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☆ Harry Belafonte, who mixed music, acting, and activism, dies at 96
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Bill Trott | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Belafonte was born in New York City's borough of Manhattan but spent his early childhood in his family's native Jamaica. A few weeks before the launch, Belafonte told Rolling Stone magazine that singing was a way for him to express injustices in the world. "We were instructed to never capitulate, to never yield, to always resist oppression," Belafonte told Yes! "The Navy came as a place of relief for me," Belafonte told Yes! Belafonte was the first Black performer to win a major Emmy in 1960 with his appearance on a television variety special.

☆ Subway reports double-digit quarterly sales growth as sandwich chain seeks buyer
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

In this photo illustration, a Subway sandwich is seen on a table at a Subway restaurant on January 12, 2023 in Austin, Texas. Sandwich chain Subway reported double-digit same-store sales growth in the first quarter, showing its turnaround taking hold as the company seeks to sell itself. The restaurant company is reportedly seeking a valuation of at least $10 billion, and the auction is heading into its second round, according to The Wall Street Journal. Globally, Subway's same-store sales climbed 12.1%, and its digital sales increased 11.4%. In North America, same-store sales grew 11.7%, and digital sales soared 21.2%.

☆ How to see the Lyrids April meteor shower
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Taylor Nicioli | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —After no major annual meteor showers for months, the Lyrids are here to end the drought. Known as one of the oldest-recorded meteor showers, the Lyrids are expected to produce 10 to 15 meteors per hour for three nights centered around its peak of 9:06 p.m. Lyrids’ history dates back centuriesThe Lyrids were first recorded in 687 BC, according to NASA, making this meteor shower to be one of the oldest recorded. “Only in the 19th century was when we kind of understood that they actually came from space.”Every meteor shower has a parent comet from which comes the debris that makes up the shower. For those in Africa, Asia and Australia, a penumbral lunar eclipse will occur on May 5, and on October 28, a partial lunar eclipse will be viewable in Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, parts of North America and much of South America.

☆ P&G stock gets the respect it deserves after delivering a great quarter and outlook
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Zev Fima | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Club holding Procter & Gamble (PG) reported fiscal third-quarter results that were better than expectations before the opening bell Friday. The fact that volumes were only down 3%, despite a 10% price increase, is a testament to Procter & Gamble's strong pricing power. This new target comes as management now expects all-in (non-organic) sales growth to be up 1%, an increase from the down 1% to flat range previously provided. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade.

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☆ How to view the rare hybrid eclipse
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Taylor Nicioli | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —A hybrid solar eclipse — the first of its kind in nearly 10 years — is on the way. The hybrid eclipse will begin at 10:37 p.m. What makes a hybrid eclipse uniqueOtherwise known as an annular-total eclipse, a hybrid eclipse is a function of Earth’s curvature and the event’s path. During full eclipse, at the very middle of the eclipse path, the antumbral shadow will create an annular eclipse for some and the umbral shadow will create a total eclipse for others. If you live in North, Central or South America, an annular solar eclipse will take place on October 14.

☆ Debt ceiling drama is back and it's coming for markets. Here's what to know as a deadline looms.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Max Adams | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

If the trend returns to the upside, it'll buck many of the gloomiest predictions of a crushing earnings recession and a painful stock market sell-off — at least for now. Last week, markets started showing early signs that investors are stressed about a possible US default as the deadline looms without an agreement in sight. Join us in demanding a reasonable negotiation, a responsible debt ceiling, an agreement that brings spending under control" McCarthy said. Here are the latest market moves. Here's why Morgan Stanley's Mike Wilson doesn't believe in the latest stock market rally.

☆ China wants the dollar's dominance to fade - and the US should defend its reserve currency status, Biden nominee says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Lawmakers should raise the debt ceiling to defend the greenback's reserve currency status, he says. "I think there's some evidence that it does," he told Tennessee Senator Bill Hagerty, who had asked whether China wants the dollar's dominance as the global reserve currency to fade. "There are extremely important privileges, and even in the realm of security [there are] benefits to having the reserve currency," Bernstein added. "One of the most obvious is of course sanctions — if you control the reserve currency, you are able to impose sanctions as we've done on Russia to considerable effect." Read more: The anti-dollar drive spearheaded by Asia has spread to Europe, with France growing sour on the greenback's dominance.

☆ Rome foot-dragging can help EU kick bad aid habits
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Rebecca Christie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is trying to pry out 19 billion euros in EU pandemic aid. Economic conditions have changed a lot since it launched its 800 billion euro pandemic recovery plan in 2020. With 191.5 billion euros requested in grants and loans, it is in line to receive more EU pandemic aid money than any of its peers, and 67 billion euros has already changed hands. EU member states approved public borrowing of about 800 billion euros to fund the aid programme. Total commitments come to only about 508 billion euros, according to a dataset maintained by the Brussels-based Bruegel think tank.

MSCI's Europe index, for example, still trades more than a point below its average historic valuation - with the index priced at less than 13 times its 12-month forward earnings. The top sectoral weighting in the STOXX Europe 50, for example, is healthcare - at almost 23%. With British-based stocks the biggest country weighting in the STOXX Europe index at 26%, the other top four sectors in the index include the food, beverages and tobacco grouping, consumer products, industrial goods and energy. The dollar peaked late last year against most European currencies as the Federal Reserve raced to ratchet up interest rates. Some think the slide in the dollar index of some 12% since last September is barely half of the whole move.

☆ Can AI answer your money questions? We put chatbots to the test
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Chris Taylor | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

NEW YORK, April 13 (Reuters) - Face it, we could all use a little help with our money. So who better to ask for personal finance advice than a couple of the most powerful chatbots on the planet? Each has far more processing power than, say, any individual personal finance writer (ahem). That in mind, we asked our AI assistants-slash-overlords these classic personal finance questions:What is one great business idea? I couldn’t leave our new AI friends without asking a deeper question about money and its role in our existence.

☆ Rent the Runway is giving customers extra clothes for no extra charge and it's actually boosting business
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Avery Hartmans | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Rent the Runway's decision to give customers more clothes for the same price has been a win-win. Plus, free clothes are a relatively affordable way to gain customers, CEO Jennifer Hyman told Bloomberg at the time. Plus, Rent the Runway isn't spending on buying or housing extra inventory to support the extra items, CFO Scarlett Brillet O'Sullivan said during the call. Going head-to-head with fast fashionA Rent the Runway customer carries one of the company's clothing bags in New York City. Hyman said Wednesday that the majority of RTR subscribers pay $144 for its mid-tier membership of two shipments of clothing per month.

☆ Oil rises 2% on lower-than-expected US inflation data
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Arathy Somasekhar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Prices rose about 2% on Tuesday. The CPI rose 6% year-on-year in February. Markets shrugged off a small build in U.S. crude oil stocks, attributing it in part to a congressionally mandated release of oil from the U.S. emergency reserve and lower exports at the start of the month. Meanwhile, the global oil market could see tightness in the second half of 2023, which would push oil prices higher, said Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency. In a negative for oil demand, the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday trimmed its 2023 global growth outlook, citing the impact of higher interest rates.

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☆ Joe Biden Isn’t Sorry About His Afghanistan Withdrawal
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Americans are heading into a holiday weekend and the press is preoccupied with President Trump’s legal travails, so naturally the Biden Administration on Thursday afternoon dumped its review of the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. Americans are unlikely to fall for 12 pages of narrative gaslighting, and the buck for that dark episode stops with President Biden. The White House document “outlines the key decisions and challenges” associated with the departure of U.S. troops in August in 2021. Mr. Biden “believed the right thing for the country” was withdrawing all U.S. forces, the White House says, even as it blames the debacle on—wait for it—Donald Trump.

☆ Snoop Dogg, his ape and a question of celebrity hype
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Elle Reeve | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

The Bored Apes became some of the most famous NFTs after a series of celebrities said they got one. The Bored Ape crazeSnoop Dogg performs with his Bored Ape character, Dr. Bombay, in February 2023. He sold his versions as RR/BAYC with an accompanying website that detailed claims the Bored Apes contained references to racist memes on 4chan, a troll website. In March 2022, Snoop invested in Yuga Labs, and the month after, he invested in MoonPay. In the VMAs video, Eminem turns into a white ape wearing “hip hop clothes,” while Snoop becomes a cheetah-fur ape wearing a “pimp coat,” according to Yuga Labs’ description.

☆ Analysts expect a big earnings drop this season. These 14 stocks are set to buck the trend
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-07 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

First-quarter earnings per share for the S & P 500 are set to decline by 7% compared with the year-ago period, Goldman Sachs said in a note to clients Wednesday. That's why we spend less time worrying what the S & P 500 will earn and focus more on how individual companies are performing . Some S & P 500 sectors, like consumer discretionary and energy, are poised to grow profits compared with 2022, according to Goldman. Within the Club's portfolio, we found 14 companies that are set to report positive earnings growth this earnings season, according to FactSet estimates. As always, we'll analyze both our companies' earnings reports and consider their guidance to ensure our investment rationale is still intact.

☆ CHART: We analyzed Apple's revenue per employee to show how it's avoided tech bloat and delayed layoffs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Data shows its revenue per employee trumps the rest of Silicon Valley, a sign of its efficiency. Apple's comparative efficiency is visible through one particular metric that is back in vogue: Revenue per employee. Insider analyzed revenue per employee at major tech firms between 2018 and 2022. Revenue per employee is a get-back-to-basics measure of efficiency and productivity, assigning a hard dollar value to individual workers. Rabois also criticized tech firms, specifically Google and Meta, for "over-hiring" — a practice Apple avoided during tech's boom years.

☆ Explainer: How are money market funds preparing for a potential debt ceiling crisis?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( John Mccrank | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

HOW BIG ARE MONEY MARKET FUNDS? Assets under management in U.S. money market funds, which include Treasury-only funds, prime funds, and government funds, totaled a record $5.2 trillion as of March 29, Investment Company Institute data showed. WHY IS THE DEBT CEILING A CONCERN FOR MONEY MARKET FUNDS? Fitch Ratings warned in February that the potential for investor redemptions and volatility in Treasury-only money market funds – as opposed to prime and government money market funds, which have other sources of funding – would rise if investors believed the government were to default. Runs on money market funds have been rare.

☆ BMO's chief strategist says you have to 'sift through the rubble' in the banking sector. Here are the smaller names he likes
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

First Citizens BancShares and Glacier Bancorp are smart smaller bank stocks to own as investors re-examine the pummeled financial sector, according to Brian Belski, chief investment strategist at BMO Harris. "Unfortunately, you have to kind of sift through the rubble to find ... the best names," he said on CNBC's " Halftime Report ." That's despite the fact that small- and mid-size banks will likely see massive consolidation more broadly, Belski added. Three out of the five analysts with ratings on First Citizens say the stock is worth buying, according to Refinitiv. But after its recent drop, the average analyst expects the stock to rally almost 25% in the next year.

☆ The Masters were caddied by only Black men for nearly 50 years
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Jack Bantock | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

Located just three miles from The Masters venue, the historically Black district lay adjacent to Augusta Country Club. Eventually, many would hop across Rae’s Creek to begin work at Augusta National. A “good bag” at Augusta National would pay up to $5, Maben said, offering $20 for a particularly lucrative day’s labor. The 1983 Masters saw the first White caddies walk the greens at the major, with just 19 Black caddies on the bag, Clayton said. This year, the Lucy Craft Laney Museum will put the legacy of Augusta’s Black caddies – quite literally – center stage.

Persons: Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Willie Peterson caddied Nicklaus ’, Nathaniel “, ” Avery, Peterson –, –, Augusta, Nicklaus, Peterson, Augusta caddies, Leon Maben, Lucy, Lucy Craft Laney, Ward Clayton, “, ” Palmer, ” Clayton, …, Maben, Jerry ” Beard, caddie, Fuzzy Zoeller, John P, caddying, Willie “ Pappy ” Stokes, Stokes, Henry Picard, Ben Hogan, Hogan, Beard, Zoeller, Augusta “, Clayton, ” Maben, ” Beard, Heinz Kluetmeier, Tommy “, ” Bennett, Woods, scalding, John H, Stovepipe ” Gordon, Frank “, ” Stokes, Matthew “ Shorty Mac ” Palmer, Avery’s, Gordon, Gene Sarazen, Sarazen, Willie “, Perteet, Dwight D, Eisenhower, ”, ’, ‘, We’re, caddies, Jim Crow, Ron Townsend, Lee Elder, Elder, Andy Lyons, Townsend, ” Carl Jackson, Ben Crenshaw, Jackson, Crenshaw, “ Gentle Ben ”, Watson, Jamie Squire, Harvey Penick, ” Jackson, you’re, Andrew Redington, Avery, Palmer, Augusta caddies – Stokes, It’s Organizations: CNN, Augusta National, Bettmann, Getty, Augusta Country, Lucy Craft, Lucy Craft Laney Museum of, . Augusta National, ”, Augusta, ESPN, National, PGA, Augusta Country Club Locations: Georgia, Cedar Grove, Sand, Black, Augusta, caddies, Clayton, America, ”, Perteet

☆ What Is a Money Market Fund?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: +11 min

“Money market funds have become a much more interesting place,” says Jay McLaughlin, institutional sales manager for iMoneyNet, a research firm that follows the money market fund industry. How money market funds workThe first thing for investors to understand is that money market funds are mutual funds, not bank accounts. Municipal money market fundsMunicipal money market funds appeal to many high-income investors because of their tax-exempt nature. One popular muni money market fund is the $17 billion Vanguard Municipal money market Fund (VMSXX) and its current 7-day yield of 2.65%—a yield which on its face is lower than other fund types, but after taxes are considered, can actually be higher for some investors. How to get the best money market fund ratesTypically your stock trading platform may have a default money market fund for its clients, established at your initial sign-up, as a kind of placeholder to keep your cash.

☆ Amazon gave 'small business' and 'Black-owned business' badges to companies that were neither, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Aaron Mok | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Amazon reportedly gave some sellers "Small Business" badges even though they were large companies, The Information reports. "Black-Owned Small Business" badges were also reportedly given to companies that aren't Black-owned. Amazon gave "Small Business" badges to sellers that are "multinational corporations with thousands of employees," The Information reported. Likewise, Amazon reportedly also gave "Black-Owned Small Business" badges to companies that were not actually Black-owned, The Information reported. And products from grass-fed beef jerky firm Chomps were given the Black-owned business badge even though its founders Pete Maldonado and Rashid Ali are not Black.

☆ Zillow's chief economist explains why the party is over for short-term real-estate investing tactics like house-flipping — and says long-term strategies designed to generate cash flow are an investor'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( William Edwards | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

You know, long run mortgage rates are expected to be around five-and-a-half, six." Economists at other real-estate firms share similar views to Olsen's in respect to mortgage rates, at least for the rest of 2023. Plus, when mortgage rates eventually fall, one can refinance into a lower rate, improving an investor's positive cash flow. In the meantime, there's a way that buyers can get around high mortgage rates, Olsen said. Many sellers are offering concessions, like paying for repairs and helping pay for a rate buydown.

☆ An NYC real estate investor explains why the 'golden age' of being a landlord is over and he's switching to 'safer' investments
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Jason Lalljee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

A major NYC landlord told Bloomberg this week that he's selling off the bulk of his properties. He says the shifting political power of tenants and increased costs of being a landlord are why. Ben Carlos Thypin told Bloomberg this week on the "Odd Lots" podcast that he's pursuing an "orderly liquidation" of his properties. Power is slowly shifting from landlords to rentersWhen directly asked by Bloomberg about whether there ever was a "golden age" for landlords, Thypin pointed to research showing how policies in the 1950s helped create a boom for property owners. She added that real estate policies tend to target the creation of new properties, rather than protecting tenants in existing ones.

☆ Jim Cramer's top 10 things to watch in the stock market Monday: OPEC+ surprise, Macy's lift, Tesla miss
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

How are we approaching the market week ahead? I also explained that we are indeed in a bull market, but that things could get a bit rocky from here. Analyst Matthew Boss also increased his price target by a buck to $29, citing favorable risk-to-reward setup at current stock price. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade.

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