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☆ A Texas judge's abortion pill ruling was 'extraordinary' because it let doctors ban a drug they neither use nor prescribe, the DOJ said in a bid to reverse the decision
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The Justice Department filed an emergency motion seeking a stay on last week's abortion pill ruling. Anti-abortion activists lacked standing to challenge FDA approval of the drug, the department says. But anti-abortion doctors are neither in a position to use nor prescribe mifepristone, the DOJ said. Feds criticize anti-abortion studyIn their filing, Justice Department lawyers also took aim at the sources Judge Kacsmaryk cited to justify his decision. The Justice Department, in turn, described the source as "an article" that was "based entirely on fewer than 100 anonymous blog posts submitted to a website titled 'Abortion Changes You.'"

☆ Texas judge's ruling suspends FDA approval of abortion pill mifepristone, jeopardizing availability nationwide
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Michelle Mark | Charles R. Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Texas Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk issued a ruling Friday that jeopardizes the availability of a key abortion drug. An antiabortion legal group had sought to revoke or suspend the FDA's approval of the drug mifepristone. In the ruling, Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, who was appointed by former President Donald Trump, imposed a stay on the Food & Drug Administration's approval of the drug, arguing that it was unlawful. Revoking the FDA's approval of mifepristone could immediately upend abortion access for countless women across the country. The medication mifepristone typically works as part of a two-medication regimen to terminate pregnancies.

☆ The Masters Is Feeling the Shockwaves of LIV Golf
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Andrew Beaton | Louise Radnofsky | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Ahead of last year’s Masters, an Englishman named Paul Casey was ranked as the No. 25 golfer in the world and there was no reason to believe that would dramatically change anytime soon. Casey was thriving on the PGA Tour. There was no indication that a new Saudi-backed golf league called LIV Golf would upend the sport’s professional landscape or Casey’s career. LIV had been declared “dead in the water” by none other than Rory McIlroy, one of the game’s pre-eminent stars.

Small icons of scientific papers are lined up in a grid, each representing a study of medication abortion. Studies of abortion pills Each icon represents one study that reported serious complications after medication abortion. For pregnant women considering medication abortion, the alternatives would be childbirth or procedural abortion. Almost all patients will experience bleeding and pain during a medication abortion, because the pills essentially trigger a miscarriage. But the study itself notes that bleeding is expected, serious complications are rare and medication abortion is safe.

☆ ‘It’s not zero.’ Wall Street is pricing in a small but growing risk of a disastrous US default
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

As politicians sleepwalk toward a potential debt ceiling crisis, financial markets have begun pricing in a small — but growing — chance of a disastrous default. “The probability of default has gone up noticeably,” Andy Sparks, head of portfolio management research at MSCI, told CNN in an interview. Yellen has used unusually strong language for a former central banker to warn Congress against messing with the debt ceiling. Asked about MSCI’s estimate of a 2% implied probability of a default, Valliere said that number is low. But this is not a typical debt ceiling debate.”Fallback optionsThere are some early indicators of concern popping up in the bond market.

☆ Meet Juan Merchan, the Manhattan judge scheduled to oversee Donald Trump's criminal case
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The judge overseeing Donald Trump's criminal case is Juan Merchan. "The Judge 'assigned' to my Witch Hunt Case, a 'Case' that has NEVER BEEN CHARGED BEFORE, HATES ME," Trump said. Trump is scheduled to appear before Merchan in Manhattan court on Tuesday afternoon. In 2009, he was appointed as a trial judge in Manhattan, where he's been since. The top court in the state — the equivalent of the US Supreme Court — is known as the New York Court of Appeals.

☆ The former CEO of Aetna shares how he plans to turn around the struggling health insurer Oscar
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Oscar Health struggled to upend the entrenched health insurance industry. Oscar Health has been trying and struggling to upend the US health-insurance industry and the entrenched giants that dominate it for the past 10 years. Oscar Health incoming CEO Mark Bertolini Bridgewater AssociatesLast year, Oscar lost a $60 million contract with its first client, Health First Health Plans. Bertolini wants Oscar to disrupt health-insurance giantsMario Schlosser, founding CEO of Oscar Health Eduardo Munoz/ReutersDespite losing the Health First deal, Bertolini is betting that Oscar will disrupt the insurance industry through partnerships. Oscar has developed health plans with health systems in the past.

☆ Yellen says US bank rules may be too loose, need to be re-examined
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( David Lawder | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

REUTERS/Mary F. CalvertWASHINGTON, March 30 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Thursday that banking regulation and supervisory rules need to be re-examined in the wake of the Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB.O) and Signature Bank (SBNY.O) failures to ensure current banking system risks are addressed. Yellen said a 2018 roll-back of bank capital requirements and stronger supervision for smaller and mid-size banks with assets below $250 billion should be re-examined. She added that regulatory reforms put in place after the 2008 financial crisis have helped the U.S. financial system weather shocks, including the COVID-19 pandemic. adding that the financial system was significantly stronger than it was 15 years ago. The multi-regulator Financial Stability Oversight Council's restored Hedge Fund Working Group will continue to monitor risks and develop policy recommendations, Yellen said.

☆ Elon Musk and other tech leaders call for pause in ‘out of control’ AI race
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The letter comes just two weeks after OpenAI announced GPT-4, an even more powerful version of the technology that underpins the viral AI chatbot tool, ChatGPT. The wave of attention around ChatGPT late last year helped renew an arms race among tech companies to develop and deploy similar AI tools in their products. Artificial intelligence experts have become increasingly concerned about AI tools’ potential for biased responses, the ability to spread misinformation and the impact on consumer privacy. The letter hints at the broader discomfort inside and outside the industry with the rapid pace of advancement in AI. Correction: An earlier version of this story said Microsoft founder Bill Gates and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman had signed the letter.

☆ ECB rates will need to rise but possibly at a slower pace - policymakers
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

FRANKFURT, March 29 (Reuters) - European Central Bank interest rates will likely have to rise further to contain inflation, policymakers said on Wednesday, but at least one outspoken conservative floated the idea of a slowdown in the pace of increases. ECB chief economist Philip Lane, who makes the formal policy proposals to his 25 colleagues, said that his baseline is for the turmoil to dissipate and then rates would need to rise several times. "If the financial stress we see is non-zero, but turns out to be still fairly limited, interest rates will still need to go up." Slovak central bank chief Peter Kazimir, a proponent of rapid rate increases, meanwhile made the case for slower rises following three straight 50-basis point hikes. Reporting by Balazs Koranyi, Jan Lopatka, Jason Hovet and Robert Muller; Editing by Toby ChopraOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Elon Musk, Bill Gates and other tech leaders call for pause in ‘out of control’ AI race
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The letter comes just two weeks after OpenAI announced GPT-4, an even more powerful version of the technology that underpins the viral AI chatbot tool, ChatGPT. The wave of attention around ChatGPT late last year helped renew an arms race among tech companies to develop and deploy similar AI tools in their products. Artificial intelligence experts have become increasingly concerned about AI tools’ potential for biased responses, the ability to spread misinformation and the impact on consumer privacy. Lian Jye Su, an analyst at ABI Research, said the letter shows legitimate concerns among tech leaders over the unregulated usage of AI technologies. But he called parts of the petition “ridiculous,” including the premise of asking for a hiatus in AI development beyond GPT-4.

Generative AI has exploded in popularity, and advertisers are figuring out how to use it. Insider profiled 15 ad execs leading generative AI projects for their own agencies and major brands. They're using AI tools to build creative assets quickly, kickstart ideas, and automate boring tasks. Generative AI has taken the world by storm, but many in the advertising industry were experimenting with it well before OpenAI's ChatGPT catapulted the technology into the zeitgeist last November. Insider has identified 15 ad industry experts who are leading the charge around generative AI by figuring out what it can and can't do, and teaching their colleagues and clients how to get the best results.

☆ Bitcoin falls after CFTC sues crypto exchange Binance for allegedly breaking trading rules
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Cryptocurrencies dropped on Monday morning after the CFTC sued Binance, the biggest crypto exchange in the world, for allegedly violating trading rules. The price of bitcoin slid 2.5% to $27,142.29, according to Coin Metrics. In a court filing, the CFTC, or the Commodity Futures and Trading Commission, said Binance violated eight provisions of a commodities trading law "designed to prevent and detect money laundering and terrorism financing." It's the largest crypto exchange and any U.S. regulatory action against it will have huge implications for the industry," she said. "Many knew Binance had a bullseye on its back, but this is still unnerving some crypto traders," said Ed Moya, an analyst at Oanda.

☆ Binance and founder Changpeng Zhao violated compliance rules to attract U.S. users, CFTC alleges
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Rohan Goswami | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Beyond disgorgement and any monetary costs, the CFTC filing asked the court to impose further relief, including trading and registration bans. Just days prior to the CFTC filing, CNBC reported on how Binance employees worked to subvert the exchange's compliance controls in China, using some of the same techniques that the CFTC alleges Binance to solicit U.S. users. "Do not directly tell the user to run," Binance instructed its VIP team, the filing alleged. The CFTC filing alleges that Binance engaged in similar activity for its U.S. users. But, Zhao posted a tweet that said "4" in an apparent response to the CFTC filing.

☆ RBC: Buy these 17 future AI winners as the technology begins to transform the world
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Marley Jay | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

RBC says that AI is one of the most transformative developments in tech in the last 20 years. The firm's tech analysts explained which stocks they think will benefit the most from generative AI. They added that in many cases, the "rising tide" of AI will benefit broad swaths of the market. But it's not just the established tech titans that can profit from the advent of AI technology. Those companies are below, along with their tickers and commentary about each provided by the RBC analysts.

☆ Dominion’s Weak Case Against Fox
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( William P. Barr | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Blinded by resentment at Fox’s success as an alternative media voice, many media organizations offered a distorted narrative—largely parroting Dominion’s spin—that the disclosures doom Fox’s legal defense. Commentators from the New York Times , Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC and other outlets, gleeful at the prospect of a Fox setback, cheer on as the defamation case heads toward a trial date. But the real significance of the disclosures is exactly the opposite of what these media outlets claim. Two things are clear: First, if the applicable law is faithfully applied, the facts completely upend Dominion’s defamation claim against Fox. The case should be decided in Fox’s favor, if not at the trial stage, then on appeal.

☆ Things are pretty grim in real estate, but that could be a good thing for proptech startups in the long run
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Today, we've got stories on Deutsche Bank's tumbling shares, some bad news for Block, and why Gen Z might be in trouble. Of the many casualties of 2022, startups focusing on the real-estate market were some of the biggest. As the real-estate market dried up, thanks to rising interest rates, these companies that were meant to upend the industry through tech and innovation suddenly took a backseat. And while current conditions aren't ideal for proptech startups, that could actually benefit them in the long run. Click here to check out 26 of the hottest proptech startups set to take off in 2023.

☆ A History of the Trump Hush-Money Saga
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Joe Palazzolo | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is nearing a final decision on whether to charge Donald Trump for his role in paying hush money to a porn star, a case that would mark the first-ever criminal prosecution of a former U.S. president. At issue are events that date back nearly seven years, to the final stretch of Mr. Trump’s 2016 campaign. Here is a timeline. October 2016: A 2005 recording of Donald Trump speaking in crude sexual terms about woman surfaced in the media and threatened to upend his presidential campaign.

☆ Multi-strat hedge funds like Citadel and Millennium are the new big banks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

There's an old saying on Wall Street: You can only leave Goldman Sachs once. Insider's Alex Morrell has a fascinating look at how Goldman Sachs' top executives have headed to some of the top hedge funds in the world in recent years. Poaching talent is a longstanding tradition on Wall Street, and the path from the investment banks to the buy side is a well-worn one. It's an indication of the shifting tides on Wall Street between the firms that traditionally held all the power (big banks) and the ones usurping them (multi-strat hedge funds). Click here to read more about how Goldman Sachs alumni are getting poached by the world's biggest hedge funds.

☆ Trump's legal troubles are threatening to upend the 2024 GOP race, and he's not even charged
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

Former President Donald Trump faces possible criminal charges as he's running for president. "If it's a circus, there's only one ringmaster and that's Trump," said GOP pollster B.J. Operatives thinking of ways to land punches on Trump say GOP primary candidates could argue that he would lose the general election because of his legal troubles. Political insiders widely concede that a potential indictment — and how Trump responds — could still backfire on GOP challengers and strengthen Trump. While the circumstances surrounding the 2024 primary are uncharted territory, polling shows a cohort of GOP voters has grown weary of Trump and is seeking an alternative.

[1/2] The logo of the Swiss bank Credit Suisse is seen in Zurich, Switzerland March 20, 2023. While the nation's central bank and financial regulator publicly declared that Credit Suisse was sound, behind closed doors the race was on to rescue the nation's second-biggest bank. The Swiss National Bank declined to comment while the finance ministry did not respond to a request for comment. Battered by years of scandals and losses, Credit Suisse for months had been battling a crisis of confidence of its own making. By Wednesday, two days later, Credit Suisse was swept up in a full-blown crisis.

☆ Credit Suisse bondholders prepare lawsuit after contentious $17 billion writedown
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A sign of Credit Suisse bank is seen at their headquarters in Zurich on March 20, 2023. A number of Credit Suisse bondholders said Tuesday that they were considering legal action after $17 billion of the bank's additional tier-one (AT1) bonds were wiped out as part of its emergency sale to UBS . David Benamou, chief investment officer at Axiom Alternative Investments and a holder of Credit Suisse AT1 bonds, told CNBC on Tuesday that he would be joining the lawsuit along with, he imagined, "probably most bondholders." Was Credit Suisse failing? The Credit Suisse write-down represents the largest loss ever inflicted on AT1 investors since their inception.

☆ Xi promotes China as peacemaker on first trip to Russia since Ukraine invasion
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Jennifer Jett | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

In this grab taken from video, China's President Xi Jinping, left, speaks with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting in Moscow, Russia, Monday, March 20, 2023. Russia, China and the U.S. are not members of the court. "I am pleased to once again set foot on the soil of our friendly neighbor Russia," Xi said in a statement after arriving in Moscow on Monday for the three-day state visit. Xi said his Russia trip was intended to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries in a world faced with "damaging acts of hegemony, domination and bullying." The Chinese Foreign Ministry has not confirmed reports that Xi may hold a virtual meeting with Zelenskyy after his trip to Moscow.

☆ Biden’s ‘Go It Alone’ Trade Deals Draw Warnings From Congress
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Yuka Hayashi | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and President Biden met in March to negotiate a new free-trade deal on minerals. WASHINGTON—The Biden administration is accelerating its efforts to pursue trade agreements that bypass Congress as it seeks to counter China, but the moves have sparked a fight with lawmakers that threatens to upend the president’s trade strategy at a critical point of rising global competition. Tensions have boiled over in recent days amid the administration’s push to forge a free-trade deal on critical minerals to resolve a dispute with the European Union over electric-vehicle subsidies, the latest in a string of such pacts that skirt congressional approval.

☆ 5 jaw-dropping things GPT-4 can do that ChatGPT couldn’t
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

On Tuesday, OpenAI announced the next-generation version of the artificial intelligence technology that underpins its viral chatbot tool, ChatGPT. The company said GPT-4 recently passed a simulated law school bar exam with a score around the top 10% of test takers. Providing more precise responsesCompared to the prior version, GPT-4 is able to produce longer, more detailed and more reliable written responses, according to the company. One early user said it provided in-depth suggestions for pickup lines based on a question listed on a dating profile. “They can produce inaccurate information from time to time and can be black-box in nature.”For now, OpenAI said GPT-4 users should exercise caution and use “great care” particularly “in high-stakes contexts.”

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