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☆ Republicans are more likely to go on a cruise right now than Democrats
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A recent survey suggests Republicans are more likely to take a cruise right now than Democrats. In a December 2022 survey of 1000 US adults, 35% of Republican respondents said they were "very comfortable" going on a cruise today, a level of enthusiasm shared by only 12% of Democrats. On the flip side, 40% of Democrat respondents said they were "very uncomfortable" going on a cruise ship, nearly double that of Republican respondents. Taking a cruise vacation wasn't always politically polarized — 16% of Democrat respondents said they had gone on a cruise prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, just a few percentage points less than Republican respondents. With this month marking three years since the onset of the pandemic, industry executives claim cruise demand has officially returned to 2019 levels.

Two of Germany's largest airports, Munich and Frankfurt, suspended flights, while long-distance rail services were cancelled by rail operator Deutsche Bahn (DBN.UL). "Millions of passengers who depend on buses and trains are suffering from this excessive, exaggerated strike," a Deutsche Bahn spokesperson said on Monday. At the same time, in France they go on strike all the time about something," said passenger Lars Boehm. The head of the Bundesbank Joachim Nagel said last week Germany needed to avoid a price-wage spiral. "Despite signs of second-round effects, we have not observed a destabilising price-wage spiral in Germany so far."

BERLIN/FRANKFURT, March 27 (Reuters) - A massive strike in Germany was set to begin early Monday, crippling mass transport and airports in one of the biggest walkouts in decades as Europe's largest economy reels from soaring inflation. But officials in Germany have made clear that their fight is only about pay. The Verdi union is negotiating on behalf of around 2.5 million employees in the public sector, including in public transport and at airports. Railway and transport union EVG negotiates for around 230,000 employees at railway operator Deutsche Bahn (DBN.UL) and bus companies. Employers are also warning that higher wages for transport workers would result in higher fares and taxes to make up the difference.

☆ JFK and Jackie Kennedy's first home as a married couple is going up for sale in DC. The listing includes candid photos of the couple.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Katie Balevic | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: 1 min

The home was the Kennedy's first as a newlywed couple. John F. Kennedy says goodbye to his wife, Jackie, who is on her way to classes at Georgetown University's Foreign Service School. One of the old homes of former President John F. Kennedy is about to be listed publicly for sale in Washington, DC, and the listing includes candid photos of his life with Jackie Kennedy early in their marriage. The home at 3321 Dent Place NW, where the Kennedys "signed their first lease as a newly married couple," will be listed this week for $2 million, according to Redfin. The broker, Michael Brennan, did not immediately return Insider's request for comment.

[1/5] A general view inside the Munich Airport during a strike called by the German trade union Verdi over a wage dispute, in Munich, Germany, March 26, 2023. "The people are not only underpaid, they are hopelessly overworked," Frank Werneke, head of the Verdi labour union, told Bild am Sonntag. The Verdi union is negotiating on behalf of around 2.5 million employees in the public sector, including in public transport and at airports. Railway and transport union EVG negotiates for around 230,000 employees at Deutsche Bahn (DBN.UL) and bus companies. "It is a matter of survival for many thousands of employees to get a considerable pay rise," he said.

☆ The banking crisis is doing Fed's work and creating a window for stocks to rally
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +19 min

Work from home has in part jacked up food prices, and the increase is about 14% above just last year. The only bank that looks like Silicon Valley Bank is First Republic Bank (FRC) because it, too, has suffered huge deposit withdrawals. Nike (NKE)said China orders were good, so did Club stock Starbucks (SBUX). As counterintuitive as it is, the banking row will give the 4.8% fed funds rate a chance to cool consumer spending. This gives stocks a window to advance until we begin earnings season with what will no doubt be a cautious banking sector.

☆ 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.

☆ Rally splutters as Europe ploughs on with rate hikes
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The European-wide STOXX 600-share index (.STOXX) fell 0.75% with banks and insurers the main culprits again, suffering 1.6%-2% drops. Norway had also hiked, although MSCI's main world share index (.MIWD00000PUS) was still in positive territory after overnight gains in Asia. Focus now shifts to the Bank of England, with investors expecting a quarter-percentage-point increase in its main rate after a surprise jump in inflation squashed hopes of it pausing its tightening campaign. /FRXElsewhere in the bond markets, although UK yields were up those on German Bunds were down at 2.281%, happy to match the falls seen on 10-year U.S. Treasuries yields that had taken them to 3.440%. Germany's European Central Bank rate setter Joachim Nagel had even said he now thought the ECB was "approaching restrictive territory" with its rates, referring to a level that curtails growth.

MCCAMEY, Texas, March 23 (Reuters) - Cryptocurrency bankruptcies and worries over electric power consumption have failed to dent the industry's growth in Texas, according to a top trade group, citing the rise in the miners' power demands. Bitcoin miners consume about 2,100 megawatts of the state's power supplies, said Lee Bratcher, president of industry group Texas Blockchain Council. "There's been some challenges with the Bitcoin mining industry," Bratcher said, noting his group recently saw two prominent bankruptcies and other miners scaling back expansions. "Bitcoin mining is a very energy intensive business, which is why we tend to find places like West Texas to be full of Bitcoin miners," said Matt Prusak, chief commercial officer at cryptocurrency miner U.S. Bitcoin Corp, which has one of its mining operations in a 280-megawatt wind farm in Texas. In Texas, where about 250 people died during a winter storm blackout that exposed the fragility of the state's grid, the prospect of higher crypto demand has raised alarms.

☆ As Fed meeting looms, economists see central bank balance sheet in new light
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Michael S. Derby | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

BIG NUMBERSFed numbers showed the speed of the shift to a new balance sheet reality. Fed holdings peaked at just shy of $9 trillion last summer. The details of Fed holdings matters greatly in terms of understanding Fed balance sheet dynamics, analysts say. Benson Durham, head of global policy at Piper Sandler, said the key is the composition and not the size of Fed holdings. One factor limiting economists’ interpretation of the balance sheet surge is the fluidity of the factors now driving it.

☆ Amazon's devices head ditched the Echo in his living room for a smart TV
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Annie Palmer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Amazon said Wednesday it has sold more than 200 million Fire TV devices globally, up from 150 million last January. "I don't have an Echo in there anymore, I just use my TV," Limp said. Limp, as you'd expect, rejects the idea that an Alexa-powered Fire TV will cannibalize the company's Echo devices. A portion of the layoffs, which are expected to total 27,000 employees, landed in Limp's organization, which oversees the development of products such as Alexa, Echo smart speakers and Kindle e-readers. WATCH: Amazon TV is next step for company to move into internet of things

☆ 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.

☆ A 2nd round of layoffs at Meta and Amazon shows companies are taking back their power — and they may not stop there
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Rebecca Knight | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Meta and Amazon have announced two series of mass layoffs in the span of months. After years of companies trying to attract and placate workers amid a labor shortage, businesses are reasserting some of their power. "We read about two rounds of layoffs now and shrug and say, 'When's the third?'" Drew Angerer/Getty ImagesIt's rare for a company to conduct multiple rounds of layoffs, according to data from Crunchbase. Amazon and Meta did it, so it won't stand out as much."

☆ Virtual Reality Is Still Trying to Get Game
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Dan Gallagher | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The PlayStation VR2 has arrived more than six years after Sony’s first attempt to bring VR gaming to the masses. Far from launching a “metaverse,” virtual reality hasn’t made much of a dent in what should have been the easiest market to crack. Sony , at least, is betting that they are. The electronics giant that sells one of the world’s most popular videogame consoles launched the second version of its virtual-reality headset late last month. Called the PlayStation VR2, the new device comes more than six years after Sony’s first attempt to bring VR gaming to the masses.

How do I even begin to tackle this mountain of debt on a single income with minimal child support help? Costas is the vice president of EP Wealth Advisors and a certified divorce Financial Analyst. The snowball method is about using small financial achievements to fuel larger ones. The sense of victory you will feel from paying off that small debt will help you feel you've conquered a challenge, which will go a long way in helping you summit the $60,000 mountain of debt in your path. Ways to make your money go furtherKennedy also encouraged you to start saving money while you continue prioritizing paying down debt.

☆ A student-loan borrower was promised a $5,000 refund on payments after Biden's broad debt relief. Months later, she's still waiting — and no one is picking up the phone to help.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Roxanne Dougherty, 31, is waiting for a $5,000 refund on her student-loan payments. The Education Department directed Insider to guidance on refunds posted on Federal Student Aid's website. "No one is taking the time to help me or to listen to me when it comes to MOHELA," Dougherty said. "It just seems like there's something in it for them to not help," Dougherty said. Are you still waiting for a refund on your student-loan payments?

☆ Tottenham squander points in top-four race, Leeds out of bottom three
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( Martyn Herman | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Fourth-placed Tottenham have 49 points from 28 games with Newcastle United, who benefitted from a stoppage-time penalty to beat Nottingham Forest on Friday, have 47 points having played two games less. Bournemouth on 24 from 27 along with West Ham United who dropped into the relegation zone courtesy of Leeds United's impressive win at Wolves. Leicester have 25 points with Nottingham Forest, Everton and Leeds all on 26 and Wolves and Crystal Palace on 27. Tottenham substitute Pape Sarr was then adjudged in the 90th minute to have fouled Ainsley Maitland-Niles as he attempted to hack clear a bouncing ball and Ward-Prowse made no mistake to earn his side a point. Leeds will head into the international break above the relegation zone thanks to a superb display at Wolves.

☆ UBS mulls takeover of Credit Suisse with possible Swiss government guarantees
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( John O'Donnell | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The people said that UBS was coming under pressure from the Swiss authorities to carry out a takeover. UBS, Credit Suisse, and Switzerland's financial regulator FINMA declined to comment when approached by Reuters. Regulators have urged Credit Suisse Group to pursue a deal with Swiss rival UBS as the troubled bank began a make-or-break weekend after some rivals grew cautious in their dealings with it. The turmoil at Credit Suisse has put another dent in the Swiss reputation for financial stability on which UBS depends. Any tie-up would be one of the biggest since the global financial crisis.

The Swiss cabinet held an emergency meeting about the central bank's move on Thursday but gave no public statement after, with most politicians, including Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter, tight-lipped. Greens lawmaker Gerhard Andrey said managers should take responsibility and Switzerland should look at its regulations, with the Credit Suisse debacle putting the country "in a very difficult situation". That Credit Suisse has problems has been known for a long time," said Martin Staub speaking in central Zurich. The financial sector makes up about 9% of Swiss gross domestic product, according to Finance Swiss, and employs 5.5% of the workforce. "The Credit Suisse crisis is negative for Switzerland, but not enough to damage the reputation of Switzerland on its own.

☆ Credit Suisse puts new dent in Swiss bank armour
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Lisa Jucca | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The Swiss National Bank’s intervention this week to prop up Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) was anything but uneventful. To rescue the country’s biggest lender, the government in Bern injected 6 billion Swiss francs in capital while the central bank carved off some 40 billion Swiss francs of toxic assets into a special purpose vehicle. The SNB made more than 5 billion Swiss francs from winding down UBS’s bad bank and the state booked over 1 billion Swiss francs of gains on its equity stake. Nervous clients pulled more than 100 billion Swiss francs from the Zurich-based bank in the fourth quarter of last year and may be hesitant to return. Switzerland’s two biggest banks, UBS and Credit Suisse, each had total asset exposure of between 120% and 140% of the country’s GDP.

☆ Trump allies attack DeSantis with campaign ethics complaint
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Nathan Layne | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

While the super PAC publicized the complaint, the ethics commission told Reuters it had not yet received it. If wrongdoing is found, typical penalties include a fine or public censure, said Lynn Blais, a spokesperson for the ethics commission. Taryn Fensk, DeSantis' communications director, called the complaint the latest "frivolous and politically motivated" attack on the governor. "It's inappropriate to use state ethics complaints for partisan purposes," she said in a statement. Political strategists described the ethics complaint as the latest attempt by Trump to undermine his rival.

Silicon Valley Bank executives went to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in late February looking for advice: They needed to raise money but weren’t exactly sure how to do it. Soaring interest rates had taken a heavy toll on the bank. Deposits and the value of the bank’s bond portfolio had fallen sharply. Moody’s Investors Service was preparing for a downgrade. The bank had to reset its finances to avoid a funding squeeze that would badly dent profits.

☆ U.S. Airlines Expect Strong Demand as Travelers Find Postpandemic Routines
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Alison Sider | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Airline executives said they are optimistic about the outlook for the rest of this year. Executives from major U.S. airlines on Tuesday said they were optimistic about travel demand for the rest of the year, shaking off worries about creeping operating costs and fears of ebbing demand. Travel appetite surged last year and airlines began to make money again after losing billions of dollars during the Covid-19 pandemic. Carriers’ shares have also climbed this year, but airlines have been dogged by worries that demand will falter amid higher fares, and that rising costs of fuel and labor would dent profits.

☆ The Next Frontier in Farming? The Ocean.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Somini Sengupta | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +10 min

For centuries, it’s been treasured in kitchens in Asia and neglected almost everywhere else: Those glistening ribbons of seaweed that bend and bloom in cold ocean waves. Far beyond South Korea, new farms have cropped up in Maine, the Faroe Islands, Australia, even the North Sea. But even as its champions see it as a miracle crop for a hotter planet, others worry that the zeal to farm the ocean could replicate some of the same damages of farming on land. “Seaweed is not going to replace all plastic, but seaweed combined with other things can tackle single use plastic,” he said. Seaweed farms are a far cry from the rows of corn and wheat that make up monoculture farming on land.

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