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Stocks, modestly lower ahead of the Fed rate decision, turned sharply higher as Powell spoke, with the benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX) index climbing about 1% on the session. At the same time, the yield on the 2-year Treasury note , the maturity most sensitive to Fed policy expectations, dropped abruptly to the day's low, last trading down about 8 basis points at around 4.12%. The Federal Reserve retained the phrase 'ongoing increases' in their statement, leaving their options open depending on what upcoming economic data says," said Greg McBride, chief financial analyst at Bankrate. The statement did indicate that any future rate increases would be in quarter-percentage-point increments, dropping a reference to the "pace" of future increases and instead referring to the "extent" of rate changes. But those, it said, would take into account how the policy moves so far had impacted the economy, language that linked further rate increases to the evolution of upcoming economic data.

[1/5] U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell addresses reporters after the Fed raised its target interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point, during a news conference at the Federal Reserve Building in Washington, U.S., February 1, 2023. Stocks, modestly lower ahead of the Fed rate decision, were little moved by the release of the policy statement, with the benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX) index down about 0.3% on the session. The yield on the 2-year Treasury note , the maturity most sensitive to Fed policy expectations, rose to the day's high, last trading up 2 basis points at about 4.22%. "If you were hoping for clear signs of an upcoming pause in interest rate hikes, you were left wanting. The statement did indicate that any future rate increases would be in quarter-percentage-point increments, dropping a reference to the "pace" of future increases and instead referring to the "extent" of rate changes.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell is scheduled to hold a news conference half an hour later to elaborate on the decision. Caught flat-footed last year as inflation accelerated and threatened to prove far more persistent than anticipated, the Fed approved the fastest interest rate hikes since the 1980s. New data last week showed a key inflation measure slowed faster than expected in December, continuing a six-month downward trend. The expected move to 25-basis-point rate increases will be a "hawkish downshift," BNP Paribas economists wrote ahead of this week's policy meeting. Traders of futures that settle to the Fed's policy rate see the path somewhat differently, with the benchmark rate peaking in the 4.75%-5.00% range, and the central bank cutting that rate to around 4.4% by December.

☆ Here's what happens when US Navy special operators go up against dolphins trained to keep them out of sensitive bases
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The US Navy has been training dolphins and sea lions to detect undersea threats since the 1960s. "Those mammals were very real and very scary," a former US Navy SEAL officer told Insider. The program tested out a number of animals but found dolphins and sea lions to be the best suited for the mission. The US military wasn't the only one using dolphins and sea lions to protect its warships and ports. BUD/S course instructors "have a sadistic tendency to scare the shit out of students before open-water swims," the former Navy SEAL officer said.

☆ Blockbuster Arthritis Drug Humira Faces Competition From First Lower-Price Copycat in U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Jared S. Hopkins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Humira, which treats rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and other autoimmune diseases, accounts for about a third of AbbVie’s sales. AbbVie Inc.’s arthritis therapy Humira is set to face its first competition in the U.S. from a near-identical copycat, the end of the exclusive run of what was for years the country’s biggest-selling drug. After two decades of patent protection and more than $135 billion in U.S. sales, Humira will contend with the near-identical version from Amgen Inc. starting Tuesday, Amgen said. Other Humira copycats are due to become available later this year.

☆ Rare battlefield footage shows how Ukraine's upgraded Soviet-era tanks are outperforming Russia's upgraded Soviet-era tanks
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Ukraine upgraded many of its tanks before the war, but Russia also had newer, higher-quality tanks. On the outskirts of a destroyed town, the Ukrainian tank is advances down a road, straight toward the Russian tank. Without stopping, the Ukrainian tank fires a round at its adversary. Ukrainian troops perform maintenance on tanks near the frontline in Donbas on January 18. More victories, better weaponsUkrainian troops inspect a destroyed Russian tank near Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region in December.

☆ To get your tax refund as quickly as possible, follow this rule of thumb, says CPA
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Ryan Ermey | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Employers have until January 31 each year to file tax documents such as Form W-2 with the IRS and furnish employees with copies. You'll get your refund faster … or find out earlier if you oweThe earlier you file, the sooner you'll get your refund. "Taxpayers should prepare to file electronically and choose Direct Deposit for their tax refund — it's the fastest and safest way to file and get a refund," according to recent IRS taxpayer guidance. If you're hit with a surprise tax bill, you're better off knowing as soon as possible, says Vande Guchte. You're less likely to get your tax refund stolen

BEIRUT, Jan 31 (Reuters) - Lebanon will adopt a new official exchange rate of 15,000 pounds per U.S. dollar on Feb. 1, central bank governor Riad Salameh said, marking a 90% devaluation from its current official rate that has remained unchanged for 25 years. The pound has lost some 97% of its value since it began to split from the 1,507 rate in 2019. In order to ease the impact of this shift, banks would be given five years "to reconstitute the losses due to the devaluation," he said. Several rates remain, including the official rate, the central bank's Sayrafa exchange platform rate which currently stands at 38,000 pounds per U.S. dollar, and the parallel market rate. While capital controls have never been formally imposed in Lebanon, banks since 2019 have imposed their own controls, severely limiting withdrawals in dollars and Lebanese pounds.

About 1 in 8 adults over 50 showed signs of food addiction, according to the survey. “We think this is also true in younger populations.”Gearhardt and her team used questions from the Yale Food Addiction Scale to measure whether older adults were experiencing core indicators of addiction. If I had emotional problems because I hadn’t eaten certain foods, I would eat them (17%, once a week). Gearhardt was a member of the group that devised the Yale Food Addiction Scale. The difference is you can’t stop eating food.”Gearhardt said that the survey results should encourage health providers to ask patients about dietary habits.

☆ How US Navy SEALs train new special-operations units to make the seas into 'our playground'
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

US Navy SEALs travel around the world to train with other countries' special-operations forces. In 2022, SEALs in Europe trained with Croatia's ZSS, a relatively new special-operations unit. Through these training deployments, US Navy SEALs help new special-operations units to become proficient in new missions and skill sets. When it comes to progression of training, SEALs use the same "crawl, walk, run" approach they employ in their own training. These relationships with foreign special-operations units give US special operators access to almost any region of the world.

By announcing an inflation goal, central bankers feel they build credibility for themselves and focus the planning of households and firms in ways that help keep inflation controlled. Those decades, up to the end of the first year of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, saw inflation largely contained. Achieving that target is just core to our overall monetary policy," Brainard said, a sentiment echoed in central bank headquarters from Frankfurt to London to Tokyo. "Let me be quite clear, there are no ifs or buts in our commitment to the 2% inflation target," Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said last year. Should inflation prove stickier than expected, achieving the central bank's 2% inflation goal could mean even more losses.

☆ A public-speaking expert shares 8 tips to perfect — and even enjoy — your next work presentation
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Ella Hopkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Practice your presentation beforehand — but don't memorizeGold cautioned against learning a presentation by rote. He suggested thinking about a presentation as several stories, each with a point, to allow yourself flexibility while speaking. "There's no harm in giving a presentation with less data, and then following up with a handout," Gold added. "You want it to be something that gives them a visual trigger to remember what you said after the presentation rather than being the actual presentation itself," Gold said. He suggested that, if you don't know an answer, tell them that it's a great question but you don't want to answer off the cuff.

☆ The world is 'dangerously unprepared' to handle the next pandemic, the Red Cross says in a scathing report
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Natalie Musumeci | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The world is "dangerously unprepared" for future pandemics, the Red Cross warned in a report. The Red Cross' secretary general said the COVID-19 pandemic "should be a wake-up call." The humanitarian aid organization said in its World Disasters Report released Monday that "many countries" were not prepared for COVID-19 and that "all countries remain dangerously unprepared for future outbreaks." Pandemic preparedness plans, the report says, "should include concrete measures to strengthen equity, trust, and local action." By 2024, according to the report, all countries should adopt a new treaty and revised International Health Regulations.

☆ Russia was making big plans for Ukraine's nuclear power plants before its invasion fell apart
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Those plans depended in part on seizing Ukraine's nuclear power plants and using them for leverage. Dmytro Smolyenko/Future Publishing via Getty ImagesAccording to the RUSI report, Russia's war plans viewed Ukraine's nuclear power plants as a means to achieve Moscow's larger aims. The Kremlin's plan envisioned three uses for the Ukrainian nuclear power facilities once the invasion was underway. Moscow also incorporated Ukraine's nuclear power facilities into its information operations. Fighting in a nuclear plantThe Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant on August 29.

☆ Asteroid's sudden flyby shows blind spot in planetary threat detection
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Joey Roulette | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

NASA for years has prioritized detecting asteroids much bigger and more existentially threatening than 2023 BU, the small space rock that streaked by 2,200 miles from the Earth's surface, closer than some satellites. If bound for Earth, it would have been pulverized in the atmosphere, with only small fragments possibly reaching land. But 2023 BU sits on the smaller end of a size group, asteroids 5-to-50 meters in diameter, that also includes those as big as an Olympic swimming pool. But with current capabilities, astronomers can't see when such a rock targets Earth until days prior. The successful demonstration, called the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), affirmed for the first time a method of planetary defense.

☆ Michael Haight is accused of killing his wife and 5 kids in a brutal Utah familicide. Police reports suggest he had a troubling pattern of aggression toward children.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Erin Snodgrass | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Police say Michael Haight, 42, shot and killed his wife, Tausha Haight, 40, her mother, Gail Earl, 78, and the couple's five children, three girls, and two boys ages 4 to 17, before committing suicide. The couple had five children: Macie Haight, 17, Briley Haight, 12, Ammon Haight, 7, Sienna Haight, 7, and Gavin Haight, 4. The officer told her there was no indication Michael Haight would respond with violence, according to the report. At some point prior to the massacre, Tausha Haight told family members that her husband removed all the firearms from the home, her sister-in-law, told the AP. Park said he last met with Tausha Haight on Tuesday, January 3 — the day before the family's bodies were discovered.

☆ Ukraine's battlefield success surprised Russia, but US troops who trained Ukrainians saw it coming, National Guard chief says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Christopher Woody | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Army National Guard Sgt. Anthony JonesUS National Guard units began rotating through Ukraine in 2015 to conduct training as part of the Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine. Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Ukrainian NCOs "were able to lead from the front at the lowest level of supervision. That's where our NCOs really are effective because the things that our commanders empower them to do," Whitehead added.

Bola Sol coaches clients on managing money and wrote the personal-finance book "How to Save It." Sol suggested those who are wary about investing start with small amounts and try using index funds. Invest your money, even if it's small amountsStart investing as soon as you can in life. With funds, it's not just one company that you're investing in. But they don't know about 0% balance transfers, for example.

☆ University of Texas Will Offer Large-Scale Online Master’s Degree in A.I.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Natasha Singer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The University of Texas at Austin, one of the nation’s leading computer science schools, said on Thursday that it was starting a large-scale, low-cost online Master of Science degree program in artificial intelligence. The first of its kind among elite computing schools, the new program could help swiftly expand the A.I. The university announced the initiative amid a clamor over new technology powered by artificial intelligence that can generate humanlike art and texts. University officials said they planned to train thousands of graduate students in sought-after skills like machine learning, for a tuition of about $10,000, starting in the spring of 2024. By contrast, Johns Hopkins University offers an online M.S.

☆ BofA Promoted 93 New MDs in Global Markets — Here Are the Names
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Alex Morrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Bank of America announced 93 new managing directors in Global Markets on Thursday. The division in 2022 saw sales and trading revenues climb to its highest mark since 2010.Insider has all the names of the newly promoted MDs. On Thursday the bank announced a new class of 360 managing directors, including 93 from the firm's Global Markets division — up from 86 last year. The bank's Global Corporate and Investment Bank promoted 87 new MDs. BofA made $16.5 billion in 2022 from sales and trading — including a fourth-quarter record of $3.7 billion — the highest tally for the firm since 2010.

☆ Bill Gates says no country ‘gets an A’ for its Covid pandemic response—including the U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Bill Gates says some of the world's governments have handled the spread of Covid-19 better than others, but the billionaire won't give any country a perfect mark. The Microsoft co-founder and health care philanthropist has both praised and criticized multiple world governments' responses to the pandemic since the coronavirus's initial spread in late 2019. Poor Covid responses inspired government spending on future pandemic preparedness in multiple countries, he observed. Gates also applauded Australia's pandemic response last year, noting that the country quickly closed its international borders in March 2020. The U.S. gave that money to companies in multiple countries, resulting in multiple effective Covid vaccines.

☆ US special operators borrowed a unique part of Army Green Beret training to prepare Ukrainians to fight Russia
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

As part of that, US trainers set up a version of US Army Special Forces' "Q course" for Ukraine. "Q course" assesses Green Beret candidates and teaches them the basics of their profession. Ukraine's 'Q' courseCandidates during US Army Special Forces Assessment and Selection at Camp Mackall in North Carolina in March 2020. Gaelle Girbes/Getty ImagesThe "Q course," officially called the US Army Special Forces Qualification Course, assesses and teaches Green Beret candidates the basics of their profession. Edwards acknowledged that some NATO militaries still have special operators in Ukraine, though strictly in an advisory role, and that US special operators "rely heavily on them" to understand the situation on the ground.

☆ FDA proposes simplifying the Covid vaccine schedule, making it similar to the flu shot
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Berkeley-Lovelace-Jr.Jpg | Berkeley Lovelace Jr. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Food and Drug Administration advisers will meet Thursday to discuss simplifying the Covid vaccination schedule, allowing most people to get the currently available booster, regardless of how many doses they had received before that. The FDA is proposing skipping over that primary series, meaning that most unvaccinated individuals could go ahead and get the latest booster shot if they decided to get a Covid vaccine. The FDA’s proposal, experts say, would greatly simplify the Covid vaccination schedule in the United States — aligning it more closely with the annual flu shot. In another similarity to the flu shot, the FDA is considering whether the Covid vaccine should be updated at least once a year, based on what strains are in circulation. Dr. Anna Durbin, a vaccine researcher at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, said simplifying the Covid vaccine schedule makes sense.

☆ Fact Check-Inhaling hydrogen peroxide and iodine unsafe, and not a proven treatment for respiratory symptoms
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Topical antiseptics such as hydrogen peroxide, iodine, or a combination of the two are not safe to inhale and not proven to treat respiratory infections, contrary to social media claims that breathing in these liquids is a good idea. Still, social media users are sharing a video that claims using a nebulizer to make a vapor from a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and iodine can treat respiratory infections like sore throat. Both hydrogen peroxide and iodine solutions are used on the skin, usually to prevent infection of minor cuts and scrapes (here). Evidence from studies of accidental inhalation shows that hydrogen peroxide can damage tissue and iodine can be toxic. There is no evidence that combining hydrogen peroxide and iodine in a nebulizer will treat respiratory symptoms, and the practice is potentially damaging and toxic, experts told Reuters.

The Fed currently holds about $2.6 trillion of MBS as part of its roughly $8 trillion securities portfolio. That is about a quarter of the total MBS market, what George referred to as an "enormous" share that raises questions about the appropriate extent of the central bank's presence. In theory, that puts upward pressure on long-term interest rates by lowering demand for those assets. George said she did not have a specific plan in mind, but felt her colleagues should get to work on one. More important than the details of any plan "is just to say how will we go about doing that earlier rather than later.

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