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☆ Furby, Is That You?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-15 | by ( Maggie Lange | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Not long after Furby’s release, the F.A.A. urged against using the toy on flights during takeoff and landing because there were concerns it would interfere with planes’ computer systems. In 1999, the National Security Agency banned Furby at its headquarters to prevent the toy, which could record and repeat audio, from capturing state secrets. “But people thought that Furby was weird because it encroached on being human,” Ms. Boyd said. Though the toy may have been unsettling to some, it found an audience: According to Hasbro, some 58 million Furbys have been sold since its release.

Persons: Kim Boyd, Furby, Ms, Boyd Organizations: National Security Agency, Hasbro Locations: mohawk

☆ Chipmaker Wolfspeed secures $1.25 bln in debt funding led by Apollo Global
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 26 (Reuters) - Wolfspeed (WOLF.N) said on Monday that a group led by Apollo Global Management (APO.N) would make a debt investment of $1.25 billion in the chipmaker, with room for an additional $750 million, to support its U.S. expansion. Wolfspeed CEO Gregg Lowe said the financing would help "scale up near-term operations at our Mohawk Valley Fab and construction of our Siler City materials facility to help us capture the growing silicon carbide market opportunity." The company in September last year had announced a multi-billion-dollar investment in a factory in Chatham County, North Carolina to make raw materials for chips that power electric vehicles, among other things. The company has the option to pay the debt early, Wolfspeed said. (This story has been refiled to add dropped word in the headline)Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru Editing by Vinay DwivediOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Gregg Lowe, Wolfspeed, Jaspreet Singh, Vinay Dwivedi Organizations: Apollo Global Management, Thomson Locations: Siler City, Chatham County , North Carolina, Bengaluru

☆ With Reversed Hind Legs and a Loose Tongue, a New Ugly Dog Champion Is Crowned
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-24 | by ( Eduardo Medina | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Perhaps it was Scooter’s resemblance to a glossy black jelly bean that earned him the title on Friday night as champion of the World’s Ugliest Dog Contest. Or maybe it was his shock-headed, mohawk-like hair — strands that stood high in defiance of gravity — that pleased the judges in Petaluma, Calif., at the Sonoma-Marin Fair. His tongue hangs loose from his mouth. His hind legs are reversed. “In the cutest way possible, he kind of reminds me of a hairy hippopotamus,” said Catherine Liang, one of the judges in the competition.

Persons: Marin Fair, ”, Catherine Liang Organizations: Sonoma, Marin, “ Locations: mohawk, Petaluma , Calif

☆ The Many Cameos of Stan Lee
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-03 | by ( George Gene Gustines | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Distinguished CompetitionMr. Lee and Marvel are irrevocably linked, but he was no stranger to working with superhero industry rivals DC Comics. From 2001 to 2002, DC released a “Just Imagine” series of stories written by Mr. Lee in which he reinterpreted Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and other heroes. A cartoon version of Mr. Lee also appeared in DC’s 2018 animated film “Teen Titans Go! In one story, Mr. Lee playfully admonishes the team for recent developments, including “Alcoholic Iron Men!” and the mohawk haircut for the X-Men’s Storm. But the original, unused photo was bolder: It was a nude picture of him with a strategically placed comic book.

Persons: Lee, ”, “ Stan Lee ”, “, Brad Meltzer, Lee’s, Eliot R, Brown, “ I’m Organizations: Marvel, DC Comics, DC, Marvel Comics, Entertainment, Hero Initiative

☆ A Venezuelan dad made a dangerous trek to the US to provide for his kids. Here’s what he encountered at an El Paso detention center
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Gloria Pazmino Norma Galeana | Gloria Pazmino | Norma Galeana | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Blanco said the first thing he and his father-in-law did when they arrived at the detention center was shower. “Some of us just slept on the floor.”With their destinies in limbo, Blanco and his father-in-law waited in the detention center, which the young man said resembled a jail. “Every day there is a list, but what you don’t know is where the list says you’re going,” Blanco said. He said he would wait for the release of his father-in-law – who was still in the detention center – before coming up with a plan on what to do next. But he said two items given to him at the detention center would help him survive: the emergency foil blanket and an orange he decided to save, just in case.

☆ New York Is Full of Empty Offices After Covid. Make Way for the Playground City. - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Edward L. Glaeser | Carlo Ratti | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +20 min

We are witnessing the dawn of a new kind of urban area: the Playground City. The transformation toward the Playground City will not happen on its own. To draw people into the Playground City, we need to show, not tell. 6.Engage citizensGovernments should empower citizens to participate directly in making the Playground City. The Playground City sees people as both a means and an end, and it should involve them in the process of its creation.

☆ Morning Bid: Fresh spur from Meta and Europe's banks
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Perhaps even more surprising, Europe's big banks are wowing the gallery too - showing limited, if any, fallout from the failure of ailing Credit Suisse at the end of the quarter. And so the glass appears half full again despite background tensions around regional U.S. banks and as wider markets brace for several weeks of a U.S. debt ceiling standoff. With Amazon reporting later, its stock rose another 2% ahead of the bell too. The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday narrowly passed a bill to raise the government's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling that includes sweeping spending cuts over the next decade. The dollar was marginally weaker, with crude oil prices struggling to recover from their latest lunge lower this week.

☆ Unlocking the ‘Rosetta Stone’ of a Dying Language
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Ian Austen | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

SIX NATIONS OF THE GRAND RIVER, Ontario — When Brian Maracle returned in his mid-40s to the Mohawk community near Toronto that he had left when he was just 5, he didn’t have a job and knew almost no one there. But perhaps the biggest challenge facing him was that he neither spoke nor understood much Kanyen’keha, the Mohawk language. More than a century of attempts by Canada’s government to stamp out Indigenous cultures had left Mr. Maracle and many other Indigenous people without their languages. Now, 30 years later, Mr. Maracle has become a champion of Mohawk, and is helping revive it and other Indigenous languages, both in Canada and elsewhere, through his transformation of teaching methods. Yet, linguistics academic conferences now feature him as a speaker.

☆ Here are Tuesday's biggest analyst calls of the day: Apple, Amazon, UPS, Netflix, WW, Disney & more
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Morgan Stanley names UnitedHealth a top pick Morgan Stanley says the healthcare company is best positioned in a recession. Morgan Stanley reiterates Netflix as equal weight Morgan Stanley said Netflix is the "streaming winner" but that it's "priced as such." Morgan Stanley downgrades Nasdaq to equal weight from overweight Morgan Stanley said that it has growth concerns for the exchange operator. JPMorgan upgrades Federated Hermes to overweight from underweight JPMorgan said the rate environment makes the capital market company's stock more attractive. Morgan Stanley upgrades AstraZeneca to overweight from equal weight Morgan Stanley said the pharmaceutical company is "leading the race" to outsmart cancer.

Mohawk Industries — Shares of the flooring manufacturer gained 5% after Loop Capital upgraded the company to buy from its previous hold rating. WisdomTree — Shares of the financial firm gained 3% after the company said it had $1.9 billion of net flows in March. New York Community Bancorp — Shares of the regional bank gained 2.7% after Jefferies upgraded the stock to buy from hold. LendingClub — The lending stock gained 5% after JPMorgan initiated coverage of the stock at overweight. Murphy Oil — The natural gas company's shares gained 2.6% after Truist upgraded shares to buy from hold.

☆ Police identify two among eight dead trying to enter U.S. from Canada
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 1 (Reuters) - Police in Canada on Saturday identified two victims among eight bodies recovered from two families who died this week trying to enter the United States from Canada by boat across the St. Lawrence River. Deputy Chief Lee-Ann O'Brien said Friday the victims appeared to be from two families, one Indian and one Romanian, who were trying to the reach the United States illegally. Akwesasne police said the agreement closing all unofficial border entries, including Roxham Road in Quebec, should not have factored here because the families were seeking to go to the United States, not Canada. Last year an Indian family of four froze to death in Canada's province of Manitoba as they were trying to cross into the United States. More people have been using Akwesasne territory to furtively try to enter the United States, with 80 interceptions recorded this year, and the majority have been Indians or Romanians, said Dulude.

"Police believe one infant from the Romanian family has not been located and we'll continue searching. All are believed to have been attempting illegal entry into the U.S. from Canada," O'Brien added. Both the deceased and the missing children "were associated with the Romanian family" and had Canadian passports, which were found, O'Brien said. On Wednesday night, when the families likely sought to cross the river, the weather was poor. Reporting by Christinne Muschi in Akwesasne and Steve Scherer in Ottawa; Editing by Josie KaoOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Police recovered six bodies on Thursday and believe the tragedy may have occurred on Wednesday night. The Akwesasne reserve straddles both sides of the St. Lawrence River, with land in Ontario and Quebec on the Canadian side, and New York. To fight smuggling of people and goods, local police monitor the river full-time with funds from Quebec. On Wednesday night, when the families likely sought to cross the river, the weather was poor. Reporting by Christinne Muschi in Akwesasne and Steve Scherer in Ottawa; Editing by Josie KaoOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

People walk through the Brooklyn Bridge during a strike for climate on March 03, 2023 in New York City. Protesters demand New York State support found and pass the Climate Jobs, and Justice Package. The disadvantaged communities in New York City are located in large parts of northern Manhattan and the Bronx, as well as central Brooklyn and across the coastlines. Outside New York City, disadvantaged communities are located in regions such as Western and Central New York, the Finger Lakes, Long Island, Mohawk Valley, Mid-Hudson and the Capital Region. Communities that aren't highlighted won't be eligible for specially designated funds that will prioritize reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution in those regions.

☆ U.S. Importers Seize on New Shipping Rules to Fight Late Fees
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Paul Berger | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +6 min

U.S. importers are fighting millions of dollars in fees imposed by the world’s largest ocean carriers with the help of a new federal law and a newly emboldened regulator. He said his company, Lion Energy LLC, which imports about 800 containers a year, felt it had little power to dispute the charges. Now, Mr. Frey and hundreds of shippers like him are turning to rules set out in the Ocean Shipping Reform Act, which passed Congress in June. The new shipping law endorsed an FMC rule published in 2020. But shippers are still able to challenge fees that predate the law under earlier FMC rules.

☆ 'Insure against the worst': Goldman picks stocks for a soft — and hard — economic landing
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Ganesh Rao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Despite this challenging environment, Goldman Sachs remains optimistic and expects a "soft-landing" for the U.S. economy. 'Soft-landing' stock picks To capture the upside in a soft-landing scenario, the Wall Street bank said that investors should own stocks that can benefit from a decelerating inflation environment. What follows are the first four stocks named by Goldman Sachs in its "soft-landing portfolio." Goldman Sachs analysts expect an earnings-per-share growth of 5% for Tesla and 7% for Garmin over the next 12 months, compared to a 1% growth for the S & P 500. Goldman Sachs has previously predicted that the S & P 500 will finish the year at the same level it started —4,000 — representing a return of 0% for 2023.

☆ Morning Bid: Corporate scatter
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

A look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets from Mike Dolan. A hail of mega corporate updates distracted stock markets from a confusing macro picture - but offers little more clarity with scattergun fortunes and ambiguous readouts for the wider economy. The flub fed worries that the Google parent is losing ground to rival Microsoft (MSFT.O) in the renewed craze around artificial intelligence. European shares touched a fresh nine-month high on Thursday as Germany's Siemens and UK's AstraZeneca boosted earnings euphoria, while Britain's bank, commodity and pharma heavy FTSE100 hit another record high. Norway's $1.35 trillion sovereign wealth fund said it had recently divested virtually all its remaining shares in the Adani group.

☆ The Proud Boys crashed my story hour: A drag king recounts a joyful but 'terrifying' showdown at a NYC library
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Proud Boys protested Drag Story Hours on 18 occasions across the US last year, new data shows. 'Oliver H,' a NYC drag king, read to 50 kids during 2022's 'terrifying' but joyful final protest. Outside the library, some three-dozen Proud Boys, neo-Nazis, and religious activists were shouting "groomer!" Drag performer Oliver H prepares for Drag Story Hour at Queens Public Library in Jackson Heights on December 29, 2022. See Insider's interactive US map of what happened each of the 53 times the Proud Boys joined or led anti-LGBTQ+ protests last year.

☆ Anti-LGBTQ+ protests are at an all-time high. A Proud Boys war on drag is a big reason why.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Once a week on average in 2022, Proud Boys joined or led anti-LGBTQ+ protests held across the US. Proud Boys joined in seven anti-LGBTQ+ protests in September, 10 in October and 6 in November. In December, they protested at 13 anti-LGBTQ+ protests, more than in any other month last year, ACLED data shows. And the group's anti-LGBTQ+ push is continuing, said Kaufman, who tracks the Proud Boys' estimated 119 chapters in 46 states. Proud Boys are turning up these days at nearly half of all anti-LGBTQ+ activity across the country, she told Insider.

☆ Earnings and Fed Chair Powell will again drive markets in the week ahead
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Patti Domm | In | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

With few economic releases and the earnings season starting to wind down, an appearance by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell Tuesday could be among the newsiest events for markets in the week ahead. The Fed chair is speaking at the Economic Club of Washington D.C. at midday Tuesday. If he wanted to walk back anything, he could have done it then," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B. Riley. Economists said Friday's surprisingly strong jobs report should encourage the Fed to push forward with planned rate hikes. Earnings, earnings, earnings But there continues to be earnings news.

☆ Full ‘cold moon’ shines bright and eclipses Mars in a rare event
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Taylor Nicioli | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —December’s full moon, also known as the “cold moon,” will shine bright in the night sky this Wednesday, peaking at 11:08 p.m. December 7 also marks the 50th anniversary of NASA’s Apollo 17 mission launch — the last time humans set foot on the moon. Moon observingThe full moon will make its way across the sky starting at sunset. It was the final mission of NASA’s Apollo program and brought the number of humans who have walked on the moon to a grand total of 12. Apollo 17 was the final lunar landing mission in NASA's Apollo program.

November marks Native American Heritage Month, and the following 10 LGBTQ+ Indigenous trailblazers are bringing important representation to TV, challenging traditional gender expectations at powwows and elevating issues affecting Indigenous people, such as the epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women. Tom Williams / CQ Roll Call via AP fileRep. Sharice Davids, a member of the Ho-Chunk nation, became the first LGBTQ Native American elected to Congress and one of the first Native American women to serve in Congress after winning her race for Kansas’ 3rd Congressional District in 2018. Scott, of Aurora, Colorado, who uses she and they pronouns, leverages her platform to highlight issues affecting the queer Indigenous community. “I just want to flood the industry with Indigenous people, Indigenous models, Indigenous stories, and Indigenous designers.”Kali Reis (KO)Kali Reis, who is Seaconke Wampanaak and Cape Verdean, is a trailblazing Indigenous two-spirit athlete who wears many hats. Native American Heritage Month invites non-Native folks in joining us in recognizing our histories and celebrating our communities.

☆ What Cramer is watching Monday — October's stock pop, tech reign over, China's zero Covid
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Club holding Wynn Resorts (WYNN) jumps 5% in the premarket after a 4.5% pop Friday. UBS downgrades Caterpillar (CAT) to neutral (hold) from buy; cuts price target by $5-per-share to $230, which is silly. Outback Steakhouse owner Bloomin' Brands (BLMN): two price target boosts, Citi and Barclays. Barclays: LyondellBasell (LYB) downgraded to equal weight from overweight (hold from buy), cut price target to $82 per share from $95. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade.

☆ Morning Bid: Meta averse, ECB decides and CS slides
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets from Mike Dolan. Meta added a deep pothole to an already bumpy U.S. earnings season - another obstacle to a market pumped-up by bets of some central bank relief on the horizon as G7 economies slow. read moreWith Apple (AAPL.O) and Amazon reporting later on Thursday, sentiment toward tech giants remains on edge. But after two-week, trough-to-peak bounce of almost 10%, global stock indices (.MIWD00000PUS) struggled to make much headway for the second session on Thursday. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ This semiconductor stock can rally more than 50% as it ramps up capacity, JPMorgan says in upgrade
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Sarah Min | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

It's time to buy shares of Wolfspeed , according to JPMorgan. Analyst Samik Chatterjee upgraded shares of Wolfspeed to overweight from neutral heading into a key investor day on Oct. 31 that will likely prove the "capacity ramp key to delivering on the bull thesis on the shares." Shares of Wolfspeed outperformed this year, down only 5.4%, as investors expect greater adoption of its silicon carbide semiconductors as demand for electric vehicles grow. Electric vehicle production is supposed to ramp up at a more than 20% compounded annual growth rate, according to the note. Meanwhile, Wolfspeed's investor day could show whether the company can meet that demand through its Mohawk Valley facility.

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