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"If the totality of the data were to indicate that faster tightening is warranted, we would be prepared to increase the pace of rate hikes," Powell said. The Fed's benchmark overnight interest rate is currently in the 4.50%-4.75% range. Senator Sherrod Brown, the Democratic chair of the committee, said the Fed's rate hikes ignored what he viewed as a chief cause of inflation - high corporate profits. "To restore price stability, we will need to see lower inflation in this sector, and there will very likely be some softening in labor market conditions," Powell said. Powell's last monetary policy report to Congress was in June, which was early in what became the most aggressive cycle of Fed rate increases since the 1980s.

While ostensibly focused on monetary policy, the questions tend to range across issues, and the sessions this week - the first since Republicans took control of the House after midterm elections - may be particularly wide in scope. Powell's last monetary policy report to Congress was in June, early in what became the most aggressive cycle of Fed rate increases since the 1980s. Fed rate hikes "are designed to harm the labor market. Despite some high-profile layoff announcements, weekly new jobless claims have remained below 200,000 for seven consecutive weeks, comparable to pre-pandemic levels. That ongoing strength has posed perhaps the key question for Powell to answer: Whether the impact of monetary policy is just delayed and on the way, or whether the current economy needs even tighter monetary policy, with all the risks that entails.

"If corporate profits were to decline from the extremely high levels that we saw recently, would it be possible to sustain" growth in workers' benefits "even as we get inflation down to the target of 2%?" Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen asked Powell during the Fed chief's semi-annual testimony before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee. "Wages affect prices and prices affect wages," Powell said, associating current earnings growth to the current ultra-low unemployment rate of 3.4%, and suggesting the labor market may need to weaken at least somewhat for inflation to fall. SHORTAGESUltimately, Powell said he felt profits would likely moderate on their own as the U.S. economy moves beyond the pandemic. "What we're seeing in the economy is pretty much about shortages ... supply chain blockages," Powell said.

☆ We tried a 4-day workweek for 6 months. Here's what we had to do to make it work and why we landed on something different.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Ella Hopkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

During the pilot, it went from 40 hours a week over five days to 32 over four days. The staff would work eight hours a day but only four days a week. On the senior-leadership team, we were used to handing over work, but for the creative team, it was harder to work across several briefs. Apart from that, working hours are fully flexible — and our office is still hybrid. Our working pattern might not work for larger organizations, and we might have to be more prescriptive about people's working hours if we grow.

☆ Womb for rent: More women are working as commercial surrogates as global demand rises
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Karen Gilchrist | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Typically, commercial surrogacy is gestational surrogacy, meaning the surrogate has no biological link to the child. The growing commercial surrogacy industryDilara is one of a growing number of women turning to commercial surrogacy as a source of income amid swelling global demand for carriers. The global commercial surrogacy industry was worth an estimated $14 billion in 2022, according to market research consultancy Global Market Insights — though exact numbers are hard to verify given the private nature of many arrangements. In the first three quarters of 2022, more than 400 parental orders were made for surrogate parents in the U.K. Women's rights groups are calling for greater regulation of the commercial surrogacy industry.

☆ Why Big Drugmakers Want to Buy Cancer Biotech Seagen
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Jared S. Hopkins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Pfizer is one drugmaker that has shown interest in buying Seagen, The Wall Street Journal recently reported. An unprofitable biotech that pioneered a relatively new kind of cancer therapy has caught the attention of the world’s largest drugmakers on the hunt for the next big opportunity in one of the industry’s most lucrative markets. Seagen Inc. sells three of the novel cancer agents—known as antibody drug conjugates, or ADCs—that work like a guided missile attacking tumors with toxins. Although the company’s products generate around $2 billion in yearly sales and the company operates at a loss, it has a market valuation of roughly $30 billion.

☆ Seagen’s Cancer Therapy Is Making It a Takeover Target
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Jared S. Hopkins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Moderna CEO Defends Pricing Plans for Covid-19 Shot
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Jared S. Hopkins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Moderna Inc. Chief Executive Stéphane Bancel pushed back against criticism of the company’s pricing plans for its Covid-19 vaccine at Monday’s Wall Street Journal Health Forum. U.S. politicians including Sens. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) and Peter Welch (D., Vt.) have questioned the company’s strategy around commercial pricing, which could be unveiled in the coming months. Moderna received funding from the U.S. government related to development of its Covid-19 vaccine.

☆ Moderna CEO Defends Pricing Plans for Covid Shot
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Jared S. Hopkins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel, said public funding sped the vaccine’s development. Moderna Inc. Chief Executive Stéphane Bancel pushed back against criticism of the company’s pricing plans for its Covid-19 vaccine at Monday’s Wall Street Journal Health Forum. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.) and Peter Welch (D., Vt.) have questioned the company’s strategy around commercial pricing, which could be unveiled in the coming months. Moderna received funding from the U.S. government related to development of its Covid-19 vaccine.

Like Willis, private economists and analysts at payroll firms and staffing companies also see a labor market that is stressed but adjusting. A recent Goldman Sachs study concluded wage growth should continue slowing even with the current low unemployment rate of 3.4%. But even that came with slowing wage growth, and the gain was amplified by seasonal adjustments used to factor out expected swings in hiring during holidays and summer. Nela Richardson, chief economist at payroll processor ADP, said even as economy-wide hiring remains strong, the tech layoffs may be helping mute overall wage growth. "If that is a trend...we would expect there would be less drive for wage growth," she said.

☆ NHL roundup: Knights edge Devils in shootout
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] Mar 3, 2023; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; New Jersey Devils center Nico Hischier (13) skates against Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Shea Theodore (27) during an overtime period at T-Mobile Arena. Adin Hill, playing in his 100th career NHL game, made a career-high 47 saves and stopped all four shootout attempts for the Golden Knights, who broke a tie for first place in the Pacific Division with the idle Los Angeles Kings. Kraken 4, Blue Jackets 2Jared McCann and Alex Wennberg each had a goal and an assist as Seattle defeated host Columbus. Leon Draisaitl and Kailer Yamamoto each had two goals and an assist, and Connor McDavid, whose five-game goal streak ended, had three assists for the Oilers. Lawson Crouse scored his 20th goal of the season for the Coyotes, who have lost four of their past five games.

"In response...the FOMC continued to rapidly increase interest rates and reduce its securities holdings," the report said, and also "anticipates that ongoing increases in the target range will be appropriate." The document noted that U.S. financial conditions have tightened since the Fed's last report to Congress in June, and hinted that the impact of monetary policy was intensifying in some corners of the economy. Business loans by banks grew through 2022 "but decelerated in the fourth quarter," the report said. Fed Chair Jerome Powell will discuss the report and Fed policy in back-to-back congressional hearings next week, appearing at 10 a.m. EST Tuesday before the Senate Banking Committee and Wednesday at 10 a.m. before the House Financial Services Committee. It will be Powell's first testimony since the Republican party took control of the House after the November midterm elections.

"It could be that progress has stalled, or it is possible that the numbers released last month were a blip," he said. The current policy rate is set in a range between 4.5% and 4.75%. Bostic also said he was ready to raise rates higher if upcoming data did not show inflation "clearly" heading back towards the central bank's 2% target from its January level of about 5.4%. But he also felt the impact of Fed rate increases so far may only be getting started, a reason to be careful in deciding on further rate hikes lest the central bank overstep. Fed rate increases "should bite through the spring ...

WASHINGTON, March 2 (Reuters) - The impact of higher U.S. interest rates on the economy may only begin to "bite" in earnest this spring, an argument for the Federal Reserve to stick with "steady" quarter-point rate increases, Atlanta Federal Reserve President Raphael Bostic said on Thursday. "I am still very much of a mindset that slow and steady is going to be the appropriate course of action," Bostic said in comments to reporters. The cumulative effect of the Fed rate increases "should bite through the spring ... He has penciled in another half percentage point of increases as likely needed, but that depends on what upcoming data show about an economy that continues to outperform expectations. The Fed targets a 2% rate of annual increase in the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, which as of January was increasing at a 5.4% annual rate.

March 2 (Reuters) - A virtual event with Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller was canceled on Thursday after the Zoom video conference was "hijacked" by a participant who displayed pornographic images. It is an incident we deeply regret," said Brent Tjarks, executive director of the Mid-Size Bank Coalition of America (MBCA), which hosted the event via a Zoom link. "We have been deeply upset to hear about these types of incidents, and Zoom strongly condemns such behavior," Zoom spokesman Matt Nagel said in a statement. The service has come under fire over privacy and security issues, including incidents of "Zoom bombing" in which uninvited users entered and disrupted meetings. The Fed said the event, which was to feature a speech by Waller as well as a question-and-answer session, was canceled due to "technical difficulties."

Kashkari, a voter on Fed rate policy this year, said he had not made a final call yet on a new projection for the target federal funds rate. But "at this point...I lean towards continuing to raise further," beyond the 5.4% level that he previously thought would be adequate to lower inflation. Fed officials will submit new projections at a meeting in three weeks, and analysts and investors expect the median rate seen by officials for the end of 2023 will move perhaps a quarter point higher than the 5.1% anticipated as of December. The federal funds rate is currently set in a range from 4.5% to 4.75% after a rapid set of rate increases last year lifted it from a near zero level. The jump in inflation in January, however, has not prompted a universal call to respond.

☆ Studies show how asteroid-bashing spacecraft was 'phenomenally successful'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/4] This image depicts NASA's DART spacecraft and its two long solar panels over the spot where it impacted asteroid Dimorphos in September 2022. "The DART test was phenomenally successful. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft collided on Sept. 26 at about 14,000 miles per hour (22,530 kph) into Dimorphos, an asteroid about 490 feet (150 meters) in diameter, roughly 6.8 million miles (11 million km) from Earth. Finally, the spacecraft bus - the box between the solar panels - hit between these two boulders," Daly said. The research also clarified details such as the precise location of the impact and the angle of impact.

☆ I made $140,000 before getting laid off — now I earn almost $30,000 more than that as a freelancer on Upwork. Here's how.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Ella Hopkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Marcus Grimm, a 52-year-old marketing freelancer from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I worked for 20 years in B2B marketing automation, which uses technology to automate marketing content at particular times. When I applied for client jobs, I'd use whichever profile was best suited for the job. My industry expertise was useful for attracting clientsIt took me three weeks to get my first Upwork client. I'd had a client in that industry before when I was working full time, and I'd actually worked in it years ago.

Several indicators suggest that housing services inflation is likely to come down in the coming months. There is more uncertainty surrounding inflation in core services excluding housing," Jefferson said in remarks to a Harvard University economics class. The Fed uses the PCE index to sets its inflation target. "I'm under no illusion that it's going to be easy to get the inflation rate back down to 2%," Jefferson said. Jefferson did not detail his views on the Fed's upcoming policy decision, or how much higher he thinks the target federal funds rate might have to move beyond the 4.5% to 4.75% range set at the Fed's last meeting.

"We've been talking about impending recession for several quarters now," said Malone, whose Virginia Beach-based company has a national footprint. So has unexpectedly strong consumer spending and, for the world outlook, the reopening of China's economy from strict COVID lockdowns. That poured cold water on the idea that the Fed would "pivot" on a dime to lower rates. "Government bond yields are up" since the last Fed policy meeting, Durham wrote. "It kind of seems the U.S. economy might be more resilient than markets thought six or eight weeks ago."

☆ Russia has been able to keep its most effective drone flying over Ukraine thanks to Western-made parts
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Ukraine and Russia have employed an array of drones since Moscow attacked in February 2022. Despite sanctions imposed by the US and its allies, Russia has been able to keep its most effective drone flying over Ukraine thanks to Western-made parts. The Orlan-10's specifications and characteristics in a graphic published by the Royal United Services Institute in December 2022. Russian intelligence services are likely involved in sourcing this technology through contacts and front companies around the world. Western-made components found in the Orlan-10, according to the Royal United Services Institute.

☆ Top 25 roundup: No. 4 UCLA edges Colorado to claim Pac-12 title
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Feb 26, 2023; Boulder, Colorado, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. (24) shoots the ball past Colorado Buffaloes guard Luke O'Brien (0) in the second half at the CU Events Center. The Bruins (25-4, 16-2 Pac-12) came into Sunday's matchup needing a win to claim an outright league title, thanks to Arizona's loss on Saturday to Arizona State. However, Colorado jumped to an early lead of 10 points then exchanged the advantage with the visitors throughout the second half. Primo Spears tallied 26 points to lead Georgetown (7-23, 2-17), which has lost its last 12 games against Top 25 teams. Chase Audige had 16 points to pace the Wildcats, but only two came in the second half.

☆ Pfizer in Talks to Acquire Seagen in Deal Likely Valued at More Than $30 Billion
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Jared S. Hopkins | Jonathan D. Rockoff | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Pfizer, one of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies, is flush with cash. Pfizer Inc. is in talks to acquire biotech Seagen Inc., according to people familiar with the matter, the latest potential deal for a big drug company aimed at adding a promising class of targeted cancer therapies. The talks are at an early stage and there is no guarantee there will be a deal, the people said. A number of hurdles would need to be overcome, including the potential for a stringent antitrust review of any proposal. If there is a deal, it would be big: Seagen has a market value of some $30 billion and would be expected to command a premium over that.

☆ Both of my adult children moved back home and pay rent to me – here's what it's like being their landlord
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( Jordan Hart | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

My two adult children pay a fee that covers their utilities, phone bills, and a family gym membership. My two adult children have lived at home with my husband and I for nearly two years now, but our arrangement is a bit different than other families who make this decision. When he first moved in, we allowed him six months rent-free before we asked him to start paying rent last month. She's an adult, and as of now, she's recovered – what she does is her choice. Although our situation is unique, I definitely think at a certain age adult children need to move out.

☆ ‘Unlikely Heroes’ Review: FDR’s Key Quartet
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Scott Borchert | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Students of history may recognize a concept I’ll call the Weirdo Theory of Crisis. In times of upheaval and strife (so goes the theory), unconventional figures have a way of slipping into power. They were also, in various combinations and to different degrees, messy, wounded human beings. “During prosperous times, none of Roosevelt’s up-and-coming lieutenants could have ventured far beyond political suburbia,” as Mr. Lebaert puts it. “Then the Great Depression changed everything.” Weirder still, these four survived into Roosevelt’s unprecedented fourth term, outlasting nearly every other secretary or top adviser, aside from the First Lady.

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