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☆ Corporate America celebrates debt ceiling deal and urges Congress to quickly pass legislation
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Leading business groups are praising President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy for forging a bipartisan agreement to raise the debt ceiling, and they are calling for Congress to pass the legislation before the government suffers a devastating default. “With the US at risk of defaulting in less than 10 days, there is no time to spare. The gravity of this moment cannot be overstated,” said Clark, who added the Chamber will consider this a “key vote” for lawmakers. The National Association of Manufacturers, the largest manufacturing trade group in the nation, congratulated Biden, McCarthy and their lawmakers for reaching an agreement. Party leaders in Washington are working furiously Monday to convince holdouts to back the compromise legislation that would avert default.

CNN —A fake image purporting to show an explosion near the Pentagon was shared by multiple verified Twitter accounts on Monday, causing confusion and leading to a brief dip in the stock market. “Large explosion near the Pentagon complex in Washington DC. Under owner Elon Musk, Twitter has allowed anyone to obtain a verified account in exchange for a monthly payment. A fake image purporting to show an explosion near the Pentagon was shared by multiple verified Twitter accounts on Monday, causing confusion and leading to a brief dip in the stock market. AI-Generated Fake Image/Twitter“Republic had aired news of a possible explosion near the Pentagon citing a post & picture tweeted by RT,” the outlet later posted on its Twitter account.

CNN —Disney is scrapping plans to build a new campus that would have brought thousands of employees to Florida, citing “changing business conditions,” according to a memo provided by a Disney spokesperson. It’s also tense time for Disney as the media industry grapples with a difficult advertising environment and a massive writers strike. The campus in Lake Nona, Florida, in the greater Orlando area, was expected to add 2,000 jobs. Before the Florida government selected the board in February, Disney had reached agreements with the outgoing board that limited the power of DeSantis’ appointees. Last month, Disney CEO Bob Iger told investors that he believed DeSantis’ actions to punish Disney were “anti-business.”Disney’s stock rose slightly after its announcement.

☆ How to protect your investments in the debt ceiling standoff
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Jeanne Sahadi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

But even if that’s the case, between now and then bond investors should expect volatility. Bond investors are all about pricing in the risk that they may not be paid back on debt they buy — either on time or at all. But the lack of a deal to raise lawmakers’ self-imposed debt ceiling so close to the X-date is introducing unwanted risk into each investor’s calculus. “We’ve already seen some pricing stress around short-term bills, Treasury bills, and a little bit of change in the… sovereign credit default swap spreads,” said Gary Gensler, chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, at an event on Monday. Right now, yields on one-month T bills are well above the yields for 10-year and 30-year Treasury bonds.

☆ Elon Musk claims George Soros ‘hates humanity.’ The ADL says Musk’s attacks ‘will embolden extremists’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

While Musk’s remarks don’t mention the billionaire philanthropist’s ethnicity, Musk was criticized for dangerous rhetoric that could potentially fuel further attacks on Soros. When a Twitter user defended Soros as having good intentions which are criticized by those who disagree with his politics, Musk responded, “You assume they are good intentions. Attacks on Soros have increased in recent years alongside a broader increase in incidents of antisemitic attacks. Studies by the ADL and the Center for Countering Digital Hate found that the volume of hate speech on Twitter has grown dramatically under Musk’s stewardship. He most recently sold 22 million shares in December.

☆ Mr. ChatGPT goes to Washington: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman set to testify before Congress
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

As the CEO of OpenAI, Altman, perhaps more than any other single figure, has come to serve as a face for a new crop of AI products that can generate images and texts in response to user prompts. In interviews this year, Altman has presented himself as someone who is mindful of the risks posed by AI and even “a little bit scared” of the technology. Others want Altman and OpenAI to move more cautiously. “I think moving with caution and an increasing rigor for safety issues is really important,” Altman said at an event last month. “The letter I don’t think was the optimal way to address it.”– CNN’s Jennifer Korn contributed to this report.

☆ Elon Musk said he must approve all hiring decisions at Tesla
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Reuters —Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk has said that the company can make no new hires unless he personally approves them, according to a copy of the email seen by Reuters. “No one can join Tesla, even as a contractor, until you receive my email approval,” Musk said in the email on Monday. According to the email, Musk told executives to send him a list of hiring requests on a weekly basis, while also cautioning them to “think carefully” before submitting such requests. He said on Friday that hiring Yaccarino would allow him to spend more time to run Tesla. The billionaire is expected to address Tesla shareholders on Tuesday at the automaker’s annual meeting at its headquarters in Austin, Texas.

☆ American consumers are growing worried about a US debt default
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Bryan Mena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

“If policymakers fail to resolve the debt ceiling crisis, these dismal views over the economy will exacerbate the dire economic consequences of default.”The latest survey showed that the university’s consumer-sentiment index fell by 9% in May. Monthly household spending growth tumbled to 5.4% from a revised 7.1% in December, according to the New York Fed’s Household Spending Survey, which is fielded every four months. Michigan’s report showed US household spending was flat in March from the prior month, after limping just 0.1% in February. Stack on top of that the Federal Reserve’s punishing interest-rate increases and still-high inflation, and consumers might just tap out. The Conference Board’s sentiment survey showed that consumer confidence worsened in April as Americans became more worried about the jobs market.

☆ Bob Iger to Ron DeSantis: Does Florida want our jobs and taxes or not?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Disney CEO Bob Iger said Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ attacks on the company threaten its plans for $17 billion of investment and 13,000 new jobs at Disney World over the next 10 years. In comments Wednesday during a call with investors, Iger defended Disney as Florida attempts to wrest control of powers granted to a special taxing district overseeing Disney World’s zoning decisions. Iger did not mention DeSantis by name or explicitly say Disney is reconsidering its planned investment. Disney has for decades controlled a special taxing district that had the right to make zoning decisions in and around Disney World. A general view of Cinderella's Castle at Walt Disney World.

New York CNN —Lawyers for FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried on Monday filed motions to dismiss the US government’s fraud charges against him. Bankman-Fried’s attorneys said the government failed to properly explain what offenses the former CEO of the bankrupt crypto exchange committed. Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to the 13 charges. Prosecutors allege that Bankman-Fried stole FTX customer deposits to finance risky bets at his hedge fund, Alameda Research, and to funnel contributions to American politicians. Three of Bankman-Fried’s former business partners — Gary Wang, Caroline Ellison and Nishad Singh — have pleaded guilty to numerous charges and are cooperating with investigators.

☆ Western Alliance denies ‘shameful’ report it’s the next bank for sale
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Krystal Hur | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Western Alliance Bank denied reports that it’s exploring a sale or has hired an advisor to explore strategic options. Shares of the regional bank tumbled 36% Thursday, slightly paring back its losses after plunging over 50% at one point on reports that the company is the regional bank latest to explore a potential sale. The Financial Times, citing two anonymous sources, reported Thursday that the Arizona-based bank is exploring strategic options. “This story is absolutely false, there is no truth to this,” a Western Alliance spokesperson told CNN in an email. Western Alliance is not exploring a sale, nor has it hired an advisor to explore strategic option.

☆ Hollywood braces for writers strike with two sides are apart
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New York CNN —The clock is ticking toward a costly strike that could shut down production on most television shows, pushing back the return of many programs now set for the fall. With less than a day left before the deadline, the two sides appear far apart. Many of the media and tech companies producing shows that use the writers have seen drops in their stock price, prompting deep cost cutting, including layoffs. Handel is one of those who thinks a strike, quite possibly a months-long strike, is likely. “The tune today is profits.”The union represents 11,500 writers for television shows, both for networks and streaming services, as well as many motion pictures.

☆ Tucker Carlson is gone but Fox News' politics remain the same
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Zachary B. Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —Fox News had plenty of reasons to get rid of Tucker Carlson. CNN’s Allison Morrow notes that Fox will need a Carlson upgrade of some kind because upstart conservative networks want into the same space. ET hour on Fox, and if it is any indication, there won’t be much new in the politics that are pushed on Fox’s viewers. On-screen, the words were “Biden’s Legacy: Crime in the Cities.”Related: Here’s a CNN Fact Check on the crime in Manhattan, which far below record levels. Biden legacy 2After declaring crime to be Biden’s legacy, Kilmeade transitioned.

☆ Lyft plans to ‘significantly reduce’ workforce, CEO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Lyft (LYFT) plans to “significantly reduce” its workforce, the company’s new CEO David Risher told employees on Friday, in another round of layoffs as it struggles to turn a profit and pull off a turnaround. “To do so requires that we reduce our costs and structure our company so that our leaders are closer to riders and drivers. Now Uber is showing renewed strength In its most recent earnings report, Uber said that it had its “strongest quarter ever,” reporting a 49% year-over-year increase in revenue. Lyft’s latest earnings report, meanwhile, was unusually disappointing for Wall Street. Lyft shares were up 6% in midday trading Friday, but the company’s stock is down roughly 70% over the past year.

☆ Florida apologizes for sending emergency alert test at 4:45 a.m.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Jennifer Korn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —The early morning alert was a test but the outrage was real. Many in Florida were woken up at 4:45 a.m. on Thursday by a notification on their phones from the Emergency Alert System: “TEST - This is a TEST of the Emergency Alert System. No action is required.”After sending the test out across the state, the Florida Division of Emergency Management apologized for the very, very early alert. Ron DeSantis said he has ordered Guthrie “to bring swift accountability for the test of the emergency alert system in the wee hours of the morning.”“This was a completely inappropriate use of this system,” DeSantis said in a tweet “Stay tuned.”A screenshot shows an Emergency Alert System push notification received at 4:45am on Thursday, reading "TEST - This is a TEST of the Emergency Alert System. CNNEarly morning tests are scheduled throughout the year, with a 4:50 a.m. alert scheduled for June, according to the Florida Association of Broadcasters.

☆ Smartmatic could be Fox’s next big problem
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Jennifer Korn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Fox News’ legal battle with Dominion Voting Systems is over. It now has to deal with Smartmatic, which is seeking billions of dollars more than its rival wanted in damages. Dominion wanted “only” $1.6 billion and settled with Fox for $787 million Tuesday. Both lawsuits focus on Fox News’ coverage of the 2020 election, including lies about voter fraud. “Dominion’s litigation exposed some of the misconduct and damage caused by Fox’s disinformation campaign,” Smartmatic lawyer Erik Connolly said in a statement after the settlement.

☆ The viral new ‘Drake’ and ‘Weeknd’ song is not what it seems
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —One of the buzziest songs recently circulating on TikTok and climbing the Spotify charts featured the familiar voices of best-selling artists Drake and the Weeknd. But there’s a twist: Drake and the Weeknd appear to have had nothing to do with it. The viral track, “Heart on my Sleeve,” comes from an anonymous TikTok user named Ghostwriter977, who claims to have used artificial intelligence to generate the voices of Drake and the Weeknd for the track. The original TikTok video has seemingly been taken down, and the song has since been removed from streaming services including YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify. Taryn Southern’s debut song “Break Free,” which was composed and produced with AI, hit the Top 100 radio charts back in 2018, and VAVA, an AI music artist (i.e.

The vote announced Monday afternoon showed 97.9% of participating union members voting to approve a potential strike. A file photo shows members of the Writers Guild of America walk the picket line in New York during their last strike in 2007. Unions typically conduct a strike authorization vote during the course of negotiations, and they almost always get approved by overwhelming margins. Negotiators for the AMPTP and the Writers Guild met at the negotiating table on Friday, according to one producer close to negotiations. AMPTP gave WGA new proposals in response to some of the Guild’s contract requests – and is awaiting review and feedback on those Monday, along with the strike vote results, the producer said.

☆ Deal close for Washington Commanders football team
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

If finalized, the sale would mark the end of the controversial ownership of the Washington franchise by embattled billionaire Daniel Snyder. News of the near deal was first reported by Sportico, which reported the team sold for $6 billion, a record for a North American sports franchise. Snyder purchased the team, then named the Washington Redskins for a reported $750 million in 1999. It adopted the Commanders name last year, after playing two seasons with the name Washington Football Team. “Today marks the end of a long, difficult chapter for all employees and fans of the Washington football organization,” read a statement from Lisa Banks and Debra Katz, two attorneys representing more than 40 former Washington Commanders employees.

☆ Bed Bath & Beyond gets $120 million lifeline to help it stock near barren shelves
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Cash-starved Bed, Bath & Beyond, which is scrambling to avoid bankruptcy, announced a $120 million lifeline to help it stock near-empty shelves. One reason that the chain’s sales have fallen and losses have mounted is that the company doesn’t have the funds needed to buy inventory in order to stock shelves. The money comes from ReStore Capital, which will purchase up to $120 million of merchandise from Bed, Bath & Beyond’s suppliers in order to supplement stock at Bed Bath & Beyond and buybuy BABY. “This … solution can allow us to strengthen merchandise availability and better fulfill demand.”Shelves are seen empty inside of a closed Bed Bath and Beyond store on February 08, 2023 in Larkspur, California. Last week, the company disclosed in a filing plans to sell $300 million worth of its stock to raise much-needed cash.

☆ Alibaba’s restructuring and Jack Ma’s homecoming are all part of China’s plan
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Ma is seen as a symbol of China’s tech industry and a barometer of the Chinese government’s support for private business. Alibaba’s restructuring is “part of [Beijing’s] strategy to shore up confidence in the private sector,” said Hong Hao, chief economist for Grow Investment Group. “[Alibaba’s restructuring plan] offers a way to limit monopoly power and platform sway,” Hong said. Unlocking valueInvestors and analysts have cheered Alibaba’s restructuring. Alibaba’s business will be split into six units: domestic e-commerce, international e-commerce, cloud computing, local services, logistics, and media and entertainment.

☆ Pay $84 a year for Twitter Blue or lose your checkmark beginning April 1, Twitter says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

“To keep your blue checkmark on Twitter, individuals can sign up for Twitter Blue,” the company’s tweet continued. Twitter Blue is a subscription service that Musk relaunched late last year that costs individuals $84 a year or $8 a month. Twitter Blue first launched in the pre-Musk days of 2021, as a subscription service offering “power features” like undoing a tweet and saving bookmarks to folders. Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto/Getty ImagesMusk pulled the Twitter Blue program for a few weeks and relaunched it yet again in December, with additional steps for reviewing and approving subscribers. The company also says Twitter Blue users will see 50% fewer ads in their home timelines, and that their tweets will be prioritized among replies, mentions and searches.

☆ Most Asian shares reverse early losses after US Fed raises rates by a quarter point
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Juliana Liu | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +1 min

Hong Kong CNN —Most Asia Pacific shares pared early losses on Thursday, after the US Federal Reserve reaffirmed its dedication to bring down inflation. The broader Topix index was 0.3% lower, reversing some of its early morning losses. South Korea’s Kospi was 0.2% higher, while Australia’s S&P ASX 200 advanced by half a percentage point. Asian shares had opened broadly lower, tracking losses on Wall Street. The Fed raised rates by a quarter point at the conclusion of its two-day meeting, even though its historic rate hiking campaign was a contributing factor in the banking crisis.

Seoul/Atlanta CNN —Interpol says a man arrested in Montenegro is Kwon Do-hyeong, also known as Do Kwon, the disgraced founder of a collapsed crypto company who is wanted in South Korea and the United States on fraud and other charges. Kwon, a South Korean national, founded the blockchain platform behind the TerraUSD stablecoin and its sister coin Luna. Kwon’s identity was confirmed through a fingerprint match, Interpol’s national central bureau in Seoul told CNN on Friday. Seoul prosecutors told CNN in December that the crypto entrepreneur was believed to be in Serbia, where he was in hiding after leaving Singapore via Dubai. Kwon has been charged with fraud and breaches of South Korea’s capital markets law.

☆ GM to stop making Chevy Camaro, leaving muscle car’s future uncertain
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Stellantis had earlier announced it would stop production of the larger Dodge Challenger at the end of this year. Around the same time, Dodge executives revealed an electric muscle car concept car that, they said, provided a preview of a future model. GM has not announced any future versions of the Camaro, although it teased that there will be some future for the brand. After five generations of redesigned models, the Camaro was dropped from the lineup in 2002, but brought back in 2010. These muscle cars or pony cars are also among the last car models – as opposed to SUVs or trucks – manufactured by the three automakers.

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