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☆ Bill would give Biden new powers to prepare for the next pandemic
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-22 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New York CNN Business —The Covid-19 pandemic exposed glaring weaknesses in America’s medical supply chains, causing a frantic scramble for masks, respirators and other gear needed to fight the virus. Now, a bipartisan effort in Congress is attempting to boost medical supply chain resilience and ease the country’s reliance on less friendly nations like China for critical medical supplies – before the next disaster strikes. The bill aims to improve supply chain resilience by giving the White House the ability to diversify and expand supply networks while simultaneously eliminating unneeded trade barriers. Earlier this month, the White House hailed the end of the supply chain nightmare that had sent consumer prices surging and left some store shelves empty. The administration released a scorecard that indicated dozens of recommendations from a 2021 supply chain review have been implemented, including some related to strained medical supply chains.

Persons: Democratic Sen, Tom Carper, Republican Sen, Thom Tillis, Joe Biden, America’s “, “, ” Carper, Tillis, Carper, ” Tillis Organizations: New York CNN Business, Democratic, Republican, CNN, White House, International Trade, Global Competitiveness, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, Medicine, Reliance, Trade Organization, GE Healthcare, House, Department of Health, Human Services, United States Trade, Trade, Force Locations: China, United States, America, Covid, Mexico, Malaysia, Shanghai

☆ 42% of CEOs say AI could destroy humanity in five to ten years
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN Business —Many top business leaders are seriously worried that artificial intelligence could pose an existential threat to humanity in the not-too-distant future. Forty-two percent of CEOs surveyed at the Yale CEO Summit this week say AI has the potential to destroy humanity five to ten years from now, according to survey results shared exclusively with CNN. The business leaders displayed a sharp divide over just how dangerous AI is to civilization. While 34% of CEOs said AI could potentially destroy humanity in ten years and 8% said that could happen in five years, 58% said that could never happen and they are “not worried.”In a separate question, Yale found that 42% of the CEOs surveyed say the potential catastrophe of AI is overstated, while 58% say it is not overstated. The CEOs indicated AI will have the most transformative impact in three key industries: healthcare (48%), professional services/IT (35%) and media/digital (11%).

Persons: “, ”, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Sonnenfeld, Doug McMillion, James Quincy, Yale, Sam Altman, Geoffrey Hinton, Hinton, “ I’m, ” Hinton, Jake Tapper, Robert Oppenheimer, ” Sonnenfeld Organizations: New York CNN Business, Yale, Summit, CNN, Sonnenfeld’s, Leadership Institute, Walmart, Xerox, Google, Microsoft

☆ Consumer spending: Gen Z, Millennials are scrimping. Boomers are living it up
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

While Baby Boomers and even Traditionalists (born 1928-1945) are ramping up spending, Gen X, Gen Z and Millennials are cutting back as they grapple with high housing costs and looming student debt payments. If not for the aggressive spending by Boomers, Tinsley said, overall consumer spending would have been even more negative. Bank of America spending data shows a noticeable bump in spending by households that received the cost-of-living boost. The student debt freeze, in effect since March 2020 when the Covid pandemic erupted, is expected to conclude by the end of August. For millions of Gen Z and Millennials, the return of student debt payments will mean less money for spending on restaurants and vacations.

Persons: Gen X, Gen, ” David Tinsley, Tinsley, ” Tinsley, ”, Biden, “ Organizations: New York CNN, Younger, Bank of America, Boomers, Bank of America Institute, CNN, Baby Boomers, Social, New York Federal Reserve Locations: Tinsley

☆ Yellen tells top CEOs US wants to work with China on global challenges
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-08 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN Business —During a closed-door meeting with business leaders on Thursday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stressed that the United States wants to work with China on urgent global challenges, a person familiar with the matter told CNN. The huddle with CEOs took place in Washington, where Yellen met with the board of the US-China Business Council, a group that promotes trade between the world’s two largest economies. Yellen’s meeting with the US-China Business Council comes amid high tensions between the United States and China in the wake of the Chinese spy balloon incident. During a speech in April, Yellen said the United States and China “can and need to find a way to live together” despite their differences. “A growing China that plays by international rules is good for the United States and the world,” Yellen said.

Persons: Janet Yellen, Yellen, ” Yellen, Antony Blinken, Jay Shambaugh, Xie Feng, Elon Musk, Laxman Narasimhan, Jamie Dimon, Dimon, ” Dimon Organizations: New York CNN, CNN, China Business Council, FedEx, Pepsi, Walmart, Ford, Trump, China Business, US Treasury, Treasury, JPMorgan Chase, Democrats, “, NBA Locations: United States, China, Washington, “ America

☆ Americans to spend $1.6 billion less on gas this Memorial Day weekend
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Drivers across the country will be greeted by gas prices much cheaper than a year ago. That’s up from wintertime lows — but down by more than $1 from the year-ago average of $4.60, which was also the national average on the Friday before last Memorial Day. So, today’s gas prices are not cheap historically. The central factor is that oil prices, which are the main driver of retail gas prices, are down. For now, gas prices are much lower than a year ago, contributing to easing inflation across the economy.

☆ The Fed’s autopsy report on Silicon Valley Bank is coming. Here’s what to expect
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The Federal Reserve, which is responsible for supervising banks in the United States, plans to release its report at 11 a.m. Another federal regulator, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, will release a similar report on Signature Bank, which fell two days after SVB, in the afternoon. Those assets began steadily losing value when the central bank raised interest rates at a rapid pace last year. As the bank stumbled, it became clear that virtually all — 97%, according to data from Wedbush Securities — of SVB’s deposits were uninsured. There are indications the Fed, SVB’s primary regulator, warned the bank as early as 2019 about its insufficient risk-management systems, according to reporting from the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.

☆ JPMorgan ends remote work for senior bankers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN Business —America’s largest bank is ending pandemic-era hybrid work for its senior staff. “Our leaders play a critical role in reinforcing our culture and running our businesses,” JPMorgan Chase told staff in a memo. JPMorgan said it would maintain hybrid working options for thousands of employees who are required to have three days in the office. In the memo, the bank issued a warning to staffers who are struggling to hit that minimum. Another motivation for JPMorgan: A year ago, the bank unveiled a design for a new global headquarters in New York.

☆ Corporations are keeping food expensive because they can
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

To be sure, food manufacturers have to factor in costs of labor and transportation, which remain elevated compared with a few years ago. Anyway, it isn’t just food companies taking advantage of the inflationary moment. Many food companies are forecasting that they might slow down or pause price increases — but not lower them, Danielle explains. But [companies] have, I think, taken price increases that exceed that,” said Mark Lang, an associate professor of marketing at the University of Tampa who specializes in food marketing. Lower prices could, for example, make people think food quality has gone down — or make them think they were paying too much in the first place.

☆ Boeing forced to halt 787 Dreamliner deliveries once again
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN Business —Boeing has been forced to halt deliveries of the 787 Dreamliner once again, just months after it resumed deliveries to customers following a year-long halt. “We notified the FAA and have paused 787 deliveries while we complete the required analysis and documentation.”“Deliveries will not resume until the FAA is satisfied that the issue has been addressed,” said the agency. Boeing continued to build the 787 even while it was prevented from making deliveries in late 2021 and much of 2022. It was able to deliver much of that backlog once it was given clearance to resume deliveries, as it delivered 34 Dreamliners between August of last year and January of this year. Boeing plans to maintain assembly of the planes once again during this current delivery halt.

☆ Why Pizza Hut’s red roofs and McDonald’s play places have disappeared
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

As fast-food chains spread across the US after World War II, new roadside restaurant brands needed to stand out. So restaurant chains turned to architecture as a key tool to promote their brand and help create their corporate identity. Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg/Getty ImagesBut the fast-food architecture of today has lost its quirky charm and distinctive features. Googie style fell out of fashion in the 1970s as fast-food style favored dark colors, brick and mansard roofs. But in the effort to modernize, some say fast-food design has became homogenized and lost its creative purpose.

☆ Charlie Munger still likes big banks and hates crypto
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

“I might have different ideas [than Buffett],” Munger said about bank stocks at the annual meeting for the Los Angeles-based newspaper publisher Daily Journal, where Munger was chairman until last year. Munger remains a board director at Daily Journal and is one of its top investors. Daily Journal, like Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB), is a conglomerate that also owns some individual stocks. Daily Journal’s portfolio is much smaller than Berkshire’s. Munger said he doesn’t want to sell Daily Journal’s bank investments because Daily Journal bought many of the stocks at the bottom during the 2008-2009 financial crisis.

☆ CEOs take pay cuts after brutal 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The pay cuts are hitting some of America’s best-known and highest-paid bosses, including Apple CEO Tim Cook, Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman and Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon. The bank then disclosed on Friday that Solomon’s 2022 pay is being cut by nearly 30%. Goldman Sachs’ profit dropped 49% last year as the slowdown in dealmaking curbed advisory fees. Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman (left), Apple boss Tim Cook (middle) and Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon (right) are among the leaders whose pay has been clipped in recent weeks. Tech bosses have received the biggest pay hikes, with the median CEO pay surging by 42.1% in 2021 to $19.1 million, Equilar said.

☆ Big banks take aim at Apple Pay, PayPal with their own electronic wallet plans
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN Business —America’s largest banks announced plans Tuesday for an electronic wallet that will take aim at Apple Pay and PayPal. The banks are working with Early Warning Services, the company that runs their Zelle electronic payment service. The new electronic wallet, which will operate separately from Zelle, would allow people to make purchases online. The digital wallet is an attempt to regain banks’ control of purchases currently being made using Apple Pay and similar services. While it responded to Warren that it was changing its liability policies and refunds for customers, Warren responded in December that she had little faith about the changes.

☆ Boeing's role in building NASA's new rocket
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Jackie Wattles | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +18 min

The mobile launcher with NASA's SLS rocket and Orion spacecraft rolls out of the Vehicle Assembly Building's High Bay 3 to Launch Complex 39B on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. “I worked over 50 Space Shuttle launches,” Boeing SLS program manager John Shannon told CNN by phone. Though more than 1,000 companies were involved with designing and building SLS, Boeing’s work involved the largest and most expensive portion of the rocket. The SLS rocket ended up flying its first launch more than six years later than originally intended. All of the “major components” for a third SLS rocket are also completed, Shannon added.

☆ Exclusive: Rocket CEO: Housing isn't a buyer's or a seller's market. Now it's even
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Jay Farner, who presides over America’s largest mortgage lender Rocket Mortgage, says the days of sellers holding all the power are over. Buyers can take a bit more time,” Farner, the CEO of Rocket Companies, told CNN in an exclusive interview. But the Rocket CEO isn’t prepared to declare this a buyer’s market, at least not yet, because inventories remain historically low. The Rocket CEO is less optimistic about the direction of the overall economy. Asked if he’s worried about a major debt ceiling crisis, Farner pointed to history as a guide.

☆ NBC News president Noah Oppenheim exits, replaced by new head of editorial and two others in network shakeup
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN Business —NBC News president Noah Oppenheim will exit the network as part of a restructuring announced Wednesday that will replace his role with three executives, including Rebecca Blumenstein, a deputy managing editor of The New York Times. Oppenheim led NBC News through the tumultuous presidency of Donald Trump. “I leave with enormous pride in all that we’ve accomplished together,” Oppenheim wrote in a note to NBC News staff. As part of the restructuring, Conde also announced that Libby Leist had been promoted to executive vice president of “Today” and lifestyle. And Conde said that Janelle Rodriguez had been named executive vice president of NBC News NOW, the company’s streaming service.

☆ Abercrombie & Fitch is cool again
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN Business —Abercrombie & Fitch has shed its perfume-filled mall stores, shirtless models and logo sweatshirts to win over Millennials and Gen Z.It’s working. Abercrombie (ANF) said Monday that its women’s segment was on track to deliver its highest holiday sales period ever, and its men’s division was growing, too. “Abercrombie was a key destination for holiday shopping,” Neil Saunders, an analyst at GlobalData Retail, said in a note to clients Monday. “This a further sign that the brand has successfully ditched the baggage of its past.”The brand, which has about 225 stores, plans to open around 10 Abercrombie stores a year over the next three years. Today, Abercrombie’s stores are lighter than they once were and its clothes are looser.

In a statement provided to CNN, Microsoft said it has agreed to recognize the union. “Microsoft has lived up to its commitment to its workers and let them decide for themselves whether they want a union,” CWA president Chris Shelton said in a statement. Some companies like Amazon have so far refused to recognize workers who have voted to form a union. The union bid at the Microsoft subsidiary, however, stands out from some of the others because of Microsoft’s openness to employee organizing efforts. Microsoft last year entered into a neutrality agreement with the CWA, which is also supporting organizing efforts from workers at Activision Blizzard, the gaming giant Microsoft agreed to acquire for $68.7 billion.

☆ Victoria’s Secret brand CEO abruptly resigns
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

New York CNN Business —Victoria’s Secret brand CEO Amy Hauk has resigned less than a year into the job, the company said Tuesday. She will leave Victoria’s Secret in March. Martin Waters, the CEO of the brand’s parent company, Victoria’s Secret & Co., will take over as CEO of the brand. Shares of Victoria’s Secret dropped 8% on the news during after-hours trading Tuesday. But Victoria’s Secret sales have been uneven since the start of the pandemic.

☆ This tech company is clearing out recurring meetings from employee calendars
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Jennifer Korn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN Business —One tech company is trying to help its employees kick off the new year with a clean slate, or at least an emptier calendar. As part of its announcement, Shopify said it will delete nearly 10,000 events from employee calendars, thereby clearing up over 76,500 hours. Slashing meetings could help make the company more efficient while also potentially boosting morale for some workers. “No one joined Shopify to sit in meetings,” Nejatian wrote. Shopify is also pushing a “no judgment zone,” urging employees to cancel meetings as they see fit.

☆ Why egg prices are still going up
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

But nothing comes close to the rise in egg prices. In the year through November, not adjusted for seasonal swings, egg prices jumped 49%, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Wholesale prices hit a recordAvian flu has been a problem in the US for several months now, but in recent weeks wholesale prices have been hitting records. The supply squeeze isn’t the only thing contributing to higher egg prices, said Metz. Friday’s wholesale prices were the same as Thursday’s, the first time pricing held steady since October, she said.

☆ $4 gas could return as soon as May, GasBuddy projects
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN Business —Gas prices will probably be significantly cheaper overall next year. Yet the national average could still climb back above the $4-a-gallon threshold as soon as May, according to GasBuddy projections shared exclusively with CNN. Why gas prices are droppingIn December 2021, before Russia amassed troops at Ukraine’s border, GasBuddy projected the national average for gas would be $3.41 a gallon in 2022. The national average is now about 20 cents below the same period of a year ago, according to AAA. Gas prices are not expected to return to $5 this summer – although GasBuddy isn’t ruling that out.

☆ Why America’s economy remains surprisingly strong – but you don’t realize it
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Christine Romans | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN Business —Each week brings head-scratching contradictory news about the economy. This past week was no different, with a batch of economic reports showing that — despite the recession talk — the US economy shows remarkable resilience. Yes, the economy is strong. “The labor market is incredibly strong again,” Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell in a speech last month. That means the next year will no question be a challenge as all that tightening continues to work its way through the economy.

☆ Retirement savings changes may soon take effect. Here's what it would mean for you
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Jeanne Sahadi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The retirement savings provisions – known as Secure 2.0 – were drawn from a House-passed bill and bills that were passed by two Senate committees. Require auto enrollment in 401(k) plansMost employers starting new workplace retirement savings plans could be required to automatically enroll employees in the plan. Secure 2.0 would let employers make a matching contribution to an employee’s retirement plan based on their qualified student loan payments. That way, it would ensure that the employee is building retirement savings no matter what. Under the Secure 2.0 package, it would move up to 73 starting in 2023 and then to 75 a decade later.

☆ Tesla short sellers have made $11.5 billion profit this year
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Investors who took short positions in Tesla stock have made an $11.5 billion profit so far this year, according to Wall Street analytics firm S3 Partners, as Tesla shares lost about half their value. That’s a nearly 60% return on the $19.6 billion invested in short positions on Tesla this year. And it’s a nearly 180-degree reversal in how they did in 2021, when their short positions resulted in a combined $10.3 billion loss, after Tesla shares rose 50%. And let’s not forget the $40.7 billion loss short sellers suffered in 2020, when shares of Tesla climbed 743%. The problems for Tesla stock, and the gains for short sellers, actually began about a year ago.

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