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☆ Lab-grown breast milk startup Biomilq aims to change infant nutrition — if it can release a product
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-20 | by ( Natasha Piñon | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

Biomilq, the company behind the breakthrough, had been working for nearly a decade to replicate the process of making human milk — but outside of the body. While the crisis has highlighted the importance of a resilient formula supply, human milk experts, milk bank advocates and Biomilq all stress the same message: Breast milk is best. The startup will likely take a "gradual approach" to introducing its science via "an early-life nutrition product in partnership with one of these bigger companies," Strickland explained. Breast milk is woefully understudied — to the point that it's difficult "to even say what human milk is from a nutritional standpoint," Perrin explained. The company is researching which aspects of human milk its system is best suited to produce.

It was against that backdrop that Biden and his fellow leaders entered three days of talks. Biden faces his fellow world leaders Friday in Japan under the shadow of a looming default on US debt, a scenario his advisers said risks subverting American leadership and sending the global economy into tailspin. The risk appears particularly acute as Biden works to rally fellow G7 officials behind a shared approach toward Russia and China. The conflict will be a key topic of discussion for world leaders Friday. Biden and fellow leaders were planning to discuss how much progress has been made on the battlefield, with an eye toward helping Ukraine regain territory and assume leverage in potential peace talks.

☆ Here's where Biden and McCarthy stand on debt ceiling talks heading into today's meeting
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Emma Kinery | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

President Joe Biden hosts debt limit talks with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., in the Oval Office at the White House on May 9, 2023. McCarthy sang a different tune, telling NBC News on Monday outside the Capitol, "I still think we're far apart." The White House has maintained that Biden intends to go to the G-7 summit in Japan later this week, but the president himself has said that could change depending on the debt ceiling talks. Lifting the debt ceiling is necessary for the government to cover spending commitments already approved by Congress and the president and prevent default. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned last week failure to hike the debt ceiling would cause an "economic catastrophe."

☆ Trump tells Republicans 'to do a default' — risking the US economy — if the GOP doesn't get 'massive' spending cuts
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Trump suggested that Republicans risk the US and global economy if Biden doesn't give in to their demands. The former president said the GOP would "have to do a default" if more spending cuts don't accompany a debt limit increase. As soon as early next month, the Treasury Department will no longer be able to use special measures to delay breaching the debt ceiling. The debt ceiling does not authorize new spending, but lawmakers, especially conservatives, often tie an increase in the debt limit to spending cuts. The former president's comments are particularly striking as both parties traditionally try to avoid blame for a debt ceiling standoff.

☆ Biden Woos Republican Moderates in Debt Ceiling Standoff
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Peter Baker | Nicholas Fandos | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

President Biden sought to drive a wedge among Republicans in their escalating dispute over spending and debt on Wednesday, effectively reaching out to moderates in hopes of convincing them to break away from Speaker Kevin McCarthy rather than risk triggering a national default that could throw the economy into a tailspin. Appearing in a competitive suburb with a vulnerable House Republican in his sights, Mr. Biden accused Mr. McCarthy of pursuing a radical strategy at the behest of the “extreme” wing of his party loyal to former President Donald J. Trump, putting the country in economic jeopardy in a way that he said reasonable Republicans of his own era in the Senate would not have done. “They’ve taken control of the House,” Mr. Biden said of this wing to a friendly audience at SUNY Westchester Community College in New York’s Hudson Valley. “They have a speaker who has his job because he yielded to the, quote, MAGA element of the party,” he added. Those hard-right Republicans, Mr. Biden said, are “literally, not figuratively, holding the economy hostage by threatening to default on our nation’s debt, debt we’ve already incurred, we’ve already incurred over the last couple hundred years, unless we give into their threats and demands.”

☆ Confused about the debt ceiling? Here's what you need to know
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( Emma Kinery | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

What is the debt ceiling? Unlike a credit card, though, the expenses were already approved by Congress, so the debt ceiling does not pertain to new spending. The debt ceiling was last raised in December 2021 by $2.5 trillion, capping the limit at $31.381 trillion. If Congress does not agree to lift the debt ceiling, the government will not have money to pay its bills and will default on its debt. The White House has remained steadfast that it is Congress's responsibility to raise the debt ceiling without conditions, as was done three times under the Trump administration.

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will meet with congressional leaders Tuesday as Washington scrambles to lift the debt ceiling with less than a month before the federal government is set to run out of money. Lifting the debt ceiling is necessary for the government to cover spending commitments already approved by Congress and the president and prevent default. But House Republicans have said they will not lift the limit if Biden and lawmakers do not agree to future spending cuts. The White House has stressed that while it is open to discuss spending cuts, it will not negotiate with Republicans on the debt ceiling. If the meeting is indeed a negotiation, then the bill House Republicans passed last month effectively serves as the GOP's opening offer to the White House.

☆ Parents need not fear adolescent weight gain
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Michelle Icard | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Yet it sends adults into a tailspin of fear around weight, health and self-esteem. Yet weight gain remains a sensitive, sometimes scary subject for parents who fear too much weight gain, too quickly. “About 25 percent of growth in height occurs during this time so as youth grow taller, they’re also going to gain weight. Parents need to work on their own weight bias, but they also need to protect their children from providers who don’t know how to communicate with their patients about weight. “We all have a lot of work to do when it comes to conversations about weight,” Hutchison said.

May 3 (Reuters) - PacWest Bancorp (PACW.O) is exploring strategic options including a sale or capital raising, a source familiar with the matter said, sending the shares of the bank and several other U.S. regional lenders tumbling in after-market trading. The Phoenix-based regional lender said it was "reaffirming its financial strength as well as its deposit growth guidance in response to recent industry events." PacWest stock has lost almost 90% of its value since the regional banking crisis started on March 8. Zion Bancorp (ZION.O), First Horizon (FHN.N) and Comerica (CMA.N) each slumped more than 7% and the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE.P) dropped 5%. The cost of insuring against further losses in regional U.S. bank stocks stood on Wednesday near a one-month high in options markets.

As each domino falls, the next weakest bank begins to wobble," billionaire investor Bill Ackman wrote in a tweet. PacWest stock has lost almost 90% of its value since the regional banking crisis started on March 8. Zion Bancorporation (ZION.O), Comerica (CMA.N) and First Horizon (FHN.N) each slumped more than 7% and the SPDR S&P Regional Banking ETF (KRE.P) dropped 5%. The cost of insuring against further losses in regional U.S. bank stocks stood on Wednesday near a one-month high in options markets. On Wednesday a source said the lender was looking at options that include a potential sale or capital raise.

☆ Activist investor Carl Icahn's wealth plunged by $10 billion after a short-seller accused his company of running a 'Ponzi-like' structure
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Hindenburg Research released a report alleging "Ponzi-like" economic structures at Icahn Enterprises. Shares of Icahn Enterprises closed 20% lower at $40.36 on Tuesday. Activist investor Carl Icahn's wealth plunged by $10 billion on Tuesday after Hindenburg Research — a short-seller that took on one of Asia's richest men earlier this year — targeted Icahn Enterprises with a scathing report. As Icahn derives his wealth from an 89% stake in Icahn Enterprises, his fortune was hit by the rout. Insider was unable to reach Icahn Enterprises via phone outside regular business hours.

☆ UK house prices stabilise after mini-budget fall: Nationwide
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, May 2 (Reuters) - British house prices rose by 0.5% in April after falling for the seven previous months, mortgage lender Nationwide said, adding to signs that the property market has stabilised after last year's "mini-budget" upheaval. The average house price remained 4% below its peak in August last year which was before former Prime Minister Liz Truss and her finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng briefly sent debt markets into a tailspin by announcing a plan for big, unfunded tax cuts. Compared with April last year, the average house price was down by 2.7%, Nationwide said. Analysts polled by Reuters had expected prices to fall by 0.4% in month-on-month terms and by an annual 3.6%. Reporting by William Schomberg; editing by Sarah YoungOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Opinion | The Dramatic, Comic, Tragic, True-Life Story Behind the Death of DVD.com
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Pamela Paul | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Or I can allow for serendipity — movies appear in my mailbox that I barely remember adding in the first place. During the service’s glory days, you could easily sort movies by country of origin and display them in chronological order. This was well before streaming led the company to spin off DVD.com like a discarded training bra, a source of shame to what had become an entertainment behemoth. There is a cost to clinging to products and services as they shuffle off into obsolescence. It mutters out movie dialogue reluctantly, barely exceeding the swooshing sounds of the elliptical treads.

Paradoxically, however, in previous debt ceiling crises investors have sought protection from the economic risks of a default by piling into U.S. long-term Treasuries. "If you go through a debt ceiling crisis, it's a global crisis ... And the flight to quality ends up being in U.S. Treasuries," Rieder told Reuters in an interview. "The debt ceiling is certainly part of it," he said, adding other recent steps were an overall reduction of risk in the portfolio, including in credit. The U.S. House of Representatives will vote on a Republican bill to raise the U.S. government's $31.4 trillion debt ceiling and slash spending on Wednesday. "It's so hard to foresee how far down the road this debt ceiling is going to take us," Rieder said.

☆ China has an inflation problem. It’s way too low
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

That’s raising the specter of a tailspin of falling prices and wages from which the economy may struggle to recover. “Our core view is that China’s economy is deflationary,” wrote Raymond Yeung, chief economist for Greater China at ANZ Research, last week, soon after China released its first-quarter GDP growth figures. Instead of spending money, people are hoarding cash at a record rate. “Even with a conservative estimate, 500 billion yuan in consumption vouchers will drive one trillion yuan in overall consumption, ” Li said in a video posted on his Weibo social media account on Tuesday. In return, the government could receive at least 300 billion yuan through taxes generated by the increase in spending, he said“So it only takes 200 billion yuan in spending for the central government to drive one trillion yuan in consumption,” he said.

☆ Republicans want to ban banning gas ovens as part of their legislation to raise the debt ceiling
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Juliana Kaplan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Republicans have finally put their demands for the debt ceiling in writing and released legislation. They also want to preserve consumers' access to gas stoves, a fiery issue for the right. When Richard Trumka Jr., a commissioner at the Consumer Product Safety Commission, told Bloomberg that the agency was contemplating banning gas stoves, uproar ensued. Ultimately, the CPSC said it wasn't looking to outright ban gas stoves, and instead wanted to look how to reduce potentially hazardous emissions from stoves. What remains to be seen, then, is if McCarthy has enough votes to pay the country's debts and hold onto gas stoves.

☆ Bank of England considering urgent reform of deposit guarantee scheme, Financial Times reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The UK’s Financial Services Compensation Scheme is being urgently reviewed after the rapid failure of Silicon Valley Bank last month, the FT added citing people briefed on the matter. The failure last month of Silicon Valley Bank and two other lenders in the United States, along with the forced takeover of Credit Suisse by UBS sent banking shares globally into a tailspin, but markets have since calmed. BoE Governor Andrew Bailey said last week that the British central bank was considering improvements to its approach to depositor pay-outs for smaller banks with a focus on the speed of the pay-outs. "As with all things relating to bank resolution, there is no free lunch." Reporting by Mrinmay Dey in Bengaluru; Editing by Chizu NomiyamaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ BoE's Bailey says bank reforms worked but questions about liquidity buffers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

"Today I do not believe we face a systemic banking crisis. Bailey, however, echoed calls from his predecessor Mark Carney by saying there might be questions over the size of liquidity buffers required of banks in order to tide them over short-term shocks. This must beg the question of what are appropriate and desired liquidity buffers that create the time needed to take action to solve the problem." Data from the European Central Bank on Wednesday showed a slight weakening in liquidity buffers at banks it regulates, though they are still well above minimum requirements. Banks' holdings of liquidity have more than doubled since the global financial crisis, helping to contain fallout from the recent banking turmoil, de Cos said.

☆ As McCarthy laments 'no progress,' here's where U.S. debt ceiling talks stand
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Emma Kinery | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Tuesday that there has been "no progress" in debt ceiling negotiations between House Republicans and the White House, as the U.S. inches closer to risking a first-ever default. House Republicans have refused to lift the debt ceiling without promises of spending cuts. The U.S. already hit its debt limit, forcing the Treasury to take so-called extraordinary measures to keep paying its bills. It has been nearly two month since McCarthy and Biden met to discuss debt ceiling measures. Not lifting the debt ceiling would have catastrophic effects on the U.S. economy.

☆ Twitter founder Jack Dorsey's net worth dropped by more than $500 million after US short seller Hindenburg targeted his payments company Block
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Jack Dorsey's wealth tumbled after Hindenburg Research targeted his payments company Block, per Bloomberg. The short seller alleged Block misled investors "with inflated metrics"Block's share price tumbled as much as 22% on Thursday on Hindenburg's report. Block's share price tumbled as much as 22% on Hindenburg's report before closing 15% lower at $61.88 apiece on Thursday. It said Hindenburg's attacks are designed "solely to allow short sellers to profit from a declined stock price." In 2020, Hindenberg accused electric truck maker Nikola of fraud, which also sent its share price slumping.

☆ The short seller who took on Adani and caused a $150 billion rout in the conglomerate's stock is releasing a new report — but it's not saying who's the next target yet
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Short seller Hindenburg Research teased it's releasing a new report. The research firm targeted the Adani Group in a January 24 report alleging manipulation and fraud. The research firm teased the upcoming report in a tweet on Wednesday, saying "New report soon — another big one." The report hit investor sentiment and sent Adani-related stocks into a tailspin, losing over $150 billion in about five weeks, according to Bloomberg. The Adani Group defended itself vigorously against Hindenburg's accusations, but the research firm also doubled down on its initial report.

[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.

☆ Banking worries send US markets on dizzying ride
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Lewis Krauskopf | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The S&P 500 banks index (.SPXBK) was rebounding modestly on Thursday, after sinking 15% in a week. Reuters GraphicsMarkets are also reflecting concern that stress in the banking system may be bringing a recession closer. Economically sensitive assets such as oil and small-cap stocks (.RUT), have headed lower since Silicon Valley Bank's problems made headlines on March 8. The CBOE Market Volatility Index (.VIX) recently hit its highest level since October. But the benchmark S&P 500 index (.SPX) was last down just over 1% since the Silicon Valley troubles arose, and is logging a modest gain for 2023.

☆ European shares choppy ahead of ECB decision, Credit Suisse jumps
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Bansari Mayur Kamdar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The STOXX 600 (.STOXX) was flat by 0925 GMT after rising as much as 1.6% in early trading. The banks sector index (.SX7P) added 1.3%, after logging its steepest one-day drop in more than a year in the previous session. Shares of the Zurich-based lender had tumbled 24% to a record low on Wednesday. The cost of insuring exposure to European junk corporate bonds also fell, in a sign of investor relief. Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Krishna Chandra EluriOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Everything you need to know about a crazy weekend in the wake of Silicon Valley Bank's failure
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

It's all about Silicon Valley Bank going down and the knock-on effects. If you're not up to speed, here's a quick rundown on what the hell happened at Silicon Valley Bank. The US Treasury, Federal Reserve Board, and the Financial Deposit Insurance Corporation announced they would "fully protect" all depositors who had funds in Silicon Valley Bank. Regulators also made one thing clear with their announcement: "No losses associated with the resolution of Silicon Valley Bank will be borne by the taxpayer." Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman has a new name for Silicon Valley Bank.

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