DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., September 26, 2023. A near-miss on a debt ceiling showdown in the Spring led to the loss of another Triple-A sovereign credit rating. A fiscal adjustment akin to the one enacted in 1993 would be enough to do that again over 5 years. "However, this looks unlikely anytime soon given congressional gridlock, a lack of political attention to deficit reduction and the upcoming 2024 election," it concluded. On current poll readings at least, next year's election will do nothing to end the fiscal war.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, it's, Donald Trump, Democrat Joe Biden, Erik Nielsen, what's, Stephen Jen, Jen, Trump, Biden, Goldman Sachs, Goldman, William Maclean Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, U.S, Presidential, AAA, Democrat, Biden, Trump, Congress, Ukraine, Treasury, Republican, Reuters, GRIDLOCK, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, loggerheads, Russia, Ukraine, United States

☆ Wall Street's hottest career move: the volatile, lucrative world of private credit
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

So it's no wonder that through the past couple of years, working on and around private credit deals has become Wall Street's career du jour. Private credit is most often floating-rate debt — that is, debt where interest rates rise in concert with rate hikes. 'Unheard of' salaries, while risks abound in the marketIt's worth noting what private credit is: we're talking about debt and loans. "For most of my career, attracting new attorneys to private credit was a challenge. Proskauer's private credit group now has 90 lawyers, 24 of whom are partners, working full-time on private credit.

Persons: that's, Marc Rowan, Marc Lipschultz, Goldman Sachs, Paul Heller, Hannah Robb, Robb, It's, Cliffwater, Heller, Caldwell, Banks, Carlyle, Blackstone, Marco Acerra, Spencer Stuart, it's, Acerra, Richard Fernand, Nicholas Kalogeropoulos, Sam Iles, I've, Mike Mezzacappa, Evan Palenschat, Robert Lewin Organizations: Blackstone, Partners, CFA Institute, Columbia Business School, Wall Street, Alpha FMC, Barclays, Goldman Locations: New York

☆ 'The scholar, the pragmatist, and the rainmaker:' How three Bloomberg Beta VCs bet on AI before it became a buzzword
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Darius Rafieyan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Bahat brings this same radical directness to Bloomberg Beta, the early-stage venture capital fund housed within the larger Bloomberg empire that he's run for the past decade. And Bloomberg Beta was making investments in generative AI as far back as 2015, before the term "generative AI" even existed. "It felt like we were just waiting for the right moment," said Cham, Bloomberg Beta partner and de-facto chief technologist, "where the rest of the world would see it." Bloomberg Beta made the decision early on to publish its entire operating manual on GitHub, including sensitive information about average check size and investment criteria. Kieran Snyder, the founder of generative AI startup Textio which Bloomberg Beta invested in in 2015, has a shorthand for describing the role of Beta's three partners.

Persons: Roy Bahat's, Bahat, James Cham, Karin Klein, Shivon Zillis, Elon Musk's, Cham, ChatGPT, VCs, Bloomberg Beta, Dan Doctoroff, Mike Bloomberg, Doctoroff, Bahat's chutzpah, Bloomberg —, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Tade Oyerinde, Sam Altman, Peter Thiel's Founder's, Roy didn't, Oyerinde, Kieran Snyder, who's, Apple Lisa, Klein, Karen, Snyder, Roy, Zilis Organizations: Port Authority, World Trade Center, IGN, Bloomberg Beta, Bloomberg, LinkedIn, Elon, Beta, Apple, New Locations: New York, Silicon Valley, East, California

☆ Here are 2 major themes to watch in the week ahead after Friday's market rally
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-26 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

As August is known to be, it's been a rough month-to-date for all three of those stock market benchmarks so far. This past week, the overall market was oversold, according to Jim Cramer's trusted S & P Oscillator. After Friday's strong finish, we'll see if the market's oversold condition abates as two major themes play out in the week ahead: Earnings from two Club names — Salesforce (CRM) and Broadcom (AVGO) — and key economic reports ahead of September's Fed meeting. Outside of the labor market and inflation, we'll also get a look at the housing market with the pending home sales on Wednesday. As we heard from fellow Club name Palo Alto Networks (PANW) last week, companies are growing more cautious and more closely scrutinizing large sales deals.

Persons: Jerome Powell's, Powell, it's, Jim Cramer's, Friday's, —, It's, we've, we'll, we're, Salesforce, AVGO, We're, Brown, Forman, Campbell Soup, LULU, Jim Cramer, Jim, Angela Weiss Organizations: Nasdaq, Federal, Nvidia, Dow Jones, Broadcom, Fed, Labor, Club, Palo Alto Networks, VMWare, HEICO Corporation, Bank of Montreal, BMO, Bank of Nova, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HP, PVH Corp, Patterson Companies, Veeva Systems, UBS, Academy Sports, Hormel, Signet Jewelers, Dell Technologies, Jim Cramer's Charitable, CNBC, Traders, New York Stock Exchange, AFP, Getty Locations: Jackson Hole , Wyoming, China, Bank of Nova Scotia, New York City

☆ Stagwell's Mark Penn explains why he's betting on AI, and what brands get wrong about supporting social issues
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Lauren Johnson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

He said brands often botch supporting social issues because they lack a balanced worldview. Insider spoke with Penn about why he's betting on artificial intelligence, buying experiential marketing shops, and how brands should handle thorny social issues. Big brands like Bud Light and Target have been in the news after backlash for supporting social issues. How should brands handle supporting social issues? I don't think people are spending enough time or thinking about that as the fundamental change.

Persons: Mark Penn's Stagwell, —, Mark Penn's, Hillary Clinton, He's, Stagwell, Penn, Bud, We've, Johnny, latelys, — we'll Organizations: WPP, Publicis, Service, Democrat, Republican

☆ Here are 20 stocks Jim Cramer is watching Wednesday, including Datadog and IFF
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

In Customer relationship management software, the CNBC Investing Club owns Salesforce (CRM). Again do not dismiss this one and Alteryx (AYX) as I think that there is real weakness in this quarter's enterprise software market. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB.

Persons: WEN, Jim Cramer's, Jim Cramer, Jim Organizations: Palo Alto, JPMorgan, CNBC, Club, Mizuho, Datadog, Bloomberg, Boston, Citi, Barclays, Brands, RBC, Holdings, PepsiCo, Jim Cramer's Charitable Locations: Wells

☆ The Future of Rap Is Female
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Niela Orr | Photographs Adrienne Raquel | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +22 min

The Future of Rap Is Female As their male counterparts turn depressive and paranoid, it’s the women who are having all the fun. In the mid-’80s, the dynamics shifted slightly, when UTFO released “Roxanne, Roxanne,” a comical torch song dissing a woman who rejected the men’s advances. Like good sex, raunchy rap is only fun if all parties are completely enthusiastic, and this music provides necessary female perspectives to match what the men make. In Miami one weekend in late July, Rolling Loud, one of the biggest annual hip-hop festivals, made itself into a microcosm of the rap world. There’s a relentless gender pessimism in the air, too — on the street, on dating apps, in the Supreme Court and, of course, in rap music.

Persons: Sackler, Drake, Foley, Yung Miami, Wu, Da, Tupac Shakur, Nicki Minaj, Cardi, Megan Thee, there’s, ”, There’s Latto, Jung Kook, “, Diana ”, Boy’s, Red’s, Munch, Rodney Dangerfield, munch, ” MAIYA, “ We’re, Lil Baby, Flo Milli, —, ” Flo Milli, Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire —, Debbie D, Lisa Lee, Mercedes Ladies, UTFO, Roxanne, Lolita Shanté Gooden, Gooden, ” FLO MILLI, Roxanne Shanté, Clover Hope, M.C, Brian Coleman, Lyte, Ruff Ryders, it’s, Missy Elliott, Lauryn Hill, Kash Doll, SKODI LOLA BROOKE, Lil ’ Kim, “ I’m, I’m, ” That’s, Lolita Gooden, Greta Gerwig’s “ Barbie ”, James Harden, P.J, Tucker, KENTHEMAN “, I’ve, Playboi Carti, Travis Scott, Grace Jones, Benzino, blowin, ignorin ’, Berry hairdo, Grandmaster Flash, It’s, ” —, ” Leray, VETTE, CHANEL, ” Flo, Cartier, “ Lyte, Flo Organizations: YouTube, Girls, City Girls, Public, Down Productions, Wu -, Digital, City, Memphis, Brooklyn Locations: Miami, Wu - Tang, “, Bronx, Mobile , Ala, y’all

☆ GOP attempt to stymie abortion in Ohio backfires spectacularly
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Ohio is much redder now, but Tuesday's results in an early face-off over abortion rights illustrate a much more troubling bellwether for the GOP. Ohioans did not explicitly vote on abortion rights on Tuesday. Specifically, conservatives wanted to deal a potentially lethal blow to an abortion rights amendment before voters even consider it this November. The Ohio results illustrate that more than a year later, Americans remain animated over the Supreme Court gutting abortion rights. Abortion rights activists have been left to fight a bevy of court battles with limited successes in often heavily conservative courts.

Persons: Ohioans, they've, Roe, ender, Ron DeSantis Organizations: Voters, GOP, Service, White House, Columbus Dispatch, Democratic Locations: Wall, Silicon, Ohio, White House . Ohio, Kansas , Kentucky, Montana, Michigan . Ohio, Florida, Arizona

☆ As Twitter continues to implode, advertisers pin their hopes on Threads
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-12 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Advertisers are eagerly watching how Meta's new Threads messaging app develops over the next few months as they look for a new social channel to reach consumers while Twitter continues to struggle. Meta is currently more focused on building the core Threads product as opposed to monetizing the app, Instagram head Adam Mosseri has said in various interviews and a post on Threads. "It's the most instant onboarding experience I've ever experienced in the history of my career, and my entire career has been in social," Tipograph said. Although it was easy for current Instagram users to create Threads accounts, he said, it's unclear how active they will be on the service. Since Threads is so new, it's unclear which kind of audience Threads is attracting, Tipograph said.

Persons: Natasha Blumenkron, Elon Musk, Blumenkron, Adam Mosseri, Mosseri, Rachel Tipograph, MikMak, Linda Yaccarino, Tipograph, It's, I've, Tal Jacobson, Jacobson, Instagram's Mosseri, Brian Wieser, Wieser, Angelo Carusone, Instagram, Carusone, Musk, Nick Fuentes, antisemite, isn't Organizations: Twitter, CNBC, Tesla, Meta, Perion, Companies, Media Matters, America, Media, Free Press, Tech, Facebook Locations: Instagram

☆ Cambodia Strongman Hun Sen Wields Facebook to Undermine Democracy - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Samuel Woolley | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Instead, the global problems with our online information ecosystem compound. Mr. Sen and his cronies own or control all but the thinnest sliver of the country’s media outlets. And curtailing speech on social media has been critical to the consolidation of their power. In Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro’s Office of Hate, run by his sons, used social media to defame journalists and threaten opposition. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the autocrat recently re-elected as president of Turkey, benefited greatly from organized troll armies operating on Twitter.

Persons: Hun Sen, Sen, Recep Tayyip Erdogan Organizations: Big Tech, Facebook, Jair, Hate, Twitter Locations: Cambodia, Meta, China, Brazil, Turkey, Southeast Asia, Thailand, Philippines, Myanmar

☆ How Do Instagram Influencers Make Money and How Much They Earn
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Sydney Bradley | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Influencers on Instagram earn money in many ways. Influencers on Instagram can also earn commissions on affiliate links, profits from selling merchandise, and proceeds from monetization tools Meta has introduced. Instagram is even testing an ad-revenue sharing program that would let creators earn money for high-performing reels on the app. Here's a comprehensive breakdown of Insider's cover on How much money Instagram influencers make:How much money Instagram influencers make from brand dealsMany influencers earn money on Instagram by working with brands on sponsored content. Read more:Reselling clothingResale apps like Poshmark, Depop, and Etsy have become lucrative small businesses for many Instagram creators.

Persons: influencers, Agutu, Nate White, Jour'dan Haynes, Meta, Instagram influencers, Instagram, Read, Huda Organizations: Insider, Facebook, YouTube, Meta

☆ Finance is the No. 1 industry Gen Z wants to work in, says new research—more than tech or health care
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Morgan Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Recent and soon-to-be college graduates have different visions of the "perfect job": Some want to work in New York, while others might aspire to be their own bosses. But many Gen Zers are dreaming of a career in finance. Close to 10,000 current college students and recent graduates in 13 countries including the U.S., Canada and Mexico were polled for the report. What has set finance apart from its competitors, and made it the career path du jour among Gen Z, is how finance companies have responded to these challenges. As other industries pause hiring, college career advisors and industry professionals say financial firms are upping their recruiting efforts on college campuses to attract Gen Z.

Persons: overhiring, Gen Organizations: Finance, CFA Institute Locations: New York, U.S, Canada, Mexico

☆ How to create an influencer media kit to pitch brands
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( Amanda Perelli | Nathan Mcalone | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Read the simple one-page media kit nano influencer Tess Barclay uses to get deals with brands like Princess Polly and Ana LuisaBut influencer media kits can also be longer. Entrepreneur and YouTuber Marina Mogilko runs three successful YouTube channels and uses a media kit to pitch her business to brands. Read the the exact 24-page media kit a YouTuber with millions of subscribers uses when she reaches out to brandsMogilko uses a 24-page media kit. Marina MogilkoYouTuber media kit examplesRoberto Blake Roberto BlakeInstagram influencer media kit examplesAlexa Collins Alexa Collins. TikToker media kit examples:

Persons: Macy Mariano, It's, Influencers, Tess Barclay, Princess Polly, Ana Luisa, Jour'dan Haynes, Garnier, Burger King, Read Haynes, YouTuber Marina Mogilko, Marina Mogilko, Roberto Blake Roberto Blake Instagram, Collins Alexa Collins Organizations: Media, YouTube, Brands Locations: Toronto

☆ Market momentum wanes heading into the final week of June after monster rally in the first half
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( Sarah Min | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Against this backdrop, investors will head into the final week of June with a relatively light economic calendar. However, those few data sets could provide investors with clues on how the market will fare going into the second half. Key inflation data ahead Of note next week is the core personal consumption expenditures index, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge. Reports to watch out for include Tuesday's new home sales and Thursday's pending home sales data, both for May. Elsewhere, BTIG's Jonathan Krinsky warned this week the downside for tech names could be as "equally impressive" as their rally.

Persons: Jerome Powell, annualized, Dow Jones, Terry Sandven, Sandven, that's, Megan Horneman, Stephen Suttmeier, BTIG's Jonathan Krinsky, Art Hogan, Hogan, Mills, Paychex Organizations: Dow Jones, Nasdaq, Federal, Bank of England, Global Wealth Management, Americas, UBS, U.S, Bank Wealth Management, Verdence Capital Advisors, Bank of America, Dow, Riley Wealth Management, Fed, Walgreens, Micron, Nike, Constellation Brands

☆ Bank of America says buy these five tech stocks before it's too late
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Bank of America named a slew of tech stocks that are just too attractive to ignore. IBM The evolution of IBM continues, Bank of America analyst Wamsi Mohan said after attending the company's recent Think event. "We believe IBM will embark on further cost cutting, and enhance its services and software offerings through acquisitions," he said. The stock finished the week up 3.6% this year, and Bank of America sees plenty more gains for the legacy tech giant. IBM "IBM expect to monetize AI first through Services and expects a later inflection in Software as adoption scales.

☆ Dianne Feinstein can't be recalled and she almost certainly won't be expelled from the Senate
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A new report raises even more concerns about Sen. Dianne Feinstein's health. True, Feinstein's health is the topic du jour in Washington. Byrd, Thurmond, and Cochran all faced unflattering stories that virtually mirror what's been written about Feinstein. The last time the Senate actually expelled a member was in 1862 when it booted out 14 senators for supporting the Confederacy. The biggest power Feinstein's colleagues and critics can wield is shame.

☆ How Anthropic cofounder Daniela Amodei plans to turn trust and safety into a feature, not a bug
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Amodei chatted with Insider about her approach to trust and safety and what the future holds for AI. However, the majority of Anthropic cofounder and president Daniela Amodei's career has been spent trying to prove the opposite: that trust and safety is a feature, not a bug. "It's an organizational structure question, but it's also a mindset question," she told Insider. In 2020, Amodei and six other OpenAI employees, including her brother Dario Amodei, left the company to start rival AI lab Anthropic. Throughout Anthropic's growth, the company has kept an interdisciplinary culture, with employees whose experiences range from physics to computational biology to policywriting, Amodei told Insider.

☆ Developer tool startups in Y Combinator's latest class are grabbing the attention of investors like Elad Gil and Google's Gradient Ventures. Here are 4 that have already landed funding.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Developer tool startups that were part of Y Combinator's latest class are drawing strong interest from several high-profile venture capitalists. Sequoia partner Lauren Reeder personally participated in the code review startup's recent funding round, according to a Sequoia spokesperson. That fundraising was at a $30 million post-money valuation, one person familiar with the deal said. Developer tool startups accounted for 26% of the companies in YC's winter 2023 batch, up from 16% of the summer 2022 class, according to the accelerator's startup directory. Have a tip on a startup funding round?

☆ Everything you need to know as JPMorgan, Citi, Goldman Sachs, and other big banks report earnings
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Bank of America and Goldman Sachs come in on Tuesday, with Morgan Stanley bringing up the rear on Wednesday. For a breakdown on the specific numbers, check out Markets Insider and the fantastic 10 Things Before the Opening Bell newsletter. Big banks poured $30 billion into First Republic in the midst of the banking crisis in an effort to shore up the wider market. And what about those pesky shadow banks? Never one to miss a good opportunity, shadow lenders are looking to step up where big banks are stepping back, Bloomberg reported.

☆ Why big investors like Carlyle and Ares are zeroing in on Hollywood and sports deals — and driving private credit in media to new highs
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | Reed Alexander | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

And Ares raised $3.7 billion for a fund last fall geared specifically toward sports, media, and entertainment investments across private debt and private equity. Unlike private equity investing, where managers take stakes in companies or buy them, private credit investors lend to businesses and make money on interest payments. (Private investment firm KKR's media, entertainment, and sports portfolio includes Insider parent company Axel Springer.) Carlyle's $146 billion credit arm has also provided capital to Clair, a media tech company that specializes in live production services and audio products. The strategists said driving that uptick are private credit defaults that include so-called softer forms of default, like breaching a loan's terms and conditions, along with private credit portfolio companies having generally lower ratings and less diversified businesses.

☆ BIPOC influencers share 11 brands they love to work with, from Airbnb to Nominal
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Shriya Bhattacharya | Nhari Djan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Brand deals make up the majority of income for many content creators across the US. Insider asked creators to share their favorite brands to work with, why, and how much they made. For the first time, Insider is highlighting 12 brands that creators of color told us they love to work with. Insider asked more than a dozen creators of color to share their favorite brands to work with. Here are 11 brands creators of color recommend working with, listed in alphabetical order:

☆ What is Atomwaffen? The small neo-Nazi group uses violence to try and bring about societal collapse
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Russell is a founding member of Atomwaffen, which uses violence to try and bring about societal collapse. Russell is named by the FBI complaint as the founder of Atomwaffen Division, a terroristic neo-Nazi group known for its far-right ideals and obsession with violence. "It's an incredibly dangerous group," Schubiner told Insider. Even at the height of the organization's relevance, extremism researchers estimated there were only 30 to 80 active members, according to The New York Times. "But certainly as we've seen," she added, "some of the people in the group have not stopped engaging in violence."

There are "continued calls for violence directed at U.S. critical infrastructure," the agency warned last February, "as a means to create chaos and advance ideological goals." Law enforcement and utility companies, though, say they're working to resolve the open cases and prevent future attacks. Members of accelerationist groups have been charged with several plots in recent years to attack critical infrastructure. "The critical infrastructure element has become one of the core components of neo-fascist accelerationist movements in the US. "They don't really care who is doing the violence, who's doing the critical infrastructure attacks, Lewis said.

☆ Canadian groundhog Fred la marmotte found dead before Groundhog Day
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Ismail Shakil | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

OTTAWA, Feb 2 (Reuters) - A beloved Canadian groundhog, Fred la marmotte, was found dead before he could complete a North American tradition of predicting the onset of spring on Groundhog Day on Thursday. "In life, the only thing that's certain is that nothing is certain," Blondin said at la Jour de Fred, or Fred's day, event. In North American folklore, if the solitary rodent sees his shadow on Groundhog Day, then frigid, winter weather will persist for six weeks. Groundhog Day, which falls on Feb. 2, evolved from an ancient ritual brought to the United States by German immigrants who settled in what is now the state of Pennsylvania. The first official celebration of Groundhog Day was in 1886, according to the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club.

You feel like he's on a solo mission," Tania Daou-Alam, who lost her husband in the blast, told Reuters. Bitar went on to file his own charges against several top politicians, including former ministers allied to Hezbollah. Bitar, a devout Catholic from Akkar region of the north, has charged officials from across the sectarian spectrum including Shi'ites, Sunnis and Christians. "I said from the start 'the right person is in the right place'," he added, describing Bitar as just with no political affiliations. William Noun, who lost his brother in the blast, said of Bitar's move: "This is very much a judicial uprising".

Search resuls for: "Jour"

25 mentions found