays for senior staff at the bank, allowing them "to take time off when needed without a fixed vacation day entitlement."
Next year the US bank also plans to introduce a minimum holiday allowance of 15 days for all employees, with at least one week of consecutive leave a year.
Goldman Sachs did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment outside normal working hours.
"As a firm, we are committed to providing our people with differentiated benefits and offerings to support well-being and resilience," the memo said, according to the Telegraph.
The new policy could partially offset the very long hours put in by a workforce where even junior staff are paid more than $120,000. In an internal survey last year junior workers described "inhumane" conditions that included 100-hour weeks.
It also contrasts with the removal of pandemic-era benefits in recent weeks, including free access to the company gym.
The move by Goldman Sachs follows similar decisions by major finance groups to entice talent and boost retention rates in an increasingly tight labor market.
Insider reported that PwC would close its offices for two weeks a year to allow employees to recharge. Management consultancies including McKinsey and Boston Consulting Group are ramping up perks to retain their staff.
More: Weekend BI UK Goldman Sachs Holiday Vacation | 2022-05-15T10:16:34Z | www.businessinsider.com | Goldman Sachs Gives Unlimited Vacation to Top Bosses | https://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-sachs-gives-unlimited-vacation-to-top-bosses-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/goldman-sachs-gives-unlimited-vacation-to-top-bosses-2022-5 |
Entrance to TWA Hotel, a short walk from JFK's Terminal 5.
I had a 32-hour flight from the UK to the Bahamas to reach a major conference, Crypto Bahamas.
To combat jet lag and long connections, I spent $483 on day rooms to rest from traveling.
Take a peek at JFK's 1960s-inspired hotel and London Heathrow's hidden oasis.
I had a 32-hour trip from the UK to the Bahamas for a major crypto conference.
Crypto Bahamas sign at Grand Hyatt Baha Mar.
I attended the Crypto Bahamas conference hosted by global thought-leadership forum SALT and the crypto exchange FTX, which was founded by 30-year-old crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried.
To reach the conference, I needed to take three different flights: Glasgow to London, London to New York, and New York to the Bahamas. It meant I would be spending a lot of time in the airport.
With a desire to optimize my time at the conference, I looked into how I could best leverage my time in the airport to combat jet lag. I came across the concept of "day rooms," which are rooms in airport hotels you can rent for the day or by the hour.
I spent around $483 on three day rooms during the trip, which started on April 25 and finished on May 1.
Traveling internationally is a completely different experience now compared with before the pandemic.
Long queues at security at Heathrow Airport Terminal 3 around 6 p.m. on a Monday.
Part of the reason I ended up with such long wait times at airports is that traveling has changed a lot since the pandemic. Airports and airlines are short-staffed resulting in cancellations and delays. Checks on health visas and vaccination documents is making the check-in process longer, and there's the new challenge of getting a COVID-19 test before the flight.
I booked a COVID-19 test at Glasgow airport at 8 a.m. ahead of my 10:40 a.m. flight for £55 ($68). The process was smooth with no lines and only a 15-minute wait for my rapid antigen results. However, at busy travel hubs like Heathrow, the lines were much longer.
In the weeks leading up to the trip, a significant number of UK flights had been canceled or significantly delayed due to staff shortages. I tried to book flights that would provide enough buffer time to get an alternative in case of a cancellation or delay.
With an 8-hour wait from arriving in London Heathrow until my flight to JFK, I headed to Terminal 3's Aerotel.
Aerotel entrance at London Heathrow Terminal 3.
I landed at London Heathrow from Glasgow around 12:00 p.m., which meant an eight-hour wait until my flight to New York at 8:00 p.m.
I collected my bags from my British Airways flight at Terminal 5 and leveraged the Heathrow Express' free terminal service to go to Terminal 3, which is where the airport hotel is and where my next flight would depart from.
I booked a $68 solo plus room for around 6 hours in London Heathrow's Aerotel.
A solo plus room at London Heathrow's Aerotel.
The hotel provided amenities, such as bottled water and tea and coffee-making facilities.
Tea and coffee facilities in the room.
A bathroom with a walk-in shower to freshen up in.
Aerotel's solo plus room's bathroom.
The hotel was within walking distance of a number of cafes in the departures and arrivals area of the terminal.
The hotel faces out into the arrivals section of Terminal 3 close to cafes and the Heathrow Express.
Within the arrivals area, the terminal had a Boots, a Caffe Nero, and a Marks & Spencers. I could also walk to the departures area, before security, and pick up food from Costa or Pret a Manager.
The only frustrating part of using a day room was there was no desk with a chair to eat or work at.
The storage area of the room with no table or chair to work at.
I'd seen reviews online that complained of the rooms not containing chairs or desks. The hotel rebutted those comments online, but I can confirm that the tables provided were not suitable for working or eating at.
I had to come up with an inventive way to eat lunch.
Creating a makeshift table at the end of the bed to eat lunch.
I made a makeshift area to eat with a small table positioned at the end of the bed. It was OK for a quick bite, but not ideal for a full meal!
I spent around 6 hours in the room working on the bed and freshening up before my next flight.
Bed in Aerotel rooms.
I checked out of Heathrow's Aerotel around 5:30 p.m. to grab dinner ahead of my 8:00 p.m. flight to JFK. Getting food at Heathrow is no easy task right now.
Dinner at Spuntino at Heathrow Terminal 3.
Another challenge with travelling right now is that demand is still high post-pandemic. Queues to get through security at Heathrow were long and slow.
Most restaurants in the departures lounge were packed around 6:30 p.m. I decided to eat at a restaurant called Spuntino and I was informed that a number of dishes were unavailable when I asked for a table. The restaurant was clearly short-staffed and by the time I finished my meal the flight was boarding.
I paid $115 in total to upgrade my seats to economy delight for the journey to and from London and New York.
Economy delight seats on Virgin Atlantic flight.
As part of my mission to fight jet lag I wanted select a seat on the plane where the chances of being sat next to someone would be slim.
During online check-in, the Economy Delight cabin, which is essentially economy seats with a tiny bit more leg room, looked fairly empty. I decided to upgrade in the hopes I wouldn't have anyone sat next to me. I was in luck, on both flights I had an empty seat next to me.
The upgrade on the way to New York cost £35 ($43) and on the way back it cost £55 ($71).
I arrived in JFK around 10:00 p.m. and reached my second day room by 11:30 p.m.
I arrived into New York's JFK Terminal 4 around 10:00pm. After passing through customs and collecting my bags, I used JFK's AirTrain to travel to Terminal 5 to reach my second day (night) room at the TWA hotel.
TWA hotel utilizes the head house of the TWA flight center, which closed in 2001. It's less than a two-minute walk from the AirTrain station and is the only hotel that's on JFK's grounds.
The hotel is a throwback to the 1960s and a must-visit location for any aviation nerd.
The hotel is designed to replicate many of TWA Flight Center's original features. It also features bars, a food hall, an infinity pool overlooking the runway, and a roller rink.
The bar area in the TWA Hotel.
I paid $323 for a deluxe king room. It was huge.
A deluxe king room at TWA hotel.
There was far too much to explore in the TWA Hotel making it a worthwhile stopping point for anyone with a long connection.
Food hall at TWA hotel where several stalls are open 24/7.
By the time, I arrived at the hotel it was 11:30 p.m., I just wanted to get some sleep.
There was plenty to explore, however, for guests who arrive early from museum exhibits to the fitness center and pool. The hotel also contains a restaurant, several bars, and a food hall with some stalls open 24 hours, which is ideal for anyone with a late-night or overnight connection.
TWA hotel does offer day rates. Despite only spending around 6 hours in the hotel I had to pay an overnight rate.
Departures and arrivals board at TWA Hotel.
I used the AirTrain to head to Terminal 2 where I got breakfast before the final leg of my journey to the Bahamas.
A tablet to use for ordering at food at Due Amici in Terminal 2 departures.
When I arrived I didn't immediately feel like I conquered the jet lag but after a night's sleep I found a good routine for the rest of the week.
Sunset at Grand Hyatt Baha Mar.
I even managed to attend a party with my colleague the day I arrived in the Bahamas.
Insider reporters Vicky Huang on the left and Kari McMahon on the right.
On the way back, I had a last-minute need for a day room at Heathrow. I used alternative sites to find a better and cheaper deal.
Aerotel solo plus room at Heathrow.
Around a week before the journey, British Airways canceled my return flight from London to Glasgow. When I rebooked the flights, I was stuck with another six-hour wait at the airport. I decided to book another day room, so I could get work done and freshen up. When I looked up the prices on Aerotel's website, the cost of a room was £199 ($246). Knowing that I'd paid £55 ($68) before, I tried to find an alternative rate and used dayuse.co.uk to get a room for £75 ($92).
The second day room at Aerotel still didn't have a desk or chair.
No desk or chair in second Aerotel room.
I found having a strategy for combatting jet lag is one of the best approaches.
Pepperoni pizza at the Pizza Lab at the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar.
I still felt a bit groggy on the first day I arrived in the Bahamas, but by having a plan and using my time in the airports and day rooms to focus on sticking to a regular eating routine and catching up on sleep, it helped get me into a good routine ahead of the conference.
But don't expect to always be on the go and working.
The view from the room's balcony.
I expected that by using day rooms and having so much time in airports that I would be able to get lots of work done. At times I needed to switch off and relax while travelling and at the conference.
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economy flights | 2022-05-15T13:14:43Z | www.businessinsider.com | I Fought Jet Lag With Day Rooms at JFK's TWA, Heathrow's Aerotel Hotel | https://www.businessinsider.com/airports-fight-jet-lag-connections-crypto-conference-business-travel-jfk-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/airports-fight-jet-lag-connections-crypto-conference-business-travel-jfk-2022-5 |
Dark MAGA is a fringe online movement demanding Donald Trump take revenge on his enemies.
Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has posted images with the 'Dark MAGA' aesthetic.
Experts warn about the online far-right laundering extremism into the mainstream using meme warfare.
A burgeoning online movement known as Dark MAGA is calling for former President Donald Trump to return to power and take revenge against his enemies.
What began as a fringe campaign posting threatening Terminator-style memes on social media is gaining traction among prominent Trump supporters such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
What is Dark MAGA?
Dark MAGA is a "post-alt-right online aesthetic movement" rooted in the radical pro-Trump online space, according to the Global Network on Extremism & Technology (GNET).
Memes with the Dark MAGA aesthetic frequently depict Trump in dramatic black and red-tinted images, often with laser beams shooting out of his eyes.
"A big part of the aesthetic involves memes of a God-like, authoritarian Trump getting revenge on perceived opponents," Dr. Caroline Orr Bueno, a behavioral scientist researching far-right extremism, told Insider.
"It's an aggrieved movement centered around the idea of a vengeful return to power. They're embracing the role of the villain and stripping away any facade of decency or political correctness."
Although not explicitly endorsed by Donald Trump, the movement appears to be gaining more mainstream support – including from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who on May 7 posted an image with the Dark MAGA aesthetic.
—Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) May 7, 2022
Prominent far-right activists, including Jack Posobiec and Amanda Milius, have also shared similar images of themselves, helping to bring a previously fringe movement into the mainstream.
The first documented use of the #DarkMAGA hashtag on Twitter was on January 21, according to GNET, but it started to spread across social media platforms in March.
Some of the content attached to the hashtag on Twitter depicts Trump carrying weapons, calling for the death penalty, or picturing the Trump Tower in a dramatic dystopian scene.
—Wendell Willkie (@enjoyer_liberty) May 12, 2022
—The Patriot Hammer (@patriot_hammer) May 12, 2022
Meme warfare as propaganda
The movement is deeply entrenched in "meme warfare" and internet trolling techniques common among online far-right communities, according to Tim Squirrell, head of communications and editorial at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue.
"You have to imagine meme warfare as a propaganda war that many people believe they are waging on a day-to-day basis," Squirrell told Insider.
One of the movement's goals appears to be to "unite disparate factions of right-wing extremism," which largely fractured following the infamous Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, 2017, where white supremacists were observed chanting "You will not replace us" and "Jews will not replace us, says Squirrell.
At the same rally, James Alex Fields Jr., an avowed white supremacist, drove his car into a group of anti-racism protesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer.
White nationalist demonstrators clash with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, Virginia on August 12, 2017.
Its other goal is to "expose more mainstream Trump-supporting conservatives to the most extreme narratives, icons, imagery, and people," Squirrell said.
The Global Network on Extremism & Technology said many images feature far-right symbols, including Nazi sun wheels, swastikas, and wolfsangels, which threaten violence or revenge.
GNET analyzed about 4,000 memes associated with Dark MAGA, and within a subset of 100 memes found, 38 portrayals of Donald Trump, 12 overt Nazi symbols, 9 US flags, and four references to QAnon.
According to Orr, the Dark MAGA aesthetic is inspired by accelerationist/neo-Nazi movements and iconography, including fashwave, terrorwave, and the so-called "skull mask network."
With Marjorie Taylor Greene, an elected congresswoman, and other prominent Trump supporters engaging with and amplifying Dark MAGA, it is bringing a previously fringe movement into the mainstream.
"Marjorie Taylor Greene has a history of – I guess the technical term for it is shitposting – saying really provocative stuff as a mechanism for gaining attention for riling up the 'libs,' for dividing opinion amongst the MAGA caucus," Squirrell said.
When asked by Insider why Greene shared the image and whether she endorsed the Dark MAGA movement, her spokesperson Nick Dyer responded: "You are a Blue Anon conspiracy theorist."
A Trump supporter sells merchandise during the 'Save America' rally at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds on January 29, 2022 in Conroe, Texas
Squirrell noted that this type of movement is typically "cloaked in about five layers of irony."
"So if you point it out, you always run the risk of people saying, "well, that's not what I'm doing, you shouldn't take this so seriously, what's wrong with you?" he said. "But it's a serious movement. It has serious people behind it. It has serious money behind it."
Greene's image has gained over 50,000 likes and nearly 20,000 replies and quote retweets– some of them supportive, some critical.
"Outrage generation" is a common tactic in the online far-right playbook, Squirrell explained, who often use over-the-top memes rhetoric designed to provoke a backlash, which generates high engagement and amplifies their content.
Some noted on social media that Anthony Scarramucci, Trump's former White House director of communications, also had an image of himself with lasers coming out of his eyes as his Twitter profile picture.
In a phone call with Insider, Scaramucci said that he had uploaded the photo a year ago as part of an unrelated inside joke with people in the crypto-currency community.
He said he removed the image on May 7th after "lunatics from the right-wing fascist community" posted similar photos.
Dark MAGA could further radicalize an already radical movement
Whether or not Dark MAGA is a cause for concern will depend on how successful it is at gaining mainstream support, according to Squirrell.
"The worry is that it further radicalizes an already fairly radical movement," he said.
"Anything which attempts to legitimize political violence, which attempts to say that Trump should take no prisoners and that he should be engaging in quite Machiavellian action is dangerous."
Supporters of President Donald Trump take over balconies and inauguration scaffolding at the United States Capitol on Wednesday, January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC.
Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty
The movement capitalizes on Trump supporters' "deep resentment" over various perceived injustices, ranging from the myth that the 2020 election was stolen to fears about the shifting demographics of the US population, according to Orr.
She said that the Dark MAGA revenge narrative underscores the dangers of the continued propagation of the stolen election myth by Trump and much of the Republican Party.
"I also think the movement indicates that they have no intentions to play by the rules, so we should expect more events like January 6," Orr said.
More: Donald Trump MAGA far-right extremism Meme | 2022-05-15T13:14:55Z | www.businessinsider.com | Dark MAGA Explained: Far-Right Memes Calling for Trump Revenge | https://www.businessinsider.com/dark-maga-explained-far-right-memes-calling-for-trump-revenge-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/dark-maga-explained-far-right-memes-calling-for-trump-revenge-2022-5 |
The US might be heading for another recession, but it probably won't be a bad one.
Spending on goods is finally slowing, and that's enough to spark a "mild" downturn, one economist said.
Americans' finances are generally in good shape, meaning growth will likely only slow moderately.
If you're panicking over the possibility of a looming recession , don't worry too much, because the next downturn likely won't be anything like the Great Recession or the sharp slide during the early pandemic.
Wall Street giants like Deutsche Bank and Bank of America are projecting recessions starting next year on the grounds that there's just no way for the Fed to fight inflation without slowing the economy to a halt.
But even if those predictions come to light, it's probably not going to be that bad.
For the first time since the early 1990s, economists see the country on track for a fairly normal recession. That's because, according to what experts told Insider, it will be more like a correction after a year of outsize spending throughout the economy. As Americans rein it in, the numbers will likely show a contracting economy for a few quarters, but the country won't feel the pain of previous 21st-century downturns.
Though Americans' demand for products seems insatiable, Susan Sterne, president and chief economist at Economic Analysis Associates, told Insider it doesn't look like consumers are overextending themselves financially, as they did in 2008.
"I don't think we are in such excesses that the consumer pulls back for an extended period of time," she said, adding that continued spending should bring "some stability on the employment side."
The coming downturn would also look dramatically different from the coronavirus recession. Daily COVID-19 infections, while up from levels seen earlier in 2022, are still leagues below the highs of the Delta and Omicron waves. Restrictions have been all but entirely reversed, and the summer travel season is in full swing. Today's economy has much more in common with the pre-pandemic situation than that of early 2020.
"The type of recession we're looking at is not like a serious, massive downturn in consumer spending across the board," Brett Ryan, a senior US economist at Deutsche Bank, told Insider.
The service industry is set to win the next recession as people are eager to get back out there
At its core, the recession will be powered by a return to more normal economic activity, Brett Ryan, a senior US economist at Deutsche Bank, told Insider. "Normal," in this case, means a pullback in how much stuff we're buying and a shift back to in-person services.
In recent months, Americans' wallets faced a "perfect storm" as stimulus aid dried up, inflation ripped higher, and interest rates started to climb, Ryan said. That trend will mainly hit Americans' elevated pandemic-era spending on goods like furniture, cars, and clothes — as opposed to services like movie theaters, bars, and transportation.
The switch won't be dramatic enough to cause a catastrophic downturn akin to the Great Recession, but it will pull growth lower.
"Just having goods spending pull back to its pre-COVID trend is enough for a mild recession," Ryan said.
Services, meanwhile, are poised to thrive through the downturn. Deutsche Bank sees spending on services like healthcare, lodging, and travel continuing to climb as the sectors retake their pre-pandemic trends. That uptick will keep the economy from suffering a larger drop in activity, Ryan said.
The recession, then, will likely be a bifurcated one. Americans have "accumulated a ton of wealth over the course of this cycle" through stimulus, increased saving, and a financial-market rally that only recently reversed course, Alex Lin, a senior US economist at Bank of America, told Insider. Their spending will keep service businesses on the rebound, while goods producers will face a rude awakening as the country enters its new normal.
The biggest risk lies with the Fed
Several factors stand to transform the mild recession into a severe downturn. Chief among them is inflation and, specifically, the Fed's efforts to pull price growth to more sustainable levels.
The central bank has a herculean task on its hands. Raising interest rates too quickly can weaken demand so much that spending nosedives, companies lay off workers, and economic growth plummets. Moving too slowly, however, could keep inflation at worrying highs and further erode Americans' buying power.
The central bank has emphasized it will be flexible in its plans to tighten monetary policy. Yet supply-chain problems continue to prop up inflation, and Fed Chair Jerome Powell has said that policymakers aren't banking on a solution coming soon. That leaves the onus on the Fed to bring demand more in line with supply, but doing so without halting the recovery will be extremely difficult.
"The margin of error is just so narrow," Lin said. "Monetary policy is a blunt tool. [The Fed] can't really slow things down very precisely."
For consumers, the Fed's crusade against inflation will be like a fever: uncomfortable, but necessary for healing. Rate hikes lift borrowing costs throughout the economy, making mortgages, car loans, and credit-card debt more expensive.
Yet the policy works with a lag of about six to 12 months, meaning it won't weigh on inflation until later in 2022 at the earliest. That means, for at least some time, Americans will contend with rising interest rates and faster-than-usual price growth.
"Yes, there may be some pain associated with getting back to [2% inflation]," Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in a May 4 press conference. "But the big pain is in not dealing with inflation and allowing it to become entrenched."
There are some early signs of light at the end of the tunnel. There are "no strong signs of overleverage" in the economy, and household balance sheets are much stronger than they were in the years after the financial crisis, Lin said. Once inflation trends lower, there's reason to believe spending will keep growing and economic growth will settle at a healthy clip, he added.
"As the consumer emerges out of the next recession, we think that the chances of a quick recovery are probably pretty good," Lin said. "It's just a completely different environment than, say, the post-financial-crisis period."
More: Economy economic outlook Inflation Recession | 2022-05-15T13:15:07Z | www.businessinsider.com | Next Recession Will Likely Be a 'Mild' One, Economists Say | https://www.businessinsider.com/next-recession-outlook-mild-inflation-cooldown-federal-reserve-economic-recovery-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/next-recession-outlook-mild-inflation-cooldown-federal-reserve-economic-recovery-2022-5 |
The untold story of how Dara Khosrowshahi's big vision for Uber dripped away
Uber was late to launch a subscription service due to infighting and indecision.
Employees question whether CEO Dara Khosrowshahi can innovate his way to success.
Uber One's launch has been a slow uptake so far, lagging behind competitor DoorDash.
At Uber, there's been a popular line among employees explaining the different epochs in the company's leadership.
"Travis Kalanick is Uber's wartime CEO; Dara is the peacetime CEO."
But after last week's selloff of tech stocks where Uber fell 16%, Khosrowshahi's company finds itself on war footing again. Last Sunday evening, the CEO sent a note to employees telling them Uber had entered a turbulent new chapter in its history and attempted to rally the troops.
"The goalposts have changed. Now it's about free cash flow. We can (and should) get there fast," Khosrowshahi wrote in the note, first reported by CNBC.
But Khosrowshahi's style may not be right for this moment, former executives say, especially when it comes to the kinds of nimbleness and clarity that the company may need to navigate through this period of uncertainty.
In the note, Khosrowshahi wrote that "some initiatives that require substantial capital will be slowed" though he didn't outline what those would be. Under Khosrowshahi the company has already spun out its farthest-reaching and money-losing moonshots like self-driving cars.
"The Dara-fication of Uber feels complete," one former high-level UberEats executive said after reading the note.
Business Insider / Nick Bastone
The attention now turns to Uber's product and its vision for the app. Can Khosrowshahi innovate Uber out of this crisis of investor confidence?
Khosrowshahi's former colleagues at Uber and his previous outfit Expedia, say his preference as a product leader isn't to take bold bets on new ideas but to spread investments around on a number of different initiatives to see what might work. It's a cautious approach, driven more by data than instinct.
Today the company's biggest product push is turning Uber into a platform or a "Super App" where people can use the apps to order rides, meal delivery, and an array of other services like groceries, car rentals, and travel experiences.
The level of buy-in from Uber employees and the belief that Dara is committed enough to make that vision come to life is unclear.
A case study of Khosrowshahi's hands-off mindset and the problems it caused for Uber's product has been the internal saga around an Uber subscription plan. Despite being the largest ride-hailing and food delivery service globally, Uber's subscription effort still lags behind a similar offering from smaller competitor DoorDash.
Beat to the punch by DoorDash
The Uber-wide subscription, now called Uber One, was a long-tested, frequently debated program inside the company, people who worked on it said.
The offering is simple: for a monthly fee, subscribers get discounted rides, access to top-ranked drivers, and no delivery fees on Eats orders. Khosrowshahi called it out in his Sunday night memo as one of the company's top priorities. It's poised to be a highlight of the company's product announcement event on Monday.
Proposed at least five years ago, its launch was piecemeal, shepherded by a revolving door of executives and technical teams, and tested at length. Its widest public rollout only happened last November.
Current and former employees debate why it took this long. Some blame company culture: Uber is fraught with corporate politics and an overreliance on testing above taking action, argued five current and former employees who worked on the product. They ultimately chalk that up to Khosrowshahi's inability to prioritize a strategy and foster enough collaboration among teams to execute it.
Others argue that it took time for Uber's business, specifically on the Eats side, to grow large enough for the economics of a subscription program to make sense.
Since joining the company in 2017, Khosrowshahi has repeatedly told employees he likes the idea of a subscription business for Uber. He compared it favorably to the Costco model, where the company sells its products at cost, but makes most of its profits from member fees.
Khosrowshahi put his then COO Barney Harford in charge of the project. Harford, though, was more interested in creating a points-based rewards program that gave people discounts and perks for using Uber. The two programs still exist in tandem, although Uber Rewards has not been a runaway hit at making people loyal to the app, according to three current and former employees.
Employees who have worked on the subscription project said executives on the Eats side debated whether a subscription service made economic sense. They argued that cutting out delivery fees for Uber Eats customers would have negatively impacted an important source of revenue and they were skeptical that subscription revenue and the incremental increase in orders from members would make up for the losses.
Then DoorDash beat them to the punch, launching its subscription product DashPass in 2018.
Uber employees were jolted by data showing that a significant percentage of DoorDash's orders were coming from DashPass members, according to three people familiar with the matter. That sent the team rushing to release EatsPass a year later.
Advocates for the program lamented the fact that DoorDash had taken the bolder step and forced their hand, though they argued that the economics of subscriptions changed once DoorDash charged in.
"Things looked different in a competitive environment. It's why we dragged our feet for so long," said one former employee.
A revolving door of execs and internal team turmoil
A pan-Uber subscription was still a possibility. But it stalled once again. One of the debates was that the Rides team, led by its US regional general manager Sarfraz Maredia, would have to offer a bargain that would be too costly.
Rides and Eats business units have different budget lines. Getting both teams to feel like their bottom lines weren't taking too much of a hit, especially Rides which has historically been the larger business, was a challenge, according to three employees involved with the project.
The Rides teams' hesitation was reasonable, said multiple sources. Maredia communicated to the team he was supportive of subscriptions, but only if made financial sense, one of these people said.
While Khosrowshahi told employees he supported the project, he did not step in to resolve the disputes to unblock the logjam, according to three current and former employees. When employees would ask Khosrowshahi's direct reports where he stood, the line came down that "Dara was not prepared to make that call," said one source with direct knowledge of the matter.
It became a joke among Uber subscription advocates that it was a race to see which long-delayed project would see the light of day first: an Uber One-style membership program or Brexit. (Brexit happened first).
"It surprised me that Dara had a clear point of view from day one in favor of a subscription but relinquished that point of view to organizational structure, versus 'I'm the CEO I can make decisions,'" said another person who worked on the project.
That contrasted with Kalanick, whose brusque and impulsive management style many employees had no desire to return to. But few questioned his willingness to make a decision.
Travis Kalanick leaves a courthouse on February 6, 2018 in San Francisco, California.
The company under Khosrowshahi has a "measure twice, cut once" mentality, said one source familiar with the matter.
"We had a lot of history of only measuring once and that didn't work out," this person said, pointing to past money-losing efforts like Uber Pool.
In 2019, Harford brought on Zhenya Lindgardt, a former strategist with Boston Consulting Group as its VP of Platform and Growth. She was tasked with heading up these projects and resolving the disagreements. She reported to Khosrowshahi.
Members of the subscription team said Lindgardt had a difficult time advocating for the subscription service amid the logjam. None of the teams, including Maredia and Jain, then Uber's head of mobility products, reported up to her and she had no control over their individual budgets.
Harford stepped down as COO in 2019 in an organizational shake-up. And as the subscription product stalled, Lindgardt's sway within the organization diminished, according to people who worked on the product. (Lindgardt left Uber in 2020.) Lindgardt and Harford did not respond to requests for comment.
The ragged road to launch
In the first half of 2019, the subscription team ran tests on an Uber Eats-Uber Rides subscription in the US. They presented their findings later that year with members of the team arguing that it proved the gross bookings for users went up.
While the discounted rides and free deliveries cut into the margins, the net result on profit was neutral—meaning Uber was able to grow its business without hurting its profits.
It was an alternative to Uber's strategy of encouraging growth by offering riders incentives. Jain was unconvinced that the group had enough data, according to one source. He felt his job as product leader was to question people critically about new product launches, said another source familiar with the matter. Others pointed out that the six months of testing on the product were substantial.
Rebuffed, the subscription team began pitching the service to various international teams, who had some autonomy to test their own promotions. But as the pandemic hit in March 2020, it halted the momentum behind launching subscriptions widely across the US.
Midway through the year, as Uber began piecing together its COVID recovery plan, the Uber subscription service was tapped as one potential lever to help reengage riders. Maredia and the team supported it more at this point. The Eats business had grown substantially during the pandemic, surpassing Rides in gross bookings. Now, the idea of a subscription offering led by the delivery service made more economic sense, argued a source familiar with the matter.
The company launched UberPass at large in the US in the summer of 2020. In late 2021 it relaunched the program, branding it Uber One. Khosrowshahi was taking a more direct involvement in subscriptions at this point and signaled to employees that if necessary he will cut through the blockage to ensure it is a priority, said one person familiar with the matter.
Khosrowshahi and Jain are among the speakers at Uber's upcoming product event touting Uber One.
It's hard to determine how much the myriad delays around Uber's subscription product will hurt it in the future. Today Uber has 8 million global subscribers, according to a source familiar with the figure; DoorDash which is predominantly in the US recently reported it has 10 million Dashpass subscribers.
People who worked on the subscription product say the saga reflected an organizational structure that was slow-moving and protectionist with a focus on near-term results, led by a CEO who expressed support for the program but didn't oversee its speedy and wide public release.
"Ultimately as a senior leader, you have to have conviction around a few things and rally the people and take a risk. Rather than incremental management by incrementality," said one former executive who worked closely with Khosrowshahi.
More: Uber Subscription economy Dara Khosrowshahi | 2022-05-15T13:15:25Z | www.businessinsider.com | Why Uber's Delayed Subscription Service Still Lags Behind Competitors | https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-delayed-subscription-service-uberone-lags-behind-competitors-dara-khosrowshahi-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-delayed-subscription-service-uberone-lags-behind-competitors-dara-khosrowshahi-2022-5 |
former campaign volunteers say Cawthorn was acting"irresponsibly" bringing a loaded gun to a airport.
Rep. Madison Cawthorn is running in a close GOP primary for re-election in North Carolina.
Cawthorn's first term in office has been riddled with scandals and controversies.
His GOP challengers are hoping his public image will help them oust him, NBC News reported.
Opponents of GOP Rep. Madison Cawthorn are hoping the freshman congressman's public image following a number of controversies will help them beat him in the upcoming primary, NBC News reported.
"What folks are concerned with here is they don't feel that they have a voice in Washington, D.C., because our congressman has been jet-setting around the country, getting involved in other races, going to other events," state Sen. Chuck Edwards, the most prominent challenger, told NBC News.
The 26-year-old freshman congressman from North Carolina has faced a number of controversies and scandals since taking office.
Cawthorn was accused of sexual harassment by former college classmates last year. Several individuals told Buzzfeed News that Cawthorn would take women on "fun drives" where he'd corner them with sexual advances. He has also been charged with driving with a revoked license. He defended rioters who stormed the US Capitol during the January 6 insurrection and called Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyya a "thug" and said the Ukrainian government was "evil."
Images of Cawthorn in lingerie also surfaced online, which he called "goofy vacation photos." He's been cited for bringing a loaded gun into the Charlotte airport — for which he apologized — and accused of violating the STOCK Act by not declaring cryptocurrency purchases. A nude video of the congressman has also been leaked, amongst several other controversies.
Former campaign volunteers have since refused to support Cawthorn, saying he's "turned his back" on his district and values ahead of the May 17 primaries where he's facing off against a number of GOP candidates.
"He fooled the hell out of everybody," Bruce Rose told Insider's Camila DeChalus. "I despise him … he is a criminal and a performer."
Despite this, NBC News reported that because of the large number of GOP candidates, the Trump-backed incumbent could still win the primary, as North Carolina only requires a candidate to win more than 30% of the vote, but opponents told the outlet they are optimistic about efforts to oust him.
Seven candidates running in North Carolina's GOP primary.
For now, some constituents who voted for Cawthorn in 2020 also told NBC News they're not impressed with his first term.
"He's a hot mess," Susan Newman, 53, a teacher said. "I really don't see him doing anything in the district — and he just keeps getting in trouble."
A representative for Cawthron did not immediately return Insider's request for comment.
More: Madison Cawthorn North Carolina GOP Primary | 2022-05-15T14:46:10Z | www.businessinsider.com | Madison Cawthorn Opponents Bet His 'Lapses in Judgement' Help Them Win | https://www.businessinsider.com/madison-cawthorn-opponents-bet-his-lapses-in-judgement-help-win-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/madison-cawthorn-opponents-bet-his-lapses-in-judgement-help-win-2022-5 |
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Saturday implied Ukraine was safe because Mitch McConnell and Nancy Pelosi visited.
Ukraine has been a war zone since February 24, when Russian forces invaded.
Greene so far has voted no on nearly every single bill passed in Congress in response to the Russian invasion.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Saturday suggested that the war zone in Ukraine is not dangerous because the leaders of the House and Senate visited the country.
"Notice U.S. elected politicians like [House Speaker Nancy Pelosi] visited and [Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell] can go visit Zelensky in Ukraine without bullet proof vests/helmets or any fear from dangers of war, while they eagerly give billions to fund their proxy war w/ Russia," Greene wrote on Twitter.
McConnell and other GOP senators met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday. Prior to this visit, Democrats had largely been reported visiting Ukraine or Zelenskyy in Kyiv. Jill Biden, in a rare trip, entered Ukraine last weekend and held a Mother's Day meeting with Zelenskyy's wife, Olena Zelenska. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also made a surprise visit to Zelenskyy in Kyiv in early May, during which Zelenskyy was escorted out by an armed guard, as shown in a video of the event.
"If the conditions in Ukraine were so grave to warrant the U.S. sending $54 billion, then our highest ranking leaders would not be able to go," she continued. "But conditions at our own U.S. border are out of control warranting billions of funding, however there is baby formula there."
Greene, in her tweets, showed a video of McConnell meeting Zelenskyy. It's unclear if anyone is wearing a bulletproof vest underneath their clothes, but the video shows armed guards around them.
Since Russia first entered Ukraine on February 24, Ukrainians have escaped the country en masse. So far, more than 6.1 million Ukrainians have fled their homeland since the beginning of the invasion, according to data from the United Nations Refugee Agency. In the first week alone, more than 1 million Ukrainians left.
Ukrainians who spoke to Insider during the invasion have painted a grim picture of the devastation, describing hearing missiles fire through the sky in the dead of night, sharing a single bulletproof vest as Russian soldiers tore through their towns, and witnessing troops shooting at homes and hospitals.
Greene has struck down nearly every single bill passed in Congress in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Insider's Bryan Metzger reported.
In the months that the Russian invasion has been ongoing, Congress has put together at least 19 bills in response to the conflict. Among the measures was an allocation of $40 billion in additional aid to Ukraine, which received 57 no votes from Republican representatives, including Greene.
The $40 billion legislation would be the second federal aid package approved for Ukraine by Congress. In March, Congress approved a $13.6 billion package but funds have quickly depleted in Ukraine. If second package passes in Congress, the US will have sent $54 billion in aid to Ukraine since the start of the invasion.
More: Marjorie Taylor Greene Mitch McConnell Nancy Pelosi Ukraine | 2022-05-15T14:46:16Z | www.businessinsider.com | Marjorie Taylor Greene Says Ukraine Isn't Dangerous Because McConnell, Pelosi Went | https://www.businessinsider.com/marjorie-taylor-greene-ukraine-danger-mcconnell-pelosi-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/marjorie-taylor-greene-ukraine-danger-mcconnell-pelosi-2022-5 |
Starbucks drinks which don't feature on the US menu.
Starbucks operates more than 32,000 stores in 80 countries all over the world.
The UK and US menus are broadly similar, but there are variations in the drinks on offer.
I tasted five drinks which currently don't feature on Starbucks' US menu.
I tasted some of the drinks at Starbucks outlets in London ...
The Cool Lime Refresher, Cookies & Cream Frappuccino, and Iced Hibiscus Tea.
Starbucks operates more than 1,000 stores across the UK.
The coffee giant's UK outlets offer items which are, for the most part, similar to those offered in the US.
The locations offer hot coffees, Frappuccinos, Refreshers, and iced teas, but there is some variation in the drinks on offer.
I tested some of the products which don't currently feature on the US menu at two different locations in London, where Starbucks opened its first store in 1998.
I doubt I'll drift from my usual coffee order, but the drinks were fun to sample.
The Cool Lime Refresher tasted like a non-alcoholic mojito
The Cool Lime Refresher
Cool Lime Refresher isn't currently listed among the selection of Refreshers offered at Starbucks in the US.
While the US offers beverages such as Mango Dragonfruit, Kiwi Starfruit, and Strawberry Açaí, UK outlets offer flavors like Cool Lime and Mango Orange in the Refresher range.
The Cool Lime Refresher is available in the US as a Refresher take-away packet, though, according to the Starbucks online menu.
After comparing the cost of a Refresher in London with the same product in New York, I found that residents of the Big Apple are paying more for their drinks.
A grande (regular) drink costs £4.05 ($4.98). In New York, the drinks are slightly more expensive, where a regular drink costs $5.65. Both regular drinks measure 16 ounces.
The drink was refreshing and tasted equally of lime and mint, almost like a mojito cocktail.
The Iced Hibiscus Tea wasn't particularly flavorsome
The iced hibiscus tea.
The Iced Hibiscus Tea is absent from Starbucks menus in the US, which instead have products such as Iced Black Tea, Iced Peach Green Tea, and Iced Passion Tango Tea.
As an iced tea lover, I was looking forward to tasting this drink, but the flavor wasn't particularly strong.
The drink was still chilled and refreshing but since the flavor wasn't overwhelming, I probably would not order it again.
The drink cost £3 for a regular cup, or around $3.69. In New York, a regular iced tea costs around $3.75.
The Cookies & Cream Frappuccino was so sweet I couldn't finish it
The Cookies & Cream Frappuccino.
The Cookies & Cream Frappuccino tasted like a full dessert. The drink — topped with whipped cream and cookie crumbles — was so sweet that I couldn't finish it.
There are six coffee-based Frappuccino drinks available in the UK. There is some overlap in the flavor combinations available across the Frappuccino range in the US and UK, including Java Chip, Chai Cream, and Strawberries & Cream.
The drink cost £4.30, or around $5.26. In New York, regular frappuccinos cost around $6.25.
I don't normally drink iced coffees, but I'd order the Cold Brew Latte again
The Starbucks cold brew latte.
The Cold Brew Latte is currently not advertised on the Starbucks US menu.
With a much larger selection of iced coffees than Starbucks in the UK, I was surprised to see that the classic drink did not feature in the US, although US consumers can get a Cold Brew with milk.
In 2021, Starbucks started selling more cold drinks than hot coffees, with then CEO, Kevin Johnson, citing strong demand for cold brews, nitro cold brews, iced shaken espressos, and refreshers.
Demand for cold drinks is also high because they are easily customizable, a Starbucks trait.
The Starbucks US menu had more interesting cold brew combinations, including Chocolate Cream Cold Brew and Salted Caramel Cream Cold Brew.
I didn't opt for any add-ons to my drink - I found the latte sweet enough without it.
London has a larger selection of herbal teas, including the Jasmine Pearls Tea I tried...
The Starbucks Jasmine Pearls Tea, alongside the Cold Brew Latte
Starbucks has its own line of teas, dubbed "Teavana."
The coffee giant brought the tea line to the UK in 2016. The flavors are much the same in both the UK and the US, with chai teas, matcha green tea lattes, and even an Emperor's Clouds & Mist Tea making both menus.
I was surprised to see that a London Fog Tea Latte was advertised in the US but not in London.
The UK did, however, have a much larger section of herbal teas.
The Jasmine Pearls Tea I ordered had a sweet and floral taste, but slightly bitter after-taste.
The tea and the cold brew together — both small sizes — cost £5.75 (around $7.02). A similar order in New York would cost me $8.40.
More: Features Starbucks Cafes Coffee | 2022-05-15T14:46:28Z | www.businessinsider.com | I Tasted Some of the Starbucks UK Drinks That Aren't on US Menus | https://www.businessinsider.com/starbucks-uk-drinks-tea-coffee-frappuccino-menus-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/starbucks-uk-drinks-tea-coffee-frappuccino-menus-2022-5 |
Finnish President Sauli Niinistö said he had a cordial chat with Putin.
Niinistö comments come as the world watches how Russia will respond to Finland's NATO bid.
In announcing its intentions, Finland abandoned decades of neutrality to join the alliance.
Finnish President Sauli Niinistö said on Sunday that he had a primarily amicable chat with Russian President Vladimir Putin after Finland made clear that it would abandon decades of neutrality by moving forward with an application to join NATO.
"Actually, the surprise was that he took it so calmly," Niinistö told CNN's Dana Bash on "State of the Union" of his conversation with Putin on Saturday.
Niinistö stressed that he wasn't naive about Putin's personal reaction, pledging to "follow up" and stay aware of how Russia would respond to the possibility of having another border nation in NATO. If Finland were accepted, it would roughly double the size of Russia's land border with NATO.
Last week, Russia warned Finland The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that Moscow would be "forced to take retaliatory steps, both of a military-technical and other nature."
By Saturday, Russian energy supplier RAO Nordic Oy, had cut off energy supplies to Finland as the country announced its plans to apply for NATO membership in the next few days.
Niinistö said that Putin's decision to launch a large-scale war against Ukraine changed his country's calculus on NATO neutrality, a policy that the nation had followed since the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization after WWII and throughout the Cold War.
"It showed that they are ready to attack an independent, neighboring country," Niinistö said.
Finland also took note that Putin moved so aggressively against NATO's possible expansion, Niinistö added. His nation could not simply accept a reality where Moscow had the power to direct Finland's own foreign policy.
"So far we had thought, OK, we are non-aligned of our will, but when they said that that meant that we didn't have any will left," Niinistö said.
Finland has yet to formally apply for membership, a move that is expected in the coming days. NATO does not have specific membership requirements, but rather the alliance has general political, economic, and military standards. NATO's current members have to unanimously support any aspiring nation's bid.
More: Russia Ukraine Finland Vladimir Putin | 2022-05-15T16:17:19Z | www.businessinsider.com | Finnish President Says He Had 'Calm and Cool' Chat With Putin | https://www.businessinsider.com/finnish-president-calm-cool-chat-with-putin-nato-ukraine-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/finnish-president-calm-cool-chat-with-putin-nato-ukraine-2022-5 |
Republican Govs. Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma (left) and Pete Ricketts of Nebraska
Alonzo Adams/AP; Mike Theiler/AFP/Getty Images
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt defended his state's move to ban abortion even in the cases of rape or incest.
"We don't think killing one to protect another is the right thing to do ...," said Stitt, a Republican.
His comments underline the GOP's broader move away from exceptions to abortion bans.
Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt on Sunday defended his state's law that bans abortions at roughly six weeks without exceptions for rape or incest, arguing that other avenues exist for women who survive such brutal circumstances.
"I have daughters, I can't even imagine what it would be like in that hardship," Stitt told Shannon Bream on "Fox News Sunday." "That is a human being inside the womb, and we're gonna do everything we can to protect life and love both the mother and the child. And we don't think killing one to protect another is the right thing to do either."
Stitt's position underlines how conservative states are increasingly moving beyond what some Republicans promised for decades. Every Republican president since Ronald Reagan, including former President Donald Trump, stressed that they supported exceptions to abortion bans in the case of rape, incest, or the health of the mother. But states like Oklahoma are ushering in abortion bans that lack some or all of those exceptions.
Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, who co-chairs the Republican Governor's Association, said that he supports bans without those exceptions too.
"I believe life begins at conception and those are babies too," Ricketts told CNN's Dana Bash on "State of the Union." "Here in Nebraska, we're going to take further steps to protect those pre-born babies."
Oklahoma is one of 13 states with a so-called trigger law, bans that would take effect as soon as the Supreme Court overturns federal abortion rights. A leaked draft Supreme Court decision obtained and published by Politico earlier this month indicated that a majority on the high court supported overturning its landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that said a federal right to privacy covered a right to an abortion.
Unlike Oklahoma, Nebraska does not have a trigger law on the books. It is expected to be one of the states where Republicans renew their anti-abortion advocacy if the Supreme Court overturns Roe later this summer. Despite being a predominantly conservative state, Nebraska, whose legislature is officially non-partisan, is effectively limited by a Democratic-led filibuster in the nation's only single-house state legislature.
Democrats have sought to highlight the complete or near-complete nature of the bans states are passing and signing into law.
"To win this battle, it's about the hearts and minds of women not the laws of men," Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, told "Fox News Sunday."
Polis extolled his state's move to protect abortion rights. He declined to give a specific answer on whether Colorado law would allow someone to receive an abortion up to birth.
"People face gut-wrenching decisions every day, whether it's rape or incest, or having to choose between the life of the mother or the child, for the government to insert itself in that conversation whether between a doctor and a woman between a faith leader and a woman is simply wrong."
More: Kevin Sitt Pete Ricketts Republican Party Abortion | 2022-05-15T16:17:25Z | www.businessinsider.com | GOP Governors Defend Complete Abortion Bans: 'They Are Babies Too' | https://www.businessinsider.com/gop-governors-defend-complete-abortion-bans-rape-incest-roe-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/gop-governors-defend-complete-abortion-bans-rape-incest-roe-2022-5 |
Italy thwarted cyberattacks from pro-Russian hackers during the Eurovision Song Contest
Kalush Orchestra from Ukraine celebrate after winning the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Turin, Italy on May 14, 2022.
Amid the Eurovision Song Contest, Italian police thwarted cyberattacks from pro-Russian hackers.
Police blocked "attacks on network infrastructure" by the hacker groups Killnet and Legion, Reuters reported.
Russia was banned from participating in Eurovision following its invasion of Ukraine.
Italian authorities thwarted cyberattacks from pro-Russian hackers during the Eurovision Song Contest.
During contest performances and voting, Italian cybersecurity police blocked "attacks on network infrastructure" by the hacker groups Killnet and Legion, Reuters reported. Italian police also surveilled Telegram channels affiliated with the hacker groups to trace their location, the outlet reported.
Killnet threatened to "send 10 billion requests" to Eurovision's online voting system and "add votes to some other country," according to Forbes.
Last week, Killnet claimed responsibility for hacking the Italian Senate, the upper house of parliament, and the National Health Institute, making it impossible to access websites for the agencies, Reuters reported. Italian authorities said the cyberattacks were "serious incidents," noting that they did not cause any damage.
Russia was banned from participating in Eurovision following the Kremlin-ordered invasion of Ukraine, according to Forbes.
On Saturday, Ukraine's Kalush Orchestra won the contest, prompting a promise from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Ukraine will host the next Eurovision contest.
"Our courage impresses the world, our music conquers Europe!" Zelenskyy said, per Reuters. "I thank the Kalush Orchestra for this victory and everyone who gave us your votes! I am sure that the sound of victory in the battle with the enemy is not far off."
More: Italy Russia Cybercrime Hackers | 2022-05-15T16:17:43Z | www.businessinsider.com | Italy Thwarted Attacks From Pro-Russian Hackers During Eurovision | https://www.businessinsider.com/italy-thwarted-attacks-from-pro-russian-hackers-during-eurovision-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/italy-thwarted-attacks-from-pro-russian-hackers-during-eurovision-2022-5 |
Rohan Patel (right) founded Walnut alongside chief technical officer Yash Joshi.
Lisa Berg
Walnut is a buy-now, pay-later platform for medical bills.
Co-founder and CEO Roshan Patel told Insider about Walnut's plan to improve medical accessibility.
Mental health services proved hugely popular, accounting for more than half of all applications.
The US healthcare system tends to make anything beyond essential services difficult for the average American to access. Could the buy-now, pay-later model (BNPL) that swept the retail sector be an option for a system filled with patchy coverage?
Walnut, co-founded in 2020 by venture capitalist Roshan Patel after a loved one was saddled with debt after being hit by a car, is a company that offers a BNPL option to split payments for procedures and other medical bills over an extended period.
The appeal to customers, Patel told Insider, is that the company doesn't charge its clients any interest on loans. Instead, Walnut charges medical providers a transaction fee equivalent to a percentage of the total bill. The company has more than 50 partners using its services.
Behavioral health demand jumps following COVID-19
Medical debt is often a way of life for Americans with limited coverage or a desire to receive psychological treatment.
Given patchy insurance coverage, with Obamacare covering under-26s under their parents' plans and Medicare for pensioners, as well as low-income Americans, Walnut targets 25-60-year-olds, particularly those keen to take advantage of "elective" procedures — those typically not covered by basic insurance plans.
"Behavioral health" is by far the most in-demand of these services that Walnut provides a loan for, with more than half of their claims coming for services aligned to mental health, a fallout from the pandemic that saw mental illness soar in the face of huge uncertainty and widespread lockdowns.
"Many people, especially during COVID, have suffered from anxiety and depression . And a few hundred dollar therapy session every month is pretty expensive for most Americans," Patel said.
He said the company uses a sophisticated underwriting process to earmark creditworthy clients, assessing income, cash flow, bank transaction history and healthcare data . Patel said the people getting accepted through Walnut would typically be rejected for other loans like credit cards relying on traditional credit scores.
Most of Walnut's 16 employees, Patel said, are engineers working on a machine learning model building these algorithms.
Loan amounts average $1,300, and Patel estimates the company receives thousands of applications a year. Orthodontics, dermatology and fertility are other services typically demanded by applicants, with some patients financing $25,000 for a fertility IVF cycle, Patel said.
Can BNPL healthcare help address the $195 billion medical debt market?
BNPL models have faced growing pains in the past, and experts have argued that while it offers a flexible way for consumers to repay, it can also cause buyers to spend more overall, putting pressure on their finances.
Patel said that in addition to interest-free borrowing, clients that miss a payment are not charged a fee, and that Walnut would work with clients who had missed payments by offering restructured plans and temporary pauses.
The company will soon start reporting to credit bureaus though, which means clients could see their credit rating impacted by faltering repayments. But so far, Patel said the company had good repayment rates.
It is also unclear how much Walnut will help those most vulnerable improve access to care.
A study by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) found that around 9% of adults, equivalent to 23 million Americans, had medical debt exceeding $250, with half of those having debts surpassing $2,000 in a market valued at $195 billion. The services offered by Walnut, though, are mostly voluntary costs than those racked up through out-of-pocket costs.
While Walnut has yet to gain partners in the essential care market, where healthcare demand is more often based on necessity, the company hopes to run pilots in emergency care, where lines can blur for insurance coverage. Patel said Walnut was in negotiations with "one large health system," which he was unable to name.
Currently, Walnut operates in a handful of states, primarily Texas and Illinois, with a plan to expand nationally by the end of the year. Patel said he expected to achieve profitability in the next year or two. He hoped the company wouldn't require another venture capital round, having raised $110 million in a Series A funding round last week, almost all of which as in the form of debt.
But he accepted headwinds, including looming recession fears, where the likelihood of debt defaults increases, could force the company to tighten lending standards in the future.
More: Weekend BI UK Startups Healthcare Medical | 2022-05-15T16:18:07Z | www.businessinsider.com | Tech Startup Meets Huge Demand for Mental Healthcare With BNPL Model | https://www.businessinsider.com/walnut-bnpl-healthcare-startup-helping-mental-healthcare-demand-surge-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/walnut-bnpl-healthcare-startup-helping-mental-healthcare-demand-surge-2022-5 |
Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont
Bernie Sanders said Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema have "sabotaged" Biden's agenda.
Sanders unloaded on two of his fellow Senate Democrats for opposing parts of Biden's economic plan.
His criticism comes at a time when Democrats are increasingly pessimistic about passing even parts of Biden's agenda.
Sen. Bernie Sanders unloaded Sunday on Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, calling out the pair of centrist Democrats by name and arguing that they have "sabotaged" President Joe Biden's agenda.
"You got two members of the Senate, Sen. Manchin and Sen. Sinema, who have sabotaged what the president has been fighting for," Sanders told NBC's Chuck Todd on "Meet the Press."
Todd responded that "sabotage" was a "strong word" to use, but Sanders doubled down on his criticism of his Democratic colleagues. Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with Senate Democrats, also serves on Senate Democratic leadership with Manchin.
"You got 48 members of the Senate who wanted to go forward with an agenda that helped working families, that was prepared to take on the wealthy and the powerful," Sanders said. "You got a president who wanted to do that. You had two people who prevented us from doing it."
Sanders and Manchin have tussled publicly before, but this latest round comes as progressive Democrats express increasing exasperation with Manchin and Sinema. The two senators have opposed passing parts of Biden's sweeping climate and spending plan once known as "Build Back Better" into law.
Manchin snapped at Sanders in January when the former presidential candidate hinted that the West Virginia Democrat should potentially face a primary challenger.
"Well, Senator Sanders is not a Democrat," Manchin said at the time, adding that Sanders' ideology was "not what I think the majority of Americans represent."
There is hope that a slimmed-down version of the once $3.5 trillion proposal can still pass, but Democrats are increasingly running out of time as the midterm election approaches. Both Manchin and Sinema have repeatedly expressed concern over rising inflation as prices spike to their worst point in 40 years. Their inflation-related fears have only added to skepticism about even small pieces of Biden's plan becoming law.
The White House has also teeded off on Manchin in the past, a move that reportedly led Manchin to effectively kill Build Back Better late last year. Since then, Biden and his team have been careful not to publicly question Manchin's loyalty.
The most recent example of this was this past week when Manchin joined Senate Republicans in blocking Democrats from passing federal abortion protections into law. Manchin told reporters that he supports codifying Roe v. Wade, but he argued that Democrats' proposal goes too far. Biden released a statement attacking Senate Republicans for opposing the bill, but Manchin's name or even a mention of his opposition was nowhere to be found.
More: Bernie Sanders Joe Manchin Kyrsten Sinema Democratic Party | 2022-05-15T17:48:28Z | www.businessinsider.com | Bernie Sanders: Manchin and Sinema Have 'Sabotaged' Biden's Agenda | https://www.businessinsider.com/bernie-sanders-manchin-sinema-have-sabotaged-bidens-agenda-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/bernie-sanders-manchin-sinema-have-sabotaged-bidens-agenda-2022-5 |
Finnish President Sauli Niinistö and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Finland's president suggested that Turkey has changed its views on the Nordic nation joining NATO.
Finnish President Sauli Niinistö said he was "astonished" by Turkey's possible opposition.
Finnish President Sauli Niinistö said on Sunday that he was "astonished" that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested he might block Finland from joining NATO after Erdogan privately told him he would be fine with Finland joining the alliance.
"First, why I was astonished, because I had a telephone discussion with the president, Erdogan. That is about one month ago," Niinistö told CNN's Dana Bash on "State of the Union." "And then he said that they will estimate, well, positively our aim to apply for membership. And now it changed."
Finland signaled on Sunday that it would move to join NATO, a historic reversal of the Nordic nation's decades of neutrality. Sweden could soon join its neighbor in pursuing NATO accession in the coming days.
On Friday, Erdogan said Turkey did not hold "positive views" about either Finland or Sweden joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Turkey's potential opposition is of paramount importance since it and NATO's other 29 members must unanimously accept any new applications.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg have also sought to downplay Erdogan's comments. Both Blinken and Stoltenberg suggested on Sunday that Turkey's concerns could be worked out.
"I'm confident that we will be able to address the concerns that Turkey has expressed in a way that doesn't delay the membership or the accession process," Stoltenberg told reporters, per Politico Europe. "My intention is still to have a quick and swift process."
Niinistö said he was "not worried about" Erdogan's views.
Erdogan claimed that "Scandinavian countries are guesthouses for terrorist organizations." His accusation is likely a reference to Sweden's support for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The US has also supported the SDF, which has led to tensions between the two current NATO members.
The SDF has been the West's main partner in its fight against ISIS.
More: NATO Finland Russia Turkey | 2022-05-15T19:15:42Z | www.businessinsider.com | Finnish President: 'Astonished' Turkey Might Block Our NATO Application | https://www.businessinsider.com/finnish-president-astonished-turkey-might-block-our-nato-application-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/finnish-president-astonished-turkey-might-block-our-nato-application-2022-5 |
Neepa Patel, Themis' founder and CEO
Financial firms are spending billions on increasingly onerous compliance rules each year.
Themis offers pay-as-you-go risk-management and compliance for banks, fintechs and crypto startups.
See the nine-slide deck Themis used to raise $9 million in seed funding.
When Themis founder and CEO Neepa Patel set out to build a new compliance tool for banks, fintech startups , and crypto companies, she tapped into her own experience managing risk at some of the nation's biggest financial firms.
The demand for financial compliance tools has increased dramatically since the Financial Crisis. In 2017, Deloitte estimated that spending on compliance at retail and corporate banks had increased 60% since the 2008 housing collapse. Last year, LexisNexis Risk projected that financial firms in the US and Canada spent roughly $50 billion on financial crime compliance. And at crypto companies and banks alike, compliance and regulatory issues surrounding digital assets are only growing in importance.
Since Themis' first line of code was written in May 2021, the startup has nabbed the lease-to-own fintech Kafene and Utah-based business bank Continental Bank, as well as community banks and others, as clients.
Themis' pay-as-you-go product offerings emphasize collaboration among compliance staff — both within firms and between them and their partners and regulators. Users of the software can track customer complaints, share marketing documents, and review policies and procedures, among other features, all while tracking changes at each step of the way to create a reliable audit trail.
This April, Themis raised a $9 million seed round from backers TTV Capital, Felicis, and Walkabout Ventures (a pre-seed investor in the startup).
"Being able to build a strong technical team, and have a product in market in less than a year being used by reputable companies, was just something that the market was happy about," Patel said.
Crypto startups represent one prime market where Patel expects Themis to have an impact. In her view, the regulatory and compliance questions crypto startups face isn't misplaced, but typically focuses too often only on know-your-customer and anti-money laundering efforts.
"There's a whole side of compliance that everyone's missing," in crypto, Patel said. "It's things like making sure that you respond to complaints, making sure that you review marketing material before it goes out, making sure that you have proper governance internally."
See the deck Themis used to raise a $9 million seed round. | 2022-05-16T10:32:43Z | www.businessinsider.com | See the Pitch Deck Compliance Startup Themis Used to Raise $9 Million | https://www.businessinsider.com/see-pitch-deck-compliance-startup-themis-9-million-seed-funding-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/see-pitch-deck-compliance-startup-themis-9-million-seed-funding-2022-5 |
Welcome back from the weekend. The market has been battered all year — but the beatings may continue.
Banks are facing old and new challenges in fintech M&A
1. Markets haven't yet seen capitulation from investors. The recent rout in stocks signals an investor exodus is underway, Bank of America strategists wrote in a Thursday note. But downside still looms.
To the analysts, the collapse in speculative tech stocks and crypto rivals declines seen during the dot-com bust and global financial crisis, but that doesn't mean capitulation has arrived.
"Fear & loathing suggest stocks prone to imminent bear market rally but we do not think ultimate lows have been reached, nor ultimate highs in yields," the bank wrote.
Even as analysts see more losses ahead, corporations could save the stock market by returning a big chunk of their $7.1 trillion cash pile to investors in the form of buybacks and dividends, the bank said in a separate note.
"Corporate debt levels are the lowest in decades, leaving ample room to calm nervous shareholders," Bank of America analysts said.
But before that happens, the bank said, stocks aren't going to find a bottom until the market sees "investors selling what they love."
2. US stock futures seesawed early on Monday, as traders weighed up data that showed the dramatic impact of the pandemic on China's economy. Meanwhile, wheat prices rose by almost 6% after India imposed a ban on exports. Here are the latest moves.
3. On deck today: Planet Green Holdings, Kingsoft Cloud, and Creative Realities, all reporting. Plus, keep an eye out for John Williams, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, who is due to make a speech at 8am ET.
4. Bank of America and UBS strategists broke down whether Wall Street should still hold out hope for a market recovery. Analysts are split on what's next for stocks, as 2022 has seen indexes tumble. Here's four reasons to be hopeful and four reasons to be fearful about the stock market and a potential recovery.
5. Gas prices have surged — but diesel prices have also hit record highs. The sticker price at the pump is noticeable, but a severe supply shortage in diesel holds massive repercussions for the economy and inflation. Here's what you want to know.
6. Crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried says Bitcoin has no future as a payments network. According to the Financial Times, Bankman-Fried said Bitcoin's " proof of work " system won't be able to handle millions of transactions. Here's what else he said.
7. Germany plans to stop importing Russian oil, even if the EU fails to agree sanctions. As per Bloomberg, despite the EU floating a delay to an oil ban, Germany will still push ahead with its national plan to ban Russian oil imports. It comes as Saudi Aramco posted an 82% jump in profits following a surge in oil prices.
8. JPMorgan analysts said the crypto crash isn't a repeat of the 2018 winter yet. They explained why market conditions could still bring "significant upside" despite sagging institutional demand — and they shared which tokens are benefiting from terra's collapse.
9. Famed $18 billion value investing firm Ariel has 7 different funds beating their benchmarks or the broader market. Longtime stock pickers from the company discussed the turn toward value stocks and what they're watching as the market tumbles. Here's what they are buying right now.
10. Americans' hope for the economy is sinking. A preliminary reading of University of Michigan's index of consumer sentiment on Friday shows that it's reached its lowest point since August 2011 — that's a dip from 65.2 in April. | 2022-05-16T11:59:22Z | www.businessinsider.com | 10 Things Before the Opening Bell: May 16 | https://www.businessinsider.com/10-things-before-the-opening-bell-may-16-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/10-things-before-the-opening-bell-may-16-2022-5 |
Carbon capture startups hobbled by 10 month waits for made-to-order parts as industry races to stem flow of emissions into the atmosphere, Climeworks CEO says
Climeworks Orca plant in Iceland with founders Christoph Gebald and Jan Wurzbacher.
Climeworks, which runs the world's largest direct air capture plant, has to wait months for parts.
Cofounder Christoph Gebald said the industry and its suppliers need to start thinking in "ecosystems."
Carbon capture promises to stem the emissions from high-polluting industries like oil and gas.
Lengthy wait times for specialized parts have slowed the adoption of carbon capture technology that can tackle the emissions produced by high-polluting industries like oil and gas, according to the cofounder of Swiss startup Climeworks.
Christoph Gebald, whose startup raised $650 million in a round led by Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC last month, told Insider that manufacturers supplying the industry must shift away from a by order model to one where thousands of crucial parts are made in anticipation of widespread demand.
Direct air capture refers to the process of extracting carbon directly from the atmosphere, where it can then be stored underground or used in materials like carbon fiber. Carbon capture has been tipped as a potential "necessary step" by McKinsey while Elon Musk has launched a prize fund worth $100 million to back the best ideas in the sector trying to make the world become carbon-negative rather than neutral.
Gebald said Climeworks had faced wait times of up to 10 months for certain parts.
"At the moment, every time we order, it's custom made," Gebald said. "In a perfect world, they [suppliers] would understand that this industry will be really big and it's better to produce 1,000 of those pumps and have them in stock."
The Climeworks chief executive said the industry needed to start thinking "in ecosystems," where suppliers, project developers, and investors work to establish volumes and prices of parts like pumps, steel, and pipes.
Zurich-based Climeworks operates at dedicated sites but other startups are also working on air capture systems that can be retrofitted to existing power and industrial plants.
If the emissions output by existing plants remains unchanged they could generate over 600 billion tonnes of CO2 over the next 50 years – the equivalent of around 17 years of current annual global emissions, according to a report pulled together for Insider by AI-driven intelligence platform Valuer.
London-based Mission Zero has built module systems to capture carbon directly from the source – before it's emitted into the atmosphere. The startup uses off-the-shelf parts to help with scalability, cofounder and chief product officer Shiladitya Ghosh said. This was a "fundamental requirement" in the design.
"Direct air capture is a band-aid climate solution that needed to be deployed at scale yesterday, while other critical net-zero technologies such as renewable power generation and electric mobility catch up to get us to a habitable future," Ghosh said.
"For us to deploy at the next best time – which is ASAP – it's not worthwhile developing complex, bespoke materials or equipment for direct air capture as the manufacturing supply chains for those will also need to be built from scratch – which involves huge time sinks, financial risks, and a bet against not being out-innovated by someone else's solution."
Mission Zero, which just raised $5 million, faced challenges during its pilot phase. Its technology is built with high-value commodities or fabricated materials; the global supply shortage for electronics and semiconductor materials and low order volumes meant Mission Zero's order was not a priority to suppliers.
For Ghosh, concern lies with places to store carbon once it is extracted.
"It is going to be critical that the carbon sequestration ecosystem also scales up in a manner conducive to direct air capture, otherwise we won't be getting anywhere," he said.
Globally, there has been some innovation in this space as newly-spawned startups attempt to add value to captured carbon. For example, New York's Air Company makes perfume, hand sanitizer, and vodka from captured carbon while Canadian company CleanO2, backed by Leonardo DiCaprio's fund Regeneration VC, uses it to make soap.
"The infrastructure around carbon capture has not yet seen the same innovation and investment in Europe," said David Frykman, an investor at Norrsken VC. London-based 44.01, Luxembourg-based LEKO Labs, and Iceland's Carbfix are some of the "very few" players in making use of the extracted gas.
"There are too few high-quality capture opportunities at reasonable prices," Frykman added.
"There is still a market timing risk in investing in carbon storage infrastructure, as it is so dependent on the technological and commercial advancements of the carbon capture technologies. Increasingly we also see more companies initially targeting the route of selling pure CO2 as an input to multiple industries. This is a good first market, as it is already mature and has built-up demand."
Y Combinator-backed Seabound, based in London, is developing technology to capture carbon emitted from ships and store it as limestone using an on-board mineralization process. It could then be sold off as a carbon-neutral construction material, cofounder Alisha Fredriksson told Insider.
"We see these carbon utilization companies as instrumental partners in catalyzing carbon capture technology for hard-to-abate industries, especially until we are also able to capture and store higher volumes of CO2 underground in the future," she said.
Reaching scale and widespread adoption has so far been a catch 22 – it requires more investment, but investment requires proof of demand.
"The larger and more certain future demand and pricing is for these technologies, the more likely they are to receive significant financing for further innovation and scaling," said Iain Porter, lead analyst at Trove Research, which looks at carbon markets.
More: Tech Insider Startups climate tech | 2022-05-16T11:59:34Z | www.businessinsider.com | Climeworks: Carbon Capture Startup Hit With 10-Month Waits for Parts | https://www.businessinsider.com/carbon-capture-climeworks-market-innovation-waiting-months-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/carbon-capture-climeworks-market-innovation-waiting-months-2022-5 |
A composite image showing Max Klymenko speaking in his TikTok and a woman standing beside a Russian tank in her father's destroyed home near Chernihiv, northern Ukraine, on April 23, 2022.
TikTok/Max Klymenko/AP Photo/Francisco Seco
A Ukrainian TikToker donated funds for 100 Ukrainian refugees to get abortions.
He said he was moved by hearing of Ukrainians pregnant after rape by Russian soldiers.
Many Ukrainians fled to Poland, which has a near-total ban on abortion.
A Ukrainian TikToker donated funds for 100 people to have an abortion, an act he said was prompted by laws that mean Ukrainians who were raped by Russian troops may struggle to access the procedure in their new countries.
Max Klymenko, who lives in the UK, made a TikTok about giving the funds to the Abortion Support Network (ASN), a charity aiding abortion access across Europe.
Klymenko told Insider he donated €7,000 ($7,300) to help Ukrainians whose lives have been "completely upended" since Russia invaded their country, Russian troops have raped Ukrainians, and millions have fled the country.
Many fled to places with more restrictive abortion laws than Ukraine, particularly Poland, which neighbours Ukraine.
The Abortion Support Network confirmed Klymenko's donation to Insider.
@maxklymenko I didn’t believe it when I first saw it… but it’s the sickening reality 😔 #ukraine #poland #abortionban ♬ original sound - Max Klymenko
People who fled Ukraine may want abortions for many reasons, including personal choice, their own health, and having been raped by Russian soldiers. Klymenko's video cited reports of a 14-year-old girl who became pregnant after being raped by five Russian soldiers.
Klymenko said he made the TikTok to bring attention to the issue, and to encourage other people to consider donating to abortion access themselves.
"I have certain level of funds that I'm able to donate, but it's not unlimited," he told Insider. "I made my donation public and encouraged others to do the same."
He said others donated in response: "I had a bunch of emails the next day from people who said they donated."
Mara Clarke, founder of the ASN, confirmed to Insider the organization recieved more donations after Klymenko's video.
Klymenko said that, alongside messages of support and more donations, he has recieved abuse and death threats.
But he said he's also been contacted by people "who said they are generally pro-life, but this video has actually made them change some of their views."
He said one factor had been people realising "how difficult it is to prove" rape, which Poland requires, in a war.
In his video, he asked Abortion Without Borders, of which the ASN is a part, how many outstanding requests for help it had from Ukrainians, and then how much it would cost to pay for all of them.
Clarke said the organization welcomes donations from Klymenko and others, but the money will not just go to Ukrainians: "We don't ring fence funds. We help anybody who contacts us ... We don't think your country of origin or your country of residence should impact your right to access healthcare."
A near-total abortion ban
Poland has been the largest host country for Ukrainian refugees. It also has much more restrictive abortion laws.
Its approach is a near-total ban. Pregnancies from rape are allowed to be aborted, but only if women open a criminal case, and get permission from a prosecutor.
Campaigners say women who were raped may be too scared to do this, particularly if they are coming from another country where they were raped in war.
Many Polish doctors also refuse to perform abortions even in cases when they are deemed legal.
Clarke said many Ukrainians were "shocked to find that they can't access legal abortion in Poland."
She said many who have fled Ukraine would not yet know that they were pregnant, and would struggle to prove they had been raped within the timeframe Poland permits abortions to take place.
"It's just laughable," she said.
Abortions Without Borders both provides abortion pills and funds people's journeys to other countries .
Clarke said between March 1 and May 15, the organization helped 397 people displaced by the war to access abortions.
So far the organization has mostly provided pills, which can be used earlier in people's pregnancies. The quote the organization gave to Klymenko for the cost of 100 abortions was for pills, Clarke said.
Clarke said the organization will soon have to help more Ukrainians, and its work will become more expensive.
She expects more Ukrainians will realize they are pregnant as the conflict continues, and people will be further along in their pregnancies — meaning they need to travel abroad instead of taking pills.
"The conflict is 12 weeks old. We expect the number of people needing to travel to go up exponentially."
More: News UK Speed desk Abortion Poland | 2022-05-16T11:59:52Z | www.businessinsider.com | Ukrainian TikToker Pays for 100 Abortions, Cites Rape by Russia Troops | https://www.businessinsider.com/ukrainian-tiktoker-pays-100-abortions-citing-rapes-by-russian-troops-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/ukrainian-tiktoker-pays-100-abortions-citing-rapes-by-russian-troops-2022-5 |
EasyJet will pay staff a summer bonus of £1,000 ($1,200)
Doubleclix/Shutterstock
EasyJet will pay new recruits and existing employees the one-off sum at the end of the summer.
Passenger numbers are returning to pre-pandemic levels, the carrier says.
Some carriers have had to trim their schedules due to staffing constraints.
European budget airline EasyJet will pay its staff a £1,000 ($1,200) bonus as it seeks to battle staff shortages amid a recovery in air travel.
The carrier will pay new recruits and existing employees the one-off sum at the end of the summer, as demand for flights returns to near pre-pandemic levels, the airline told Insider on Monday.
Carriers laid off swathes of staff at the height of the pandemic as travel shriveled, but are now struggling to staff flights as an easing in lockdown restrictions spurs renewed demand. Last week, EasyJet announced that it will remove a row of seats from some of its planes so it can operate flights with fewer cabin crew.
"EasyJet will be paying its cabin crew a recognition payment at the end of the summer season to recognise their contribution to the operation this summer, which is expected to be back at near 2019 levels for the first time since the pandemic," EasyJet said.
The budget carrier is hoping that the bonus will help it boost staffing after insufficient personnel resulted in cancellation of hundreds of flights, the BBC reported on Monday.
Other airlines have had to amend their schedules as a result of staffing issues. JetBlue cut the number of its flights operating in May by between 8 % and 10%, while Alaska Airlines said it would trim its schedule by 2% until the end of June due to a pilot shortage, CNBC reported.
British Airways said it would reduce its flight schedule by 10% between March and October as a result of the labor squeeze, the Financial Times previously reported.
While airlines continue to gear up for a strong summer season, Europe's largest discount airline warned Monday that the recovery in the sector remains susceptible to factors such as the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and any resurgence of COVID-19.
In a statement, Dublin-based Ryanair said that its recovery is "fragile," evidenced by how the Omicron variant and Russia's invasion of Ukraine "immediately damaged close-in bookings and yields for the Christmas and Easter peak travel periods."
The company's chief executive officer, Michael O'Leary told Bloomberg Television Monday that it was cutting its airfares over the next quarter to ensure its aircraft were full.
NOW WATCH: Why air travel is so cheap
More: Ryanair EasyJet Travel Transportation | 2022-05-16T13:34:38Z | www.businessinsider.com | EasyJet Offering Employees a $1,200 Bonus As It Seeks to Boost Staff | https://www.businessinsider.com/easyjet-offering-employees-a-1200-bonus-it-seeks-boost-staff-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/easyjet-offering-employees-a-1200-bonus-it-seeks-boost-staff-2022-5 |
A legal-tech startup that wants to become the TurboTax of immigration raised $2.3 million from investors like Bessemer. Here's how.
Amélie-Sophie Vavrovsky came to the US on a student visa, and was inspired to create Formally after growing frustrated with the immigration process.
Amélie-Sophie Vavrovsky
Legal-tech startup Formally raised a $2.3 million pre-seed round led by Bessemer Venture Partners.
Formally helps immigrants and asylum seekers hire and work with lawyers.
Founder Amélie-Sophie Vavrovsky shared the startup's vision for growth.
The legal-tech startup Formally, which aims to streamline the US immigration process, has raised $2.3 million in a pre-seed round led by VC titan Bessemer Venture Partners.
Founded in 2018, Formally helps immigrants and asylum seekers hire and work with a network of vetted attorneys. Founder Amélie-Sophie Vavrovsky, who came to the United States on a student visa, was inspired to create the tool because she was so frustrated with her own immigration process.
"Law is a really obscure world for most people," Vavrovsky told Insider. "We're simplifying the legal process in the way TurboTax has simplified taxes for people."
While Formally is still in private beta mode, it has big ambitions to disrupt the $6 billion immigration-law industry. It also attracted pre-seed funding from BBG Venture Partners, Unshackled Ventures, Ulu Ventures, Graph Ventures, Dorm Room Fund, and prominent angels like Kiwi Camara, the CEO of Disco.
In an exclusive interview with Insider, Vavrovsky shared the startup's mission and visions for growth.
A focus on immigration
Formally grew from a hackathon project Vavrovsky spearheaded to help asylum seekers in the US. As she was working with refugees, Vavrovsky saw the first question on the US asylum application and was instantly perplexed: "Check this box if you also want to apply for withholding of removal under the Convention Against Torture."
"I'm somebody who studies international law, and even I was like, 'What the hell does that mean?'" Vavrovsky said.
Access to a lawyer goes a long way: 86% percent of asylum seekers in the US don't have legal representation, which makes them five times more likely to be denied asylum, according to Vavrovsky.
Formally guides users through the asylum-application process and connects them with lawyers. It also provides recommendations for other forms they're eligible to apply for, like employment authorization, change of address forms, and fee waivers. Users own and have control over all their personal data, which Vavrovsky said is important given their relatively vulnerable position as immigrants.
The startup also helps founders and creatives apply for O-1 visas more quickly and efficiently. The O-1 visa application process can take up to several months, but Formally has helped users get their visas in two weeks, according to Vavrovsky.
Plans for growth
An initial challenge Formally faced was the misconception that it's using technology to replace lawyers.
"We definitely don't want to be replacing lawyers. They do incredible work and are superheroes, and we think more people should get access to the amazing work they do," Vavrovsky said.
Fundraising has gone smoothly so far for Formally, which nailed down its first-term sheet with one of the most prominent VC firms, Bessemer. The round was oversubscribed in just a week and a half, Vavrovsky told Insider.
Formally plans to use the fresh capital on more user research and double its current team of seven employees, including adding engineers and sales and marketing representatives. It also has visions to expand into other areas of law that could also benefit from a streamlined tool that simplifies bureaucratic processes, like eviction and divorce. Its public launch is slated for May 30.
More: Legal tech Law Tech | 2022-05-16T13:34:44Z | www.businessinsider.com | How a Bessemer-Backed Immigration Legal-Tech Startup Raised $2.3M | https://www.businessinsider.com/how-a-bessemer-backed-immigration-legal-tech-startup-raised-23m-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/how-a-bessemer-backed-immigration-legal-tech-startup-raised-23m-2022-5 |
Affirm sharpens focus on profitability after strong quarter
Affirm reports a strong fiscal Q3, more than doubling its active users and transaction volume.
The company is still focused on achieving profitability, outlining two solutions that can help drive growth: adaptive checkout and the development of a super app.
By the numbers: Affirm's gross merchandise volume (GMV) hit $3.9 billion in its fiscal Q3 (ended March 31, 2022), increasing 73% year over year (YoY), per its earnings release. GMV growth decelerated from the same period last year (+83% YoY).
Active merchants reached 207,000, up from 12,000 during the same period last year.
Active customers hit 12.7 million, surging 137% YoY and more than doubling Q3 2021 growth.
Total transactions reached 10.5 million, more than doubling from last year. Transactions per active user hit 2.7, compared with 2.3 during the same period last year.
More on this: During the company's earnings call, executives discussed three factors that helped fuel growth.
Shopify partnership. The firm said that active merchant growth was driven mostly by Shopify merchants adopting Shop Pay Installments, Shopify's buy now, pay later (BNPL) solution powered by Affirm.
Customer engagement. Affirm said that 81% of transactions in Q3 were from repeat customers. This reflects Affirm's strong brand loyalty, something that may have been more complicated to secure as BNPL competition ratcheted up.
Pent-up travel demand. CEO Max Levchin said Affirm's travel and ticketing segment outperformed expectations: Volume doubled from the same period last year, in line with wider trends in the travel sector. Expedia, Vrbo, and Priceline were in the top 10 of Affirm's partners by volume in Q3. The company also became widely available for American Airlines' customers during the quarter.
What's next? Affirm is still focused on achieving profitability, which it inched closer to in Q3. To that end, it outlined two solutions that can help drive user and spending growth.
Adaptive Checkout shows customers a side-by-side comparison of BNPL options—biweekly or monthly payments—for each transaction at checkout. This gives customers more clarity and the flexibility to choose the option that best fits their needs, increasing the chances of spending. Affirm added Adaptive Checkout to its Google Chrome extension and recently integrated the solution into Fiserv's Carat. Affirm's expanded partnership with Shopify will also involve integrating the product.
Affirm's super app—which ties together its shopping, payments, and financial services offerings—launched in January. Although the app is still in the early stages, it can be a key growth tool by routing shopping traffic to Affirm's platform. That would also increase customer engagement with Affirm's other tools—like a forthcoming crypto trading feature—and boost monetization per user. | 2022-05-16T15:05:54Z | www.businessinsider.com | Affirm Sets Its Sights on Profitability Following Strong Quarter | https://www.businessinsider.com/affirm-aims-towards-profitability-following-strong-quarter-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/affirm-aims-towards-profitability-following-strong-quarter-2022-5 |
2 professors explain how the best employees excel at remote work and what's at stake when you don't have a strong online presence
Paul Leonardi and Tsedal Neeley
Making small changes, like when or how often you send updates, can go a long way.
J_art.
Professors Paul Leonardi and Tsedal Neeley say teams fall apart when colleagues aren't accessible while working remotely.
Employees with a strong digital presence provide constant, unsolicited updates and strategically time their messages.
The following is an excerpt from Segall's new book, "The Digital Mindset."
The following is a book excerpt.
Working in a virtual environment changes how we interact with one another. When you're out of sight from your coworkers, managers, or clients, you can easily become out of mind and out of touch. Developing a digital mindset means learning to stay in sync with remote collaborators.
No doubt you can recall a time when you were perplexed by a remote colleague's behavior. Are they not answering your email because they are busy? Uninterested? Both? Maybe they didn't get your email? When we are not collocated with our collaborators, we make up our own accounts for their behavior and infer what their motives might be.
The authors, Tsedal Neeley and Paul Leonardi.
Without mutual knowledge, teams fall apart
We engage in this kind of behavior because the digital tools that make our physical separation possible lead to what Catherine Cramton, Professor Emerita of Management at George Mason University who has spent her career studying digitally enabled collaboration, calls the "mutual knowledge problem."
Perhaps your colleague had to attend to a pressing project or your email landed in their spam folder. Remote
workers struggle to achieve common ground because even the slightest physical separation between people threatens their ability to establish shared understanding. Without mutual knowledge, collaboration suffers and teams begin to fall apart.
Establishing the close, collaborative working relationships that we all need to thrive in the digital age means developing a mindset that anticipates the mutual knowledge problem and learns strategies to compensate. We call these strategies digital presence.
Maintaining continuity in relationships is crucial
We identified these best practices by studying remote workers across different industries, doing different kinds of work, in companies that included Adobe, AT&T, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Cisco, FleishmanHillard, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, LogMeIn, Verizon Wireless, Tyco, and Wells Fargo.
When we compared people in the companies we studied who had excellent digital presence with those who didn't, we found that the primary way they cultivated that presence was by maintaining continuity in their relationship with others.
These successful individuals made sure that there weren't long gaps in communication or big absences in how others experienced them. Although the schedules and numbers of hours they worked varied, the people who they worked with had the sense that they were sufficiently accessible.
How do you keep people aware of you and thinking about you regularly? In three ways:
1. Broadcast your work
Professionals who excel in digital collaboration don't wait for managers or teammates to ask them what they're doing, how things are going, or what their thoughts are about certain matters. Instead, they're proactive in reaching out to others in order to establish and remain digitally present—even when insight into their projects and their performance is unsolicited.
Those who are successful at digital collaboration tend to find it odd, at first, to constantly broadcast their work status and activities to others. It feels unnatural to provide small updates all the time. But over time, they learn to take proactive steps to describe what they were doing, without making specific requests of their teammates. As a result, their work participation is top of mind to their collaborators and managers.
Another common fear is that overcommunication becomes a nuisance to the receiver. But we were surprised to learn that none of the managers and collaborators who were receiving more communication had seemed to notice the increase in communication.
In one case, we showed the manager of a large team the volume of communication he'd received from one of his individual contributors over the past two weeks and he was blown away: "I had no idea he sent me so many updates. No idea at all! But I'll tell you what, I knew he was working hard."
Crucially, these extra, unsolicited messages didn't add to receivers' cognitive loads because the sender didn't ask anything of them. There was no call to action, and no need for the recipient to invest their time. The only purpose was to manage and maintain digital presence.
But managers who learned, as part of the process, how team members were progressing on projects knew when to intervene if necessary. What's more, they could fully appreciate the work that team members were putting in. Everyone had learned to work in sync.
2. Create a sense of curiosity
"Are you around?" "I need to talk about something important." "You need to hear this. Message me ASAP." "I've got some news to share." "Can you call me as soon as you're available? We need to talk."
Messages that begin this way don't always encourage people to respond more quickly, but they are another practice to remain digitally present to remote colleagues. You've probably had it drilled into your head that clear and concise communication is best, especially in work settings. That advice is undoubtedly correct when your goal is to update someone, provide timely insights, or make sure that your audience understands your message.
But if your goal is simply to be present, ambiguity—as opposed to clarity—has virtues that can be integral to relating to others. University of Southern Florida professor Eric Eisenberg has spent the better part of his career studying how people can use ambiguity strategically when communicating. He's found that when a message is phrased purposefully ambiguously, two simultaneous effects occur.
First, people think about the message more, trying to intuit meaning from it, and they focus their attention on the sender. Second, they begin making their own interpretations, forming opinions about what it means and what the important parts of the message are. In both ways, ambiguity captures people's attention and focuses it exactly where digitally minded strategic communicators want them to: on them.
Of course, if every message was designed to provoke curiosity, your audience would begin to tune them out quickly. You may have experienced that tuned-out response to advertising that promises to give you the best and most amazing solution to some intractable problem—often, once you pay a substantial fee.
The takeaway here is that thinking about someone and focusing attention on them in intense bursts, even if periodically, has the positive effect of making that person feel more immediately present.
3. Communicate on their timeline, not yours
One of the key reasons establishing presence is so important in the digital realm is because people's attention is being commanded by many other people and information sources. When you're out of sight, it's easy for all those other distractions to fill the space someone might have devoted to thinking about you.
Digital advertising has offered one solution to overcoming this problem from which we can all learn: timing influences when people are likely to be more or less receptive. If you want to reach someone whose attention is under assault from many other sources, you have the highest odds of doing so when they are primed to listen to your digital communication.
Our work has shown, however, that most people do just the opposite—they communicate with others when it's easiest for themselves, not when it's best for others. Chances are that some of the people you work with are in different time zones… creat[ing] opportunities for what we call attention misalignment across work sites.
Small adjustments, such as waiting an hour or so to send an email, can make a big difference in how your digital communications do or do not establish presence with your remote coworkers.
Tsedal Neeley is the Naylor Fitzhugh Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School and an award-winning scholar, teacher, and expert on virtual and global work.
Paul Leonardi is the Duca Family Professor of Technology Management at University of California Santa Barbara and an expert on digital transformation and organizational change.
This is an excerpt from their new book The Digital Mindset: What It Really Takes to Thrive in the Age of Data, Algorithms, and AI.
More: Book Excerpt Remote Work Career advancement | 2022-05-16T15:06:25Z | www.businessinsider.com | 2 Professors Explain How the Best Employees Excel at Remote Work | https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-work-remotely-strengthen-online-presence-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-work-remotely-strengthen-online-presence-2022-5 |
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in Kyiv, Ukraine, on May 14, 2022.
Mitch McConnell pledged unwavering support for Ukraine in a trip to Kyiv on Saturday.
It contrasts with pro-Trump Republicans who oppose US money being used to back Ukraine.
It opens a new front in McConnell's battle against elements of the pro-Trump GOP.
In a secret visit to Kyiv on Saturday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell pledged unwavering support for Ukraine in its war against the Russian invaders.
"It's in America's interest to do this. This is not a charity we're involved in here. It's in our interests to help Ukrainians just like it's in the interest of NATO countries. So this is not some handout," McConnell told reporters after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Yet it's a position that again places McConnell at odds with the pro-Trump, isolationist wing of the Republican Party with which he has clashed repeatedly.
The House of Representatives passed a new $40 billion military and economic aid package for Ukraine last week, despite 57 Republicans from the MAGA wing of the party voting against it.
It appeared to show a hardening of opinion, as two months ago only three Republicans opposed a similar aid bill.
The latest bill was prevented from passing the Senate on Friday when GOP Sen. Rand Paul blocked expedited passage, putting the measure through a longer process than is likely to play out this week.
Politico, citing GOP sources, said that around half a dozen Senate Republicans would vote against the bill — nowhere near enough to block it, but a significant show of dissent.
GOP candidates on the mid-term campaign trail are also seeking to stir hostility to large Ukraine aid packages, with Trump-endorsed Ohio Senate candidate JD Vance criticizing his Democratic opponent for backing aid while communities at home are "decimated."
The division between Republicans over Ukraine was exemplified in an exchange of tweets between Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Rep Dan Crenshaw last week, in which Greene accused him of backing a "proxy war" of no benefit to Americans, and Crenshaw accused Greene of pushing Kremlin propaganda.
Greene later seized on McConnell's visit, claiming that Ukraine clearly didn't need military help because its capital was safe enough for McConnell to visit.
It's not the first time McConnell has found himself at odds with the GOP's MAGA faction, particularly on the issue of Trump's accountability for the Jan 6 insurrection.
So far their hostility has not loosened McConnell's hold over the Senate GOP. McConnell said that he expected that the Ukraine aid bill would be approved by the Senate on Wednesday.
"There have always been isolationist voices in the Republican Party, and there were prior to World War II, and that's perfectly alright," McConnell said Saturday. "This is a debate worth having. It's an important subject. And I think one of the lessons we learned from World War II is not standing up to aggression early. It's a huge mistake."
More: Mitch McConnell Republican Party MAGA Isolationism | 2022-05-16T15:06:31Z | www.businessinsider.com | Rift Opens Between McConnell and MAGA GOP Over Ukraine | https://www.businessinsider.com/rift-opens-between-mcconnell-and-maga-gop-over-ukraine-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/rift-opens-between-mcconnell-and-maga-gop-over-ukraine-2022-5 |
Here are the stocks ditched by Tiger Cubs last quarter — and which companies they pumped newly freed-up capital into
Daniel Sundheim, Founder and Chief Investment Officer of D1 Capital Partners speaks during the 2019 Sohn Investment Conference.
Hedge funds like D1 and Coatue struggled in the first quarter.
New filings show which stocks these growth funds sold out of last quarter.
For many, it was cutting bait on long-time positions in the tech sector.
A hellacious quarter for growth funds' bottom lines also meant that many managers had to sell out of long-time favorites.
As interest rates rise, once-high-flying growth companies have suffered, and the hedge fund managers who made a fortune off of them were forced to make a tough decision.
For many, the decision was to sell.
New filings tracking the portfolios of the largest equity managers show the churn. Here are some of the big names so-called Tiger Cubs sold out of as of the end of March this year. The list is not exhaustive but reflects some of the buzziest and biggest stocks that have been hit so far in 2022.
Dan Sundheim's D1 Capital had sold out of its large stakes in JD.com, Carvana, and Toast.
Philippe Laffont's Coatue Management ditched its shares of Didi, Snap, and Affirm.
Lee Ainslie's Maverick Capital no longer owns any shares of ecommerce platform Sea Limited, software company Confluent, and Activision.
Glen Kacher's Light Street Capital shed its holdings in Facebook parent Meta, Netflix, and Toast.
Performance for these managers at these growth-focused managers has not ticked up since the end of the first quarter however, as April was disastrous for many funds, especially Chase Coleman's Tiger Global. At Sundheim's D1 Capital, investors in the share class with 50% of their capital in private investments had a 3.2% decline in April and a 19% loss for the year.
These funds, led by investors that worked under the legendary trader Julian Robertson or one of his spin-off firms, did not leave the tech sector altogether after the first quarter.
D1 made big bets on Microsoft and Atlassian.
Coatue increased its stake in Peloton, Square, and Uber by hundreds of millions of dollars.
Maverick invested more than $19 million in Coupa Software.
Light Street now has a $29 million stake in software company Samsara.
This story is being updated as more filings are released.
NOW WATCH: Netflix is headed for a huge profit milestone in 2018 | 2022-05-16T16:37:16Z | www.businessinsider.com | Growth Hedge Funds Abandoned Long-Time Holdings Like JD, Netflix | https://www.businessinsider.com/growth-hedge-funds-tiger-cubs-abandon-stocks-jd-netflix-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/growth-hedge-funds-tiger-cubs-abandon-stocks-jd-netflix-2022-5 |
Glennon Doyle's memoir 'Untamed' had helped me embrace some major changes in my life — here's why I recommend reading it, even though it's been years since it first published
'Untamed,' Glennon Doyle's bestselling memoir, came out in 2020 but still resonates with me today. Here's why I keep rereading this book.
"Untamed" is Glennon Doyle's third memoir and has been a bestseller since it came out in 2020.
It reads like a self-help book and I still think of Doyle's advice often.
Here are three reasons I recommend this book, from Doyle's writing style to the advice itself.
The Dial Press "Untamed" by Glennon Doyle.
I enjoy reading self-help books and memoirs, but very few have stayed with me after I turned the final pageー until I read "Untamed" by Glennon Doyle.
My long-anticipated library copy of "Untamed" came to me at a very uncertain time of my life. I was just months away from changing careers, moving across the country, and marrying my spouse. It felt like I was starting over and to be honest, I was terrified.
I opened "Untamed" without knowing who Glennon Doyle was or knowing what this book would hold for me. What I found was the unflinchingly honest story of a woman allowing herself to be free, told through deeply personal anecdotes and snippets of wisdom that I still think about today.
"Untamed" was released in March 2020 but is still ranking on Amazon's bestseller list, was one of the most-read books on Goodreads last year, and is one of Libro.fm's bestselling audiobooks of all time. None of this comes as a surprise to me, as I've gone back to this memoir many times since I first read it, highlighting new passages each time.
Here are three reasons "Untamed" has resonated with me for years:
1. It's more of a self-help book than a memoir.
The first part of "Untamed" makes a case for how we are born into society's metaphorical cages that teach us how to act, what to say, who to love, and who to be.
We are taught to be quiet, stifle our emotions, dream realistically, and fit the status quo, but many of these cages keep us from ever truly knowing ourselves or living freely, offering instead a life of elusive discontent that we avoid by drinking, convincing ourselves that "good enough" is good enough, or simply never looking straight at our problems because they're too much to bear.
In part two, Doyle offers four keys to unlocking these cages: Feel It All, Be Still And Know, Dare to Imagine, and Build and Burn. These essentially translate to: Feelings are meant to be felt, you need to trust yourself, discontent is a sign you're in the wrong place, and new construction can only come from deconstruction.
Katherine Fiorillo, from Glennon Doyle's 'Untamed'
As Doyle identifies these keys, it's as if she's putting words to all the fears we have about what lies just beyond our reach, whether that's sobriety or a new career or leaving a stable but dissatisfying relationship.
Change is hard, full of unknowns, and absolutely scary. Reading about these cages and the keys helped me identify exactly what was challenging about my upcoming changes. Leaving my career in the military to pursue writing meant listening to my heart when it told me I was in the wrong place. Defending that decision to others was its own battle, especially when I wasn't sure it would actually work out.
Doyle's "keys" helped me see that the discontent I felt was not something to be ignored. It was the embers of a fire I needed to fan, not stamp out.
2. Doyle articulates her advice in a profound and memorable way.
Doyle's chapters about her four keys resonate with me the most, but almost every chapter has a small or profound lesson to share, from insight into how we mentally cage young boys just as much as young girls to the acceptance that faith has many forms and changes throughout our lives.
Making monumental life changes meant I've felt (and still feel) a lot of doubt, but whenever I re-open "Untamed," I feel grounded again. By revisiting Doyle's words, I'm reminded of the path I want to be on and that I have the power to take myself to where I want to be.
I have countless passages highlighted but this quote, more than any other, settled the anxiety of change and I've thought of it so many times in moments of doubt or failure.
It's made me feel like walking away from my old life was okay, because it meant I was headed toward something better.
3. Doyle's story is unique, but nearly every reader can see themselves reflected in it.
In Glennon Doyle's second memoir "Love Warrior," she chronicles how her husband's infidelity brought out the warrior in her. On that very book tour, she announced she was leaving him for Abby Wambach, a now-retired American soccer player.
This memoir isn't so much about Doyle discovering that she was queer, but how allowing herself to fall in love with Abby was one of the many ways she freed herself from her cages. She also talks about her journeys with sobriety, eating disorders, parenthood, and friendship, tying each of them back to the lessons she's learned about being free and authentic.
There are a few cheesy anecdotes that are certainly skewed by Doyle's occasional rose-colored glasses, but they are few and far between. But overall, Doyle has an amazing way of drawing you in with her vulnerability, letting readers get lost in her stories and feel like the advice is specifically meant for them. It helps readers like myself see how her advice can apply to our own situations and empower us to reach for our own authentic lives, no matter how imperfect the journey may be.
"Untamed" has a message for everyone and I continue to find Glennon Doyle's advice ringing true in my own life again and again. This book is for anyone who feels a gnawing discontent and is looking for a way forward, but I would recommend it to anyone who is looking to ground themselves and live a more authentic life.
More: Insider Reviews 2022 Insider Picks Learning Books
Untamed | 2022-05-16T16:37:22Z | www.businessinsider.com | 'Untamed' by Glennon Doyle Review: Why I Still Reread This Memoir | https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/learning/untamed-glennon-doyle-review | https://www.businessinsider.com/guides/learning/untamed-glennon-doyle-review |
L-R: Alphonso Nathan, Angela Robinson, and Donna McGeorge.
Many professionals have grown weary with the mentality that constantly working is a good thing.
Insider spoke with two counselors and a productivity coach for tips on unlearning hustle culture.
They say it's crucial to learn to say no, prioritize downtime and rest, and avoid multitasking.
"Hustle culture" is the belief that we're meant to burn the candle at both ends in order to be successful in our careers. It's a mentality that can push professionals to the edge of burnout and exhaustion. What's more, it's especially concentrated and internalized by millennials.
"Hustle culture is driven by surviving," Alphonso Nathan, a Philadelphia-based counselor and co-owner of psychiatric practice Brightside Medical Associates, told Insider. "When you're in survival mode, the fear of not having makes you want to hustle even more."
But despite the prevalence of hustle culture, more and more people are rebuking the "grind" mentality in favor of jobs with a healthier routine. According to a Prudential survey of 2,000 people, one-third of respondents who'd switched jobs during the pandemic took less pay in exchange for better work-life balance.
How hustle culture has been internalized by a generation of professionals
The reasons for internalizing hustling are varied, Nathan said. On one hand, it can be absorbed from our environment.
"We see celebrities and influencers making substantial amounts of money … praising entrepreneurship, and sometimes even degrading the 'working class' to feel that they aren't working hard enough," Nathan said.
On the other hand, the urge to constantly be working can also stem from childhood, said Angela Robinson, a licensed professional counselor and clinical director at NorthNode Group Counseling. "The culture of growing up in despair can cause a person to go into hustle overdrive in order to gain a level of security," Robinson told Insider.
Job security and the fear of being let go can also cause some professionals to feel the need to go above and beyond at all times. "We see that a 'hustle' can give a sense of ownership," or security with a job, Robinson said, which can allow the person "to maintain a sense of control" that they're doing what they need to to stay employed and keep their career on track.
How 'living for work' leads to professional burnout
Since hustle culture is driven by a need to work, it can similarly diminish the importance of downtime, taking breaks, and creating a social life and having hobbies outside of work. This can cause some professionals to over-rely on their job for their sense of identity and self-worth.
Embracing work-life balance can help you spend your time doing more things that you love outside of work and inspire reflection as to whether or not your work life is truly fulfilling.
Here are six steps that counselors Nathan and Robinson and career coach Donna McGeorge recommended taking to unlearn hustle culture and improve your wellbeing.
1. Protect your time and energy
The first step is to realize that constantly being "on" doesn't mean you're productive, productivity coach and author Donna McGeorge said. In fact, taking breaks and prioritizing rest has been shown to boost productivity.
McGeorge suggested scheduling protected time in your day to "stop, breathe, and take stock." This can be as simple as protecting just one hour a day by scheduling a self-check-in — time when you can defuse and reflect on what's sapping your energy "so that you can respond positively to, and even take advantage of, changing circumstances," McGeorge said.
"The hustle mentality can have you multitasking at a high level but not completing anything — or worse, completing everything below your capabilities," Nathan said.
Multitasking has been tied to decreased attention spans and poor memory function. Instead of doing five things at once, focus on one task at a time.
"Making a running task list can be helpful," Nathan said. "As you complete one thing, check it off on your list. It's a boost of dopamine to your brain to know that you successfully completed something."
3. Wipe the slate clean
There's a sense of overwhelm that comes with constant hustling — your brain is in a constant fight or flight response mode, which can lead to prolonged spikes in cortisol, the stress hormone.
Getting these overwhelming or intrusive thoughts out of your head can help. McGeorge said one of the best ways to do so is by writing, whether journaling or making lists, and using a pen and paper for the best results. Writing has been shown to help relieve anxiety, combat intrusive thoughts, reduce depressive symptoms, all of which can be indicators of burnout.
"Do a 'wipe the mind' every morning where you download everything that's on your mind from your head to a notebook," McGeorge said. "It's to get everything out of your head so you don't have to hold on to it."
When we're in a hustle mentality, "we think that we have to say 'yes' to everything and try to make it work," Nathan said, which can lead to being overworked.
To say "no" effectively, learn to simultaneously ask for help and make your needs known. If your boss puts another project on your desk that you don't have time for, for example, Nathan suggested the following response: "Hi, I'm actually swamped right now and I've hit my capacity as far as my workload is concerned. Would you mind if I ask a coworker to tag-team this project instead?"
5. Define your own needs and values
With social media inundating us with ads and influencers that glamorize the grind of hustling, it's easy to confuse or lose touch with our own values.
A journaling exercise can help you "explore what learned behaviors have been generationally passed down or learned from society," Robinson said, which can help you separate what you're told to want — i.e., a lucrative job — with what you may personally want — i.e., a job that offers a healthy and supportive work-life balance.
To start, write down self-sabotaging thoughts or behaviors, such as feelings of imposter syndrome or minimizing your accomplishments to coworkers. Consider where these feelings are coming from and whether they're beneficial to your personal and career growth.
Instead of feeding into feelings of inadequacy, consider what you can do to improve each feeling, such as taking an online course to strengthen a certain skill or networking more proactively to be more confident among colleagues.
If you feel that you're nearing burnout, Robinson said it's important to talk to a therapist. "They will give you a third-person perspective and help you analyze any behavioral patterns that are an issue," she said.
At the end of the day, even if you struggle with hustle culture, remember that you're of no good to yourself, your employer, or your loved ones if you're burned out, Nathan said.
"Just like on an airplane," Nathan said, "You have to put your own mask on before you help anyone else with theirs."
More: Careers Burnout Strategy hustle culture | 2022-05-16T16:37:34Z | www.businessinsider.com | 6 Tips to Unlearn Hustle Culture, According to Workplace Experts | https://www.businessinsider.com/hustle-culture-how-to-unlearn-burnout-workplace-counselors-advice-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/hustle-culture-how-to-unlearn-burnout-workplace-counselors-advice-2022-5 |
GOP candidate Kathy Barnette reportedly marched alongside a member of the Proud Boys on January 6.
Her team told NBC she has no connection to the group and didn't engage in violence at the Capitol.
Several members of the Proud Boys, a hate group, have faced prosecution following Jan. 6.
Pennsylvania GOP Senate Kathy Barnette marched alongside a member of the Proud Boys on January 6, 2021, according to an NBC News report.
Barnette's attendance at the "Stop the Steal" rally that preceded the Capitol siege was previously known, but the report illustrates the extent of her activity in Washington before the insurrection. NBC News reports that there is no evidence that Barnette breached the Capitol or engaged in violence.
Barnette is surging in the polls in the closing days of Pennsylvania's closely watched primary that will be held on Tuesday. Former President Donald Trump and his allies have sought to raise concerns about Barnette's chances of winning a general election that could decide the US Senate majority. Trump's pick, Dr. Mehmet Oz, has spent months in an increasingly personal clash with former hedge fund manager David McCormick, potentially opening the door to a third option like Barnette.
In a statement to NBC, Barnette's campaign distanced her from the Proud Boys. A fringe, far-right group, federal prosecutors have alleged that multiple members of the hate group conspired to obstruct Congress from formally declaring Joe Biden as the winner of the 2020 presidential election.
"Kathy was in DC to support President Trump and demand election accountability," Barnette's campaign said in a statement. "Any assertion that she participated in or supported the destruction of property is intentionally false. She has no connection whatsoever to the proud boys."
The Barnette campaign did not immediately return Insider's request for comment.
Barnette's presence at the "Stop the Steal' rally highlights the hold that Trump's election lies have on the GOP. She and state-Sen. Doug Mastriano, the frontrunner in the Republican Party's gubernatorial race, were both in Washington and attended the rally on January 6.
They are among the more than 30 people who attended the rally who are running for office this November, CBS News previously reported. Just last week, one of those candidates, businessman Charles Herbster, lost his chance at becoming Nebraska's next governor.
Barnette and Mastriano have been running as an unofficial ticket in the Republican primaries.
Both candidates have also barred the press from their public events, often with those blocking media access declining to identify themselves as members of the campaign or security.
More: Kathy Barnette Pennsylvania 2022 midterms Republican Party | 2022-05-16T16:37:40Z | www.businessinsider.com | Kathy Barnette Marched With Proud Boys Member on Jan. 6: Report | https://www.businessinsider.com/kathy-barnette-january-6-photos-pennsylvania-senate-republican-primary-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/kathy-barnette-january-6-photos-pennsylvania-senate-republican-primary-2022-5 |
Petko Ninov/Getty Images
The New York Times reports that millennials and Gen Zers aren't saving for the future.
Instead, they're spending on the now — from dinners out to new apartments to hobbies.
Both generations have dealt with economic instability, and stare down the existential threat of climate crisis.
Between two recessions, a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic, the climate crisis, and yet another new war, America's youngest adults have already experienced a lot of trauma — and a lot of economic tumult.
As people across the country have their own Great Realizations about work, the youngest workers seem to have decided that there's not much merit in saving up for an uncertain future. Instead, as Anna P. Kambhampaty reports for the New York Times, millennials and Gen Zers — roughly ages 26 to 41 — are spending money on things that bring meaning to their lives.
In fact, a Fidelity retirement planning survey of about 2,600 adults found that 45% of "next gen" — defined as 18 to 35-year-olds — "don't see a point in saving until things return to normal."
A grim economic outlook
For some Gen Zers, "normal" may be more of a vibe than something they've experienced. Just one subset of the generation has ever experienced what higher-education and work life were like in a pre-pandemic world.
And Millennials were already staring at a bleak economic picture pre-pandemic. In 2019, they were dealing with all-time-high student debt, reduced purchasing power, high-priced housing, and skyrocketing healthcare and childcare costs. While their ranks were large, their savings were low — much lower than boomers.
Then, came 2020. Gen Z was hit the hardest by the pandemic, with school, life, jobs, and dating all disrupted. Unemployment was high, and mental health was deteriorating. For millennials, it was yet another recession and road stop amidst 20 years of continual economic pummeling.
As a result, the young workers Kambhampaty spoke to said they were foregoing prudent saving to experience the meaning of life. For some, that was spending more out on dinners with friends or music festivals, or on the hobbies that spark joy. Others decided to toss aside their overly cautious old lives by relocating. If homeownership isn't an option — which it increasingly wasn't for at least a quarter of millennials — at least they could tap their savings for rentals in a dream city.
While job recovery has been robust — scarred millennials can take solace in the fact that the US is recovering far faster than it did from the Great Recession — that doesn't wipe out the myriad other problems facing the youngest workers.
Prices overall are still hovering near 41-year-highs. Pandemic rent deals are ending. While pay is on the rise, and Gen Z is driving the Great Reshuffle, many raises will still get eaten up by inflation.
And a climate crisis, to boot
Then there's the generations' existential attitude.
A UN report found that the world can still turn around climate change in the next 10 years — but it will require an immense amount of political action and funding. Without that action, climbing temperatures could imperil 3.6 billion people, according to the UN, with cities flooded, water scarce, and hunger on the rise.
That's something that's been top of mind for both millennials and Gen Z. A third of 18 to 29-year-olds polled by Insider in 2019 said that "climate change should be a factor in a couple's decision about whether to have children." Meanwhile, as boomers worried about inflation eating up how much they had saved up, Gen Zers were just as worried about climate change.
"If you have an apocalyptic vision of the future, why would you save for it?" Financial psychologist Brad Klontz told the New York Times. "Of course you wouldn't."
Considering all this, Nimarta Narang told the New York Times that finally getting to travel home to Bangkok showed her how much she had missed. She didn't want to miss out anymore — and relocated from Los Angeles to New York City, something she had "always wanted."
"I wanted to use my savings to have a life experience," Narang told the Times. "Visiting home made me see how much life I had missed."
More: Economy gen z millennial Millennial Debt
Millennial Affordability Crisis
Millennial Homeownership | 2022-05-16T16:37:46Z | www.businessinsider.com | Millennials and Gen Z Don't See the Point in Saving for the Future: NYT | https://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-gen-z-no-point-saving-climate-change-inflation-homeownership-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-gen-z-no-point-saving-climate-change-inflation-homeownership-2022-5 |
Check out the 13-slide pitch deck China's Laiye used to close its $160 million Series C round to take on UiPath in workplace automation
Laiye International CEO Ronen Lamdan.
Laiye is a workplace-automation firm that can automate repetitive manual tasks like data entry.
The company has closed $160 million in a fresh Series C raise.
Read on to view the pitch deck the firm used to raise the cash.
Laiye, China's answer to Western robotic process automation firms UiPath and Automation Anywhere, has added $70 million in fresh funding. The injection takes its Series C round to a total of $160 million.
The automation firm says it's tapping into the changing attitudes towards work by offering companies a way to unlock more productivity from its workforce.
Laiye wants to help companies automate the "hand work" and the decision-making process where there are clear patterns to free up more time for workers to do more productive work, Ronen Lamdan, CEO of Laiye's international business unit, told Insider.
It's a potentially $2 trillion-dollar opportunity in the US. That's the amount in wages that are paid to individuals who are performing work that could be automated, according to a McKinsey report published in 2017.
In today's context, that manifests itself in the Great Resignation, and China's "lie flat" movement, where workers are quitting jobs in droves to reject the rat race, said Lamdan.
"Why would you use a human where an intelligent robot can do [the same]? When you can take that person and have them service the customer, grow the business?" he said.
Laiye was founded in 2015 by Arvid Guanchun Wang and Yichuan Hu, both Ph.D. students who studied artificial intelligence at Princeton University and University of Pennsylvania, respectively. Wang is Laiye's CEO, and Hu is chief technology officer. It's the founders' second venture, after having sold their first startup Jinwankansha to Chinese search and AI giant Baidu.
Some of the technologies Laiye is focused on include deep learning, reinforcement learning, robotic process automation (RPA), natural language processing (NLP), and personalized recommendations.
Beijing-based Laiye has about 650 employees, with about 100 of them based outside of China. It also has offices in Southeast Asia, the UK, Sweden, Germany, Spain, Brazil, Mexico, and "a very small presence in the United States," Lamdan said.
Its main rivals in the US would include RPA firm UiPath, which floated on the NYSE in April 2021. Another US competitor, Automation Anywhere, was valued at $6.8 billion after a $290 million funding injection in 2019.
Laiye offers "out-of-the-box artificial-intelligence models" that can help companies solve some of its work processes that affect customers the most, said Lamdan.
For example, insurance companies currently need a lot of people to process insurance claims, and the work is often repetitive, he said. For banks, they need to employ workers to process invoices and to process loans, Lamdan added.
Laiye's clients include well-known companies such as KPMG, Deloitte, AstraZeneca, and Lenovo. It also serves mid-market firms, said Lamdan.
The exec acknowledged that customers occasionally have concerns about data security. Firms operating in China are at risk of having data seized by the government.
"As long as they know their data is protected or resident in a certain territory that adheres to compliance and kept securely," clients are comfortable with Laiye, said Lamdan. Laiye currently has data centers in Singapore and the UK, he said.
Laiye's Series C investment was led by HOPU Magnolia, and co-leads Youshan Capital and VMS Group. Others include existing investors Lightspeed China Partners and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
With the funds, Laiye wants to expand outside China. It also wants to acquire new technology, with the most recent purchase being Mindsay, a Paris-based enterprise chatbot and voicebot platform.
Read on to view the pitch deck that helped Laiye bag its additional $70 million from investors:
More: Features Laiye artificial intellgence | 2022-05-16T16:37:52Z | www.businessinsider.com | Pitch Deck: Automation Startup Laiye Raises $160 Million Series C | https://www.businessinsider.com/pitch-deck-china-laiye-bags-160m-develop-work-automation-technology-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/pitch-deck-china-laiye-bags-160m-develop-work-automation-technology-2022-5 |
Repegging of stablecoin Tether shows cash is king in a cryptocurrency crisis
Tether has again re-pegged to the US dollar, helping the company deftly maneuver this week's crypto crisis.
The crypto meltdown and the drastically different outcomes for Tether and UST call digital trust into the spotlight.
The news: Tether, the world's largest stablecoin, has regained its peg to the US dollar after falling to $0.95 earlier this week and facing $3 billion in redemptions, per CNBC.
How stablecoins work: Stablecoins are forms of digital currency whose value is relative to the value of a national currency or other asset. Some of the most prominent stablecoins, such as Tether, USD Coin, and TerraUSD (UST), are pegged to the US dollar, meaning one coin represents one US dollar. The purpose of a stablecoin is to make transacting in digital currencies easier from blockchain to blockchain while ensuring the currency retains its value.
To keep their value stable, the coins are generally backed by some type of asset, usually an actual US dollar or other short-term cash equivalent.
Some coins, like UST, are backed by an algorithm that props up the value of the currency with another digital currency—like LUNA in UST's case.
The bigger picture: The recent volatility in the cryptocurrency markets spooked droves of investors this week, causing many to withdraw their assets from the system.
The sudden influx of withdrawal requests made it difficult for UST to maintain its peg to $1.
The volatility of the backing asset, LUNA, made it difficult for Terraform Labs, the creator company, to honor the withdrawal requests.
Fears of contagion started to materialize when the world's largest stablecoin, Tether, also strayed from its $1 peg. But Tether differs from UST because it's backed by cash. As investors withdrew their assets from the system, the company's cash reserves were able to meet the demand.
Where are we now? Tether has again re-pegged to the US dollar. The cash reserves allowed the company to satisfy $3 billion in withdrawal requests in a 24-hour period and stabilize the coin.
By contrast, UST was unable to control the volatility of its backing currency and temporarily halted trading by turning off the blockchain. Trading has since resumed, but UST's value has not re-pegged to the US dollar.
What really happened?: The crypto meltdown this week and the drastically different outcomes for Tether and UST call digital trust into the spotlight. Here's how Tether was able to swim, rather than sink:
After being fined for using less-liquid commercial debt to back the Tether stablecoin, Tether pledged transparency and built up its cash reserves.
Those cash reserves allowed it to be flexible during this week's crisis and satisfy all withdrawal requests.
Here's how UST sank:
UST is backed by a synthetic currency, LUNA, that is vulnerable to volatility.
As the price of LUNA became more volatile, investors raced to pull assets out of the system to preserve their wealth.
The overwhelming number of requests could not be satisfied because the value of LUNA dipped so low that it could not confidently peg the value of UST to $1.
As Terraform Labs failed to pull enough LUNA from the system to satisfy the withdrawal requests, the price of UST plummeted. Terraform Labs ultimately called a trading halt to stop the bleeding.
The big takeaway: The emphasis on digitization in finance is undeniable, but companies must learn to balance the line of technological innovation and consumer trust. Our Banking Digital Trust Report highlights the threats to consumer trust posed by cybercrime, breaches, and PR disasters. Investors' trust has been shaken by the events of the past week. Now more than ever, they will question the stability of a digitally-backed stablecoin, and demand transparency about its liquidity . The cash-backed stablecoin Tether, which came out of the week relatively unscathed, will retain consumers' trust. But UST, backed by crypto assets and stabilized through a convoluted process, looks to be on the verge of failure. Terraform Labs will struggle to regain the faith of investors. | 2022-05-16T16:38:04Z | www.businessinsider.com | Stablecoin Tether Regains Its Footing While TerraUSD Falls | https://www.businessinsider.com/stablecoin-tether-regains-its-peg-to-us-dollar-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/stablecoin-tether-regains-its-peg-to-us-dollar-2022-5 |
UK government hardly reprimanded ex-minister Steve Brine who broke lobbying rules, letter shows
Steve Brine during the First International Congress on Golf and Health at the Houses of Parliament on October 17, 2018 in London, England.
Andrew Redington/R&A/R&A via Getty Images
Steve Brine MP broke lobbying rules by contacting his former department for an employer.
The government's response was merely to send a letter to Brine, a former health minister.
Campaigners say it shows the limited interest Boris Johnson's officials have in enforcing the rules.
The UK government responded to one of its former ministers breaking its standards rules by issuing a vague warning that it could harm his career or rule him out of winning honours, a letter acquired by Insider shows.
Steve Brine, a Conservative MP and former health minister, was the subject of the letter, which campaigners said typified the limp UK response to rule-breaking at the top of government.
The letter, obtained under Freedom of Information law, concerns a breach of "revolving door" rules designed to stop former ministers from cashing in on their experience by lobbying.
The Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (ACOBA), which examines former ministers' post-government work, found Brine breached the rules by arranging meetings between an employer and health ministers.
Brine worked in the health department until March 2019, but in September 2020 took up a £1,666-a-month job with Sigma, a pharmaceutical firm.
Brine did not consult ACOBA before taking the role, another breach of the rules.
Brine organised and hosted appearances at a Sigma seminar by then-health ministers Nadhim Zahawi and Matt Hancock in June and July 2021. The firm went on to win a £100,000 government contract to deliver lateral flow tests to pharmacies.
ACOBA's only ability to punish wrong-doing is to write a letter to the government and publish it along with the government's reply, which Insider obtained.
The government response was to write to Brine noting ACOBA's finding and suggesting that the breach might harm his ability to get future ministerial roles or feature on official honours lists.
In practice, breaking ACOBA rules has not proved to be of much harm to MPs. Boris Johnson returned backbench MP George Freeman to a ministerial position earlier last year despite Freeman having breached the rules after serving as a minister.
Some figures, including ACOBA chair Lord Pickles, have called for greater powers to punish wrongdoing.
Such reform was not mentioned in last week's Queen's speech which outlined the government's legislative priorities for the new parliamentary session.
Susan Hawley is executive director at Spotlight on Corruption, a anti-corruption campaigning charity. She said the omission of standards reform in the Queen's speech was "alarming."
Hawley told Insider: "Breaches of ACOBA's business rules need to attract more than a stern letter if they're ever to be taken seriously. It is high time that the government got on with introducing the reforms that Boardman and the Committee on Standards in Public Life have called for, including mending how the revolving door is policed.
"The resounding silence in the Queen's speech about the government's intention to implement these reforms is alarming. The ongoing drip-feed of scandals about politicians acting without integrity and ignoring the rules is hugely damaging to our democracy."
The Cabinet Office declined to comment. Brine did not respond to a request for comment.
Read the letter in full here
More: UK Politics News UK ACOBA | 2022-05-16T16:38:10Z | www.businessinsider.com | UK Govt Went Easy on Ex-Minister Brine Lobbying Rule Breach: Letter | https://www.businessinsider.com/uk-barely-reprimands-brine-lobbying-rule-breach-letter-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/uk-barely-reprimands-brine-lobbying-rule-breach-letter-2022-5 |
What the 'last seen' status on WhatsApp means, and how to turn yours off
WhatsApp tracks when you last used it.
The "last seen" message on WhatsApp tells you how long it's been since that user logged in.
If their status says "online," it means that they're using WhatsApp right now.
You can use the Privacy menu to change who's allowed to see your "last seen" message.
Plenty of websites and apps have "last seen" features, and they all serve a similar purpose: To let you know who's an active user, and who hasn't thought about the app in months.
What 'last seen' means on WhatsApp
If you're in a one-on-one conversation with someone on WhatsApp, you might see a message at the top of the screen that says last seen at. This message shows you the last time that the person you're chatting with logged into WhatsApp.
If they've logged on within the past day, it'll tell you the exact time they last used WhatsApp. If it's been longer than that, it'll give you the full date.
You’ll find the status underneath their name.
Meta; William Antonelli/Insider
On the other hand, if it just says Online, it means that user is logged into WhatsApp right at that moment. And if it says Typing, it means that they're writing a message to you.
While this feature is useful for keeping tabs on your friends, it might also be more information than you're comfortable sharing. If that's the case, you can turn your own "last seen" status off.
How to turn off 'last seen' on WhatsApp
These settings will change who's allowed to see your "last seen" status. Just note that if you disable your own "last seen" status, you won't be able to see other users' statuses either. You have to share your own status to see anyone else's.
1. Open WhatsApp and tap Settings in the bottom-right corner (iPhone) or tap the three dots in the top-right and select Settings (Android).
2. Tap Account, and then Privacy.
3. Select the Last Seen option and pick who's allowed to see your status: Everyone, My Contacts, or Nobody.
Tap “Last Seen” at the top.
It'll save as soon as you pick an option.
TECH How to use disappearing messages in WhatsApp and enhance your privacy
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More: Tech How To WhatsApp WhatsApp Status WhatsApp security | 2022-05-16T16:38:22Z | www.businessinsider.com | What the Last Seen Status on WhatsApp Means | https://www.businessinsider.com/what-does-last-seen-on-whatsapp-mean | https://www.businessinsider.com/what-does-last-seen-on-whatsapp-mean |
Embattled Republican Rep. Madison Cawthorn faces a potentially difficult primary election on Tuesday.
But Trump says he deserves a "second chance" despite the 26-year-old's "foolish mistakes."
Insider recently reported on Cawthorn's political peril following a cascade of embarrassing scandals.
Republican Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina secured the endorsement of former President Donald Trump amid a growing list of scandals that threaten to imperil the 26-year-old congressman's nascent political career.
"When Madison was first elected to Congress, he did a great job," Trump wrote in a message on Truth Social, his fledgling, Twitter-alternative social media platform. "Recently, he made some foolish mistakes, which I don't believe he'll make again ... let's give Madison a second chance!"
Trump's somewhat tepid endorsement of Cawthorn stands in stark contrast to a series of "Complete and Total" endorsement statements he's released in recent days for other North Carolina Republicans, including Reps. Patrick McHenry, David Rouzer, Richard Hudson and Dan Bishop.
The former president didn't elaborate on Cawthorn's shortcomings. The freshman congressman has recently seemed to spark a new controversy every week, attempting to bring guns onto planes, potentially engaging insider trading, insinuating that his colleagues participate in cocaine-fueled orgies, and having a nude video leaked by a rival PAC.
Trump also gave a nod to the 2014 car accident that left Cawthorn paralyzed from the waist down, calling it a "life changing event" and "traumatic experience" that few will ever experience.
—Meridith McGraw (@meridithmcgraw) May 16, 2022
The endorsement comes just a day before Cawthorn is set to face Republican voters in the state's Tuesday primaries. He faces a particularly strong challenge from state Sen. Chuck Edwards, who has the backing of Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, the state's junior senator.
"I believe that people in the mountains are tired of the political rhetoric," Edwards told Insider's Camila deChalus in a recent interview. "They're tired of the grandstanding and they're looking for someone to go to Washington, DC, fight off the establishment, roll up their sleeves, and actually go to work."
Voters in Cawthorn's district have also grown tired of the antics, and former campaign volunteers have even turned on him.
"He fooled the hell out of everybody," Bruce Rose, a former campaign volunteer, told Insider. "I despise him … he is a criminal and a performer."
NOW WATCH: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was praised for her line of questioning at Michael Cohen's hearing — watch it here
More: Congress Madison Cawthorn Donald Trump North Carolina | 2022-05-16T17:08:00Z | www.businessinsider.com | Trump: Cawthorn Made 'Foolish Mistakes' but Deserves 'Second Chance' | https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-madison-cawthorn-foolish-mistakes-second-chance-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-madison-cawthorn-foolish-mistakes-second-chance-2022-5 |
Alcynna Lloyd and Joseph Zeballos-Roig
President Joe Biden unveiled a new plan to tackle rising housing costs.
The initiative aims to boost housing supply by enticing cities with federal dollars to construct more affordable units.
The goal is to close the nation's tremendous housing supply gap within the next five years.
President Joe Biden on Monday announced the White House is launching a new initiative to address the nation's worsening housing affordability crisis. It comes as their economic agenda remains stuck in neutral in Congress.
Much of the effort is centered around boosting housing supply by using federal dollars to entice cities to construct additional affordable units. The Biden administration cited a 2021 Moody's analysis that the housing shortfall amounts to 1.5 million homes.
The Administration intend to leverage existing funding from last year's infrastructure law to encourage cities to overhaul their zoning and land-use policies. It also seeks to smooth out the federal funding process for single-family and multifamily homes, and manufactured housing.
Homebuilder activity has remained lackluster as supply shortages stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic slow construction. Builders can't find basic materials like lumber or steel and it's delaying and increasing the price of construction for the millions of homes needed to meet this year's buyer demand.
The administration's plan underscores the White House's own limits to addressing the problem without Congress. The bulk of housing, land, and other regulatory decisions take place at the state and local level.
The House-approved Build Back Better plan contained $175 billion for new federal housing initiatives. But the package was squashed by Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, and Democrats can't advance a smaller bill without his support.
As Congress twiddle their thumbs, housing affordability is plummeting. Home prices grew at a double-digit annual pace of 15.6% in April while rents jumped 8.3% year over year. As the Spring homebuying season heats up, housing costs are likely to continue mounting as rising mortgage rates, inflation and a tremendous lack of housing supply put additional pressure on American wallets.
Although the Biden administration hopes to close the housing supply gap within the next five years — time may be running short for the nation's renters and buyers. As the lack of supply pushes housing prices to new highs, housing affordability has already fallen to a decade low.
More: Economy Biden Housing Housing Affordability | 2022-05-16T18:08:26Z | www.businessinsider.com | Biden's Plan to Address the Housing Affordability Crisis | https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-housing-plan-federal-funding-cities-build-more-affordable-homes-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/biden-housing-plan-federal-funding-cities-build-more-affordable-homes-2022-5 |
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson wipes away tears as Sen. Cory Booker speaks during her Supreme Court confirmation hearings on Wednesday.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images;Susan Walsh/AP
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson described why she was moved to tears during her confirmation hearing.
Sen. Cory Booker's comments about her nomination's historic nature was a "breath of fresh air," Jackson said.
Jackson will become the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court later this summer.
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson explained in a rare interview published Monday why she grew emotional when Sen. Cory Booker spoke up during her historic Supreme Court nomination hearing.
Booker's comments brought her to tears, Jackson explained in an interview with The Washington Post, because it felt like someone truly understood how grueling the process had been for her to get to that moment.
"It had been 18 hours of questioning. I was exhausted and also, in a sense, relieved — it felt like someone understood how difficult it had been and how much this particular position meant to a lot of people," she said.
Booker's emotional tribute remains a lasting moment from Jackson's hearings. The New Jersey Democrat and former presidential candidate heaped praise on Jackson and underlined the historic nature of the moment invoking famous Black women like abolitionist Harriet Tubman and Constance Baker Motley, the first Black woman to become a federal judge.
Jackson, who has called Motley one of her heroes, said that Booker's words were "a breath of fresh air." Video of the exchange shows both Jackson and Booker growing emotional. Jackson wipes away tears during part of his speech.
"That sort of aspect of it hadn't really come out very much in the hearing, and so it was a breath of fresh air, a relief in the moment that I think just led to emotion," Jackson said.
Jackson's sit down with The Post marks a rare exception to her silence since her successful confirmation. She offered only a brief take on the unprecedented leak of a draft Supreme Court opinion that would overturn abortion. A former Supreme Court clerk herself, Jackson also refused to weigh in on the merit of protests outside of justices' or whether the leak was a "good or bad thing."
"Everybody who is familiar with the court and the way in which it works was shocked by that," she said. "Such a departure from normal order."
Booker's speech came during Jackson's third and final day before lawmakers. At that point, Republicans had spent hours tearing into Jackson's record, accusing her of supporting terrorists and misleadingly suggesting that she took it easy on child pornography offenders.
"And so you faced insults here that were shocking to me, well actually not shocking," Booker said. "But you are here because of that kind of love, and nobody's taking this away from me. So you got five more folks to go through, five more of us, and then you can sit back and let us have all the debates."
Addressing Jackson directly, Booker added "I know what it's taken for you to sit in that seat.
Jackson is set to formally join the court later this summer after Associate Justice Stephen Breyer officially steps down.
More: Cory Booker Ketanji Brown Jackson Supreme Court Abortion | 2022-05-16T18:08:50Z | www.businessinsider.com | Ketanji Brown Jackson: Cory Booker's Speech 'a Breath of Fresh Air' | https://www.businessinsider.com/ketanji-brown-jackson-cory-booker-speech-confirmation-hearing-history-2022-5 | https://www.businessinsider.com/ketanji-brown-jackson-cory-booker-speech-confirmation-hearing-history-2022-5 |
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