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☆ Check out the 18-page pitch deck that Hollywood-focused fintech FilmHedge used to raise tens of millions and help hot new movies and TV series get made
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Reed Alexander | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

FilmHedge lends credit to movies and TV shows with budgetary needs between $1 million and $5 million. The 3-year-old fintech closed on a $5 million round in March and has a $100 million credit facility. FilmHedge, an Atlanta-based fintech launched in February 2020, provides liquidity to productions with budgets ranging from $1 million to $50 million. It follows a $100 million credit facility from Coromandel Capital and Fallbrook Capital in 2022, which helps FilmHedge finance projects. FilmHedge gave Insider a look at the 18-page pitch deck it used while raising its $5 million Series A round and $100 million credit facility — check it out here.

☆ The Play-In Team That’s a Preview of the NBA’s Future
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( Robert O Connell | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Most of the teams in the NBA’s play-in tournament don’t want to be there. Before the season, the Minnesota Timberwolves shelled out five players and four first-round draft picks for shot-blocking center Rudy Gobert in hopes of becoming a Western Conference elite. Now they’ll have to survive a bonus stage just to punch a ticket to the first round of the playoffs.

[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.

☆ Russia and China are being driven together as the chasm with the West deepens
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

"It's basically about certain strategic interests, that are very close to both Beijing and Moscow at this point," she added. "For both Russia and China, the main interest is to weaken the U.S.-led international order, that's their primary goal, long term and short term." The Ukraine factorFor both China and Russia, the war in Ukraine is both a challenge to that U.S.-led world order and a way to undermine it, analysts note. China has held back from openly supporting Russia's war in Ukraine but it has also refused to condemn the invasion. This fear, she said, could sway China when it considers whether to offer Putin help in Ukraine.

☆ Meet Laxman Narasimhan, a coffee industry outsider who just took over as CEO of Starbucks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Avery Hartmans | Nancy Luna | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Laxman Narasimhan officially took over as Starbucks CEO, replacing Howard Schultz. Narasimhan is new to the coffee industry, having started his career in the consulting world before joining PepsiCo, and, later, British consumer goods company Reckitt Benckiser. Narasimhan built his career in the beverage and consumer-goods industriesLaxman Narasimhan at Starbucks Investor Day in September 2022. Starbucks said at the time that Narasimhan would begin as CEO on April 1, taking over for interim CEO Schultz. Of the 365 Starbucks stores that have held votes to unionize, 292 have voted to form a union.

☆ Panama sees limited risk from US, European bank problems
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PANAMA CITY, March 16 (Reuters) - Panama's risk of contagion from banking woes in the United States and Europe is "very limited", an official with banking regulator SBP said on Thursday, adding that local lenders have no exposure from interbank deposits or other investments. "We can count on a very solid banking system," Amauri Castillo, an SBP superintendent, said at a conference in Panama City. Panama's international banking center (CBI) held assets totaling some $140 billion at the end of last year, up 5% from 2021. At the end of last year, Panama's national banking system reported a capital adequacy ratio of 15.34% and liquidity ratio of 57%. Reporting by Milagro Vallecillos; Writing by Sarah Morland; Editing by Anthony Esposito and David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Mitch McConnell slams Rick Scott's plan to sunset Social Security and Medicare, calling it 'a bad idea'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Florida Sen. Rick Scott continues to back his plan to sunset federal programs like Social Security and Medicare every five years. Mitch McConnell slammed the idea, saying on Kentucky radio that it's "the Scott plan. That's not a Republican plan." I'll defend Social Security and Medicare." "I've never ever said I would reduce Medicare or Social Security benefits.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell has spoken and luckily for bulls and bears, there was something for everyone, so where Asian markets go on Wednesday is something a coin flip. With an expected interest rate rise in India taking center stage regionally, investors in Asia will be digesting the mixed U.S. picture that saw stocks rise but the dollar and Treasuries ease lower on Tuesday. But he also said "it will take some time" to get the inflation genie back in the 2% bottle. The Reserve Bank of India is likely to raise its key interest rate by 25 basis points to 6.50%, which most economists reckon will be the last of the hiking cycle. With the rupee within a whisker of October's record low, however, traders will be on RBI intervention alert.

☆ NBA roundup: Nikola Jokic, Nuggets edge Pelicans in final seconds
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Mandatory Credit: Andrew Wevers-USA TODAY SportsJanuary 25 - Nikola Jokic had a triple-double and scored the winning basket with 16 seconds left as the visiting Denver Nuggets defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 99-98 on Tuesday night. Hernangomez made two free throws with 36 seconds left to give the Pelicans a 98-97 lead, but Jokic answered with a jump hook from the lane. Heat 98, Celtics 95Bam Adebayo had 30 points -- including the go-ahead jumper in the lane with 20.4 seconds left -- to lead host Miami over Boston. Adebayo also grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds as Miami won without its leading scorer, Jimmy Butler, who sat due to back stiffness. Mason Plumlee notched 17 points and Jalen McDaniels provided 15 points and 10 rebounds.

☆ On King’s holiday, daughter calls for bold action over words
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

Bernice King, who leads The King Center in Atlanta, said leaders — especially politicians — too often cheapen her father’s legacy into a “comfortable and convenient King” offering easy platitudes. The service, organized by the center and held at Ebenezer annually, headlined observances of the 38th federal King holiday. ... A prophetic word calls for an inconvenience because it challenges us to change our hearts, our minds and our behavior,” Bernice King said. At Ebenezer, Warnock, who has led the congregation for 17 years, hailed his predecessor’s role in securing ballot access for Black Americans. But, like Bernice King, the senator warned against a reductive understanding of King.

☆ NBA roundup: Zion Williamson's career night propels Pelicans
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY SportsDecember 29 - Zion Williamson scored his team's final 14 points as part of a career-high 43-point night as the host New Orleans Pelicans came from behind to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves 119-118 on Wednesday night. Trey Murphy III added 21 points, CJ McCollum scored 20, Jonas Valanciunas had 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Naji Marshall scored 12 points as New Orleans won its fourth straight. Nikola Jokic had 40 points, Bones Hyland scored 20, Michael Porter Jr. 19 and Zeke Nnaji 14 for the Nuggets. Saddiq Bey poured in 28 points and added eight rebounds and four assists, while Bojan Bogdanovic had 14 points with five assists. LeBron James matched Butler for a game-high of 27 points, and also added nine rebounds with six assists, but committed six turnovers.

☆ A former economic advisor to the Russian government breaks down the telltale signs that a recent anti-America rally in Moscow was staged by Russian authorities
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A Russia expert described what he said were telltale signs the rally was staged by the Kremlin. Russian media dubbed the rally "the March on Washington," highlighting the display of pro-war sentiment in Russia. Unlike at the recent rally, the Russian police previously arrested over a thousand people protesting Putin's mobilization of reservists. Previous demonstrations in Moscow in October also featured protesters clamoring for Sarmat strikes on the US. They paraded a black rocket on the streets, which appears to have been reused in the most recent staged rally.

☆ U.S. Argonne National Lab scales up startup SambaNova's latest AI system
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Jane Lanhee Lee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 14 (Reuters) - Silicon Valley artificial intelligence (AI) computing startup SambaNova Systems said on Monday it delivered eight units of its latest AI system to the U.S. Argonne National Laboratory, which is expanding its AI offering to researchers. With AI work taking center stage in research, Argonne National Laboratory has been testing out various AI chips and systems, Rick Stevens, associate lab director for computing, environment and life sciences at Argonne lab told Reuters. In addition to SambaNova, AI systems from startups including Cerebras Systems, Groq Inc, Graphcore, and Intel Corp (INTC.O) owned Habana Labs have been tested. "We're working with new emerging AI hardware architectures, and we get early hardware and then we play with it, we use it on our science applications," said Stevens. Steven said the lab was evaluating AI hardware for its next supercomputer to see if SambaNova and others can be included.

☆ Biden's student-loan forgiveness is at risk. It may have helped stop a 'red tsunami' as Gen Z flocked to the polls to save their relief.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Ayelet Sheffey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Student-loan forgiveness was a major policy that had support from the majority of young voters. While it's difficult to pinpoint what exactly may have caused this shift, opinions of young voters should be taken into consideration. Major issues like reproductive rights, climate change, and student-loan forgiveness likely helped with that turnout. Student-loan forgiveness is currently paused due to a ruling from the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, in response to a lawsuit filed by six Republican-led states seeking to halt the debt relief. "The youth agenda is taking center stage in the Democratic party"Support for student-loan forgiveness is higher among young voters than the general public.

“All of the members are committed to net zero, particularly many developing countries who certainly have a lot of issues to deal with. But all of them are committed,” Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) President Jin Liqun told CNN’s Becky Anderson in an interview Tuesday at UN climate summit COP27. China is the world’s largest carbon emitter of fossil fuels, but has committed to net zero goals by 2060. He did not mention China’s coal sector, which produces much of the country’s methane emissions, in addition to carbon dioxide emissions. China produces the most methane emissions from coal mines in the world, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency.

☆ NBA roundup: Short-handed Warriors cap 0-5 trip
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

Jusuf Nurkic recorded 14 points and eight rebounds, and Justise Winslow had 12 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. Nic Claxton recorded 18 points and nine rebounds while Cam Thomas contributed 17 points and six assists off the bench. Anthony Edwards led Minnesota with 24 points, while Karl-Anthony Towns had 22 points, 11 rebounds and five assists. RJ Barrett finished with 22 points and nine rebounds while Cam Reddish added 11 points off the bench. Kelly Oubre Jr. led the Hornets with 17 points, while James Bouknight had a season-high 14 points.

☆ Housing Outlook: Low Supply Is Making Home Prices Unaffordable
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Alcynna Lloyd | Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Mortgage rates have climbed above 7% for the first time since 2001, but that's only half the story of the affordability crisis. The deeper issue is that there aren't enough homes to fulfill every would-be buyer's dream, which means people are competing with their wallets and driving prices higher and higher. Mortgage rates are above 7% for the first time in over two decades for the most popular type of mortgage, and are only expected to keep rising. So far in 2022, US housing construction has fallen in four out of nine months. It's a decision that Dietz said could result in housing supply dwindling further.

☆ NBA roundup: Zion Williamson injured in Pelicans' OT loss to Jazz
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

CJ McCollum had 28 points and 12 assists to lead the Pelicans, who overcame a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit to force the extra period despite losing Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson to injury. James had 31 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, Anthony Davis had 22 points and 10 rebounds and Lonnie Walker IV scored 15 points for the Lakers. Rudy Gobert added 15 points and 15 rebounds for Minnesota, while Karl-Anthony Towns also scored 15. Jeremiah Robinson-Earl added 15 points. Curry had six 3-pointers to account for a majority of his 28 points in the first two periods, contributing to the 89 first-half points, which were the fifth-most in NBA history.

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