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☆ A suspected Bay Area Christmas tree thief was filmed casually pinching a new tree from a couple's SUV and loading it onto their own car
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A Bay Area couple who tied their Christmas tree to the roof of their car had it stolen on Friday. Security footage shows a person casually cutting the ropes and loading the tree into their own car. The couple was eventually given another Christmas tree by a local business, KGO-TV reported. The San Mateo Police Department told KGO-TV that the Christmas tree case was "unique" and that the theft suspect hadn't been identified yet. AdvertisementPolice added that a local Christmas tree lot gave Jesus and his wife a new tree.

Persons: —, Jesus, Dion Lim, Scrooge isn't, Lim, hadn't Organizations: Area, KGO, Service, ABC, NBC, NBC Bay Area, San Mateo Police Department, Police Locations: San Mateo, NBC Bay

☆ While Black Friday and Cyber Monday did good, Giving Tuesday lagged
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-03 | by ( Sergio Padilla | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —Americans seemed more willing to spend money on Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but less willing to donate money on Giving Tuesday. Giving Tuesday’s decline in participation is not an isolated incident, but rather, as its organization acknowledges, part of larger trends philanthropic organizations are experiencing. According to a report by Giving USA from this past June, Americans are giving the lowest percentage of their disposable income since 1995. Americans gave just 1.7% of their disposable income in 2022, with charitable giving declining from 2021 by 3.4% to $499.3 billion, which represents an even larger decline of 10.5% when adjusted for inflation. “I think the numbers are very interesting in terms of Black Friday and Cyber Monday but they don’t tell you the whole picture,” said Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail.

Persons: “, ”, Asha Curran, Ebenezer Scrooge, Neil Saunders, ” Saunders, CNN’s Nathaniel Meyersohn, Elisabeth Buchwald Organizations: New, New York CNN, Black, CNN, GivingTuesday, United Nations Foundation, National Retail Federation, Adobe, Federal, GlobalData, Adobe Analytics, Charities Aid Locations: New York, New York City

AdvertisementAdvertisementWhen I was growing up, $100 went a long way toward paying for clothes, food, and bills. NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. download the app Email address Sign up By clicking “Sign Up”, you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . My view of money hasn't changed in decades, but this year has made me realize how I think of money is more suitable for the 70s than 2023. I'm just thankful our nieces and nephews are now adults, so there won't be long faces when we arrive at holiday parties empty-handed.

Persons: —, hasn't, I'm, didn't, It's, Scrooge Organizations: Service

I married my husband when we were both 21 years old. We sold our first house for twice what we paid for it, and I found a way to make my English degree pay. We always wait for movies to leave theaters before we see them, and we've walked miles to avoid paid parking. This mindset has saved us a lot of money through the years, even as it shifted from survival strategy to muscle memory. Because honestly, I am pretty sure those younger, hungrier versions of ourselves are the ones who got us here.

Persons: He's, it's, we've, Harry Potter Organizations: futon

My dilemma is that because they think I'm "rich", my siblings and sometimes even my parents expect me to pay for everything. How do I tell my family that I can't afford to pay for everything and I need them to step up? 4 ways to take control of your credit card debt »That said, generosity and family are some of my highest values. You asked me how to tell your family that you can't pay for everything and that you need them to step up. Still, as I am sure you know, credit card debt is often more complicated than being a shopaholic.

Persons: —, it's, Scrooge Organizations: Service Locations: San Fransisco, Kansas City

☆ Disney can play Scrooge with Florida
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Lauren Silva Laughlin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, May 18 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Walt Disney (DIS.N) isn’t mickey-mousing around. Disney’s threatened retreat from the state is meaningful, and it can get worse for the state’s leader, Governor Ron DeSantis. But overall, Disney is one of the largest employers in Florida, and a massive contributor to the tourism economy. Follow @thereallsl on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSWalt Disney is cancelling plans to build a nearly $1 billion corporate campus, according to an email to employees on Thursday. Disney parks chief Josh D'Amaro said "changing business conditions" prompted Disney to reconsider its 2021 plan to relocate employees.

☆ Breakingviews: Disney can play Scrooge with Florida
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Lauren Silva Laughlin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

☆ Tighter work requirements for welfare programs on table in debt ceiling talks - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Jarrett Renshaw | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The federal SNAP program helped 41.2 million Americans pay for food and groceries in 2022, costing taxpayers $119.4 billion, according to government data. The TANF program helps fewer than a 1 million families and costs about $16.5 billion a year, federal data shows. "The President has also been clear that he will not accept policies that push Americans into poverty. He will evaluate whatever proposals Republicans bring to the table based on those principles," White House spokesman Michael Kikukawa said in an email on Tuesday. Reporting by Jarrett Renshaw; Editing by Heather Timmons and Doina Chiacu;Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Weary Bitcoin Investors Chase Shiny New Object—Gold
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Hardika Singh | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

For three years, Mitch Day rode bitcoin’s wild swings, through the record highs of 2021 to the cold-water plunge of 2022. Mr. Day and a number of his cryptocurrency compatriots have since turned to the asset favored by pharaohs, pirates and Scrooge McDuck, helping drive an outbreak of gold fever.

☆ DeSantis and allies ramp up Disney fight as more Republicans criticize his tactics
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

DeSantis ripped Disney repeatedly this week over its recent maneuvers to thwart the governor's efforts to seize some control of the company's Orlando parks and properties. Meanwhile, his handpicked board of supervisors overseeing Disney World's special tax district increased the pressure on Disney. The board took that step two days after DeSantis floated a range of possible actions against Disney World, including developing land nearby. That legislation, dubbed "Don't Say Gay" by critics, "should never have been signed" by DeSantis, Disney said in a March 2022 statement. The state's Republican governor and GOP-held legislature targeted the special tax district that has allowed Disney to essentially govern itself for decades.

☆ DeSantis-picked board seeks new taxes and affordable housing at Disney after the company's 'blatant and hostile' grab for control
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

DeSantis' board overseeing Disney is considering new taxes, public transit, and housing. The board met for the first time since Disney's surprise maneuver. The five-member board met Wednesday for the first since Disney stealthily arranged a deal that would allow the theme park and resort to maintain control of its land, virtually in perpetuity. Much of the meeting made the legal case for the new board moving ahead, despite the maneuver Disney pulled last month. Firefighters who work for Disney's district said the previous board failed to give them the resources they needed to do their jobs, including new ambulances, even as Disney grew.

☆ Layoffs at Amazon and Salesforce point to why January is often the worst month for job cuts
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Shana Lebowitz | Rebecca Knight | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Amazon just told staff it's cutting 18,000 roles, the largest layoff in the company's history. Compass has cut staff three times in eight months, but it's best to avoid multiple rounds of layoffs. For all the layoffs that swept corporate America in the final months of 2022, this month is poised to bring even more. January is historically the worst month for layoffs, according to data from the US government. Already, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has told staff that the company would broaden its job cuts to 18,000 employees, the largest layoff in the company's history.

☆ Premarket stocks: Wall Street's dirty secret: It's terrible at forecasting stocks
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-28 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

What’s happening: Last year, Goldman Sachs analysts predicted that the S&P 500 would close out 2022 at 5,100 points. With those caveats, let’s get to Wall Street’s predictionsThe numbers: Forecasts for where the S&P 500 will finish 2023 vary greatly. Analysts overestimated the final value (that is, the final value finished below the estimate) in 13 of the 20 years and underestimated the final value (the final value finished above the estimate) in the other 7 years. They’re on track to have overestimated the performance of the S&P 500 in 2022 by nearly 40%. During this period, the S&P 500 has historically gained 1.3% on average, according to data from LPL Financial going back to 1950.

☆ Charles Dickens’s ‘A Christmas Carol’ Review: The Soul’s Rebirth
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( Brad Leithauser | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” is an evergreen delight for a host of reasons, not least for its length. The book’s events—which track the elderly, prosperous, stingy Ebenezer Scrooge’s psychic transformation from grouchy bear to purring pussycat—unfold in the course of one night. And, likewise, the book can, and should, be consumed in a single night, preferably Christmas Eve. In the book’s fictional world, Scrooge’s stunted soul is redeemed after serial visits from four ghosts, each conveying messages of fear and censure. If everything goes well, the evening’s two prime participants, Scrooge and you, wind up at the same juncture: releasing tears of joy.

☆ 4 things you didn't know about shooting a Christmas movie in the summer
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Eboni Boykin-Patterson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Pat Mills is a movie director who's directed his share of made-for-TV Christmas movies. I've directed two made-for-TV Christmas movies — "The Christmas Setup," starring Fran Drescher, which I did in 2020 for Discovery Plus, and "Designing Christmas," starring HGTV host Hilary Farr, which I shot this past spring for Lifetime. When I was offered the first movie, I admittedly I hadn't watched a lot of the Hallmark or Lifetime holiday movies. Here are a few things most people don't realize about how we fake that Christmas feeling when we shoot in the warmer months. Fake snow can be a huge drag on the budget of a made-for-TV movie.

☆ A former Disney Imagineer started out carving iconic theme-park signs from wood. Now he's a craftsman making custom works of art for Disney fans that cost $50,000 and take 350 hours.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Zoe Rosenberg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

A recent commission of a "Beauty and the Beast"-themed mantel face measuring 6 feet by 14 inches took Kinman, by his estimate, around 350 hours from August to November. 2022 — 'Beauty and the Beast' mantel face (private collection)Kinman's 'Beauty and the Beast' mantel face was for a private collection in Oregon. The other side of the mantel face depicts the characters Mrs. Potts and Chip. Here he's carving a door out of mahogany. He's also excited about a carving he's been commissioned to do of Scrooge McDuck sitting in his money room.

☆ The Fed just made its last rate hike of the year. Here's what it means and what happens next.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Fed Chair Powell took an aggressive stance at the podium Wednesday, effectively saying the central bank isn't done hiking rates. The Fed signaled it won't be taking its foot off the gas anytime soon with policy, but markets of late have been acting like a so-called Fed pivot is all but guaranteed. "Powell's very hawkish comments didn't get a very hawkish reaction from the market," Wright maintained. But the more the market ignores the Fed, the longer the Fed will have to keep monetary policy restrictive, which ultimately raises the odds of a recession. "We're likely to see head-fakes like this where the market looks for a Fed pivot," one strategist said.

☆ Netflix 'Christmas Carol' reboot 'Spirited' misses Elon Musk irony
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Ani Bundel | Ani Bundel Is A Cultural Critic Who Has Been Writing Regularly Since Her Work Can Also Be Found At Elite Daily | Weta'S Telly Visions | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

The Americanized “Spirited” is available on Apple TV+, while the British-based “Scrooge: A Christmas Carol” debuted on Netflix on Friday. Originally published in 1843, Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” was that era’s equivalent of a bestseller, with 13 editions published in the first year of print alone. (“The Muppet’s Christmas Carol,” for example, cast perpetual hero Kermit T. Frog as Cratchit rather than Scrooge.) The animation is vibrant, capturing the feel of the old Claymation-style Christmas TV specials. It is a bizarre and somewhat grotesque rewriting of the story’s moral; it's “A Christmas Carol” seen through the lens of bothsiderism.

☆ 'Violent Night' review: David Harbour delivers the goods by putting Santa Claus in 'Die Hard' mode
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Brian Lowry | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —The idea of a nasty Christmas movie is nothing new, but “Violent Night” still manages to deliver the goods, mixing “Die Hard” and “Rambo”-style action with a fair amount of hokey ho-ho-hokum. David Harbour makes a particularly good cranky, butt-kicking Santa, in a movie that offers the sort of shared experience that should bring theaters some much-needed cheer. Still, pulling off that combination of over-the-top violence, goofy comedy and (in this case) Hallmark-style meaning-of-Christmas stuff is a pretty formidable challenge, and while the setting proves slightly claustrophobic, “Violent Night” mostly overcomes it. That might not be the formula for a fun-for-the-whole-family holiday perennial, but to its credit, those sitting through “Violent Night” should rarely stay silent for long. “Violent Night” premieres December 2 in US theaters.

☆ ‘’Tis the Season: The Holidays on Screen’ Review: Duh, Humbug
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( John Anderson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Heartwarming in the worst way, CNN’s “’Tis the Season: The Holidays on Screen” is based on the very reasonable proposition that movies and TV are to the holidays what nutmeg (and bourbon) are to the eggnog. But its two-hour tour of the yuletide movie catalog is a bit like a two-hour tour of one’s own living room. Is anyone not aware that “Die Hard” is a Christmas movie? “’Tis the Season” will be a terrific special, if your sleigh just pulled in from Vladivostok. Everything is addressed, from the classics to the new and forgettable, and everything addressed is wonderful.

☆ 'Spirited' review: Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds try their hands (and feet) at musical comedy in 'A Christmas Carol' spoof
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Review Brian Lowry | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —For those wondering who would build a giant holiday musical-comedy around Will Ferrell and Ryan Reynolds, the “produced by Will Ferrell” credit provides a helpful clue. “Spirited” tries turning “A Christmas Carol” on its head, and while it’s big and boisterous, the movie (hitting theaters before Apple TV+) isn’t consistently irreverent enough to feel like much more than a streaming stocking stuffer. Of course, playing with Charles Dickens’ oft-told tale brings a lot of shorthand to the proceedings, with Ferrell as the Ghost of Christmas Present, who stumbles upon Reynolds’ fast-talking Clint Briggs, a media consultant introduced trying to commoditize Christmas. Present identifies him as a candidate to become their next “perp,” offered a Scrooge-like shot at redemption. “Spirited” premieres November 11 in select US theaters and November 18 on Apple TV+.

☆ Scrooge Christmas averted as new tree found for Vatican
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] People gather for the lightning of the Vatican Christmas tree during a ceremony in St. Peter's Square, with protocols in place due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at the Vatican, December 11, 2020. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane/File PhotoVATICAN CITY, Nov 15 (Reuters) - It could have been a not so merry Christmas for the Vatican this year. Rosello has trees but apparently not as majestic. Forest officials saved the day, offering to give Rosello a tree from their property in another part of the Abruzzo mountains so that the town can donate it to the pope. "It will be a happy Christmas after all," Col. Gianluca Grossi of the area's forest police told Reuters.

☆ Will Ferrell gets back to his Christmas ‘Elf’-ish roots alongside Ryan Reynolds in new ‘Spirited’ trailer
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Dan Heching | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

The pair headline the new Apple TV+ Christmas movie “Spirited,” for which a teaser was released on Wednesday. From there, Ferrell takes Reynolds through various settings and time periods, before introducing himself as the Ghost of Christmas Present. Spirited — Official Teaser | Apple TV+“Like ‘A Christmas Carol’?” Reynolds responds, in his trademark incredulous tone. And indeed, “Spirited” is an updated take on the classic holiday fable, with “Free Guy” star Reynolds stepping in as the initially misanthropic Ebeneezer Scrooge. “Spirited” will debut in theaters on November 11 before streaming globally on Apple TV+ on November 18.

☆ A professional actor who plays Scrooge in 'A Christmas Carol' shares what it's like to portray the infamous character every year
▼ + stars: | 2021-12-10 | by ( Emilie Murphy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Eric Fletcher is an actor at The Players Theater who plays Ebenezer Scrooge in "A Christmas Carol." He earned a BFA in theater performance before moving to New York and has been in more than 50 shows. Performance days are his favorite, and he gets in the zone as he draws the age lines onto his face. Performance days are Fletcher's favorite. He has a lot of angry and sad frown lines," Fletcher said.

My husband's a spender and I'm a saver, and that dynamic has caused fights in our 14 years together. We've developed three rules that help us discuss money and build wealth, starting with honesty. But for the majority of us, the straightforward route to sharing life's burdens with our partners means sharing everything. And that's the thing about sharing finances: Everyone feels bad all the time. Being a saver means my husband is always wary of potential financial hardships.

Persons: We've, spender, I've, Scrooge, they're Organizations: Service, Mutual Locations: Wall, Silicon

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