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☆ CNBC Daily Open: Investors are pricing in the best of both worlds
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Yeo Boon Ping | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

This report is from today's CNBC Daily Open, our new, international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. We look at the CBOE Volatility Index. Derived from the price of S&P 500 options, the volatility index measures the market's expectations of how the S&P will move over the next 30 days. — CNBC's Dan Mangan contributed to this reportSubscribe here to get this report sent directly to your inbox each morning before markets open.

☆ Ramifications of SVB failure on Fed turned out positive for the stock market, Cramer says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Ashley Capoot | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Thanks to the Federal Reserve, the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank has ended up breaking positive for the stock market, CNBC's Jim Cramer said Wednesday. "When you go through all the ramifications of the SVB failure, they actually end up breaking positive, not negative, for the stock market — all because of the Federal Reserve," Cramer said. As a result, he said investors have turned to the Wall Street playbook on what to buy when there's an economic slowdown without inflation: tech stocks. This market may be mindless, but it's got muscle memory that says you reach for tech in a slowdown," Cramer said. "The Silicon Valley Bank fiasco was just the oxygen the tech bull needed to snap out of its funk and get back to work."

REUTERS/Murad Sezer/IllustrationORLANDO, Florida, March 27 (Reuters) - The most extraordinary outcome of the March banking shock would be if the problem dissipated quickly. Many people hope the crisis of confidence infecting global banking this month can be repelled almost as quickly as it appeared. SAVINGS AND LOANS DEBACLEThe easy comparison for any banking or market turmoil is the GFC of 2007-08. But crises don't have to be equal to or worse than the world's most calamitous financial disaster in a century to be extremely damaging. But other banking crises follow the same playbook, even if their outcomes are not as extreme.

☆ Grime, dirt, stink and funk: Tween boys are skincare’s hottest market
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Parija Kavilanz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

But, until recently, there’s been a glaring shortage of products targeting the skincare needs of one key demographic – tween boys. Maguiness, a board-certified pediatric dermatologist, and three other co-founders launched the boys skincare brand in 2020, at the height of the pandemic. The affordable line, which includes a face wash, body wash, moisturizer and topical acne treatment priced under $25, rolled into Target stores and online the following year. courtesy Stryke ClubThe personal care products market overall in the US amounts to more than $25 billion annually (according to market research firm NPD), but very little of it caters to boys. The body wash, for example, contains prebiotic chia eed extract, which acts as an anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial ingredient, said Biren.

☆ Grime, dirt, stink and funk: Tween boys are skin care’s hottest market
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( Parija Kavilanz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

But, until recently, there’s been a glaring shortage of products targeting the skin-care needs of one key demographic – tween boys. The affordable line, which includes a face wash, body wash, moisturizer and topical acne treatment priced under $25, rolled into Target stores and online the following year. “Whether it’s young sensitive skin, or acne, eczema or their first shave, boys have specific skin needs,” said Maguiness. courtesy Stryke ClubThe personal care products market overall in the US amounts to more than $25 billion annually (according to market research firm NPD), but very little of it caters to boys. The body wash, for example, contains prebiotic chia seed extract, which acts as an anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial ingredient, said Biren.

LOS ANGELES, March 24 (Reuters) - When Cassidy Jacobson was 13 years old, she posted a video of herself dancing on the popular app TikTok. Jacobson dreams of using her success on TikTok - an app used by 150 million Americans - to start her own curly hair care line and inspire others to love their natural curls. Last week, TikTok said the Biden administration demanded its Chinese owners divest their stakes or face a potential ban. Whether it’s creating all new content for YouTube reels or taking her TikTok content and transferring it over to Instagram, the influencer is making sure to diversify her content. Beyond popularity and fans, TikTok backers believe it provides livelihoods, paths to social change and a sense of community.

☆ Hunt, hemmed in by debt, set to focus on growth in UK budget
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( William Schomberg | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Instead, hemmed in by his promise to lower the burden of Britain's 2.5 trillion pounds ($3.0 trillion) of debt, Hunt will seek to tackle some of the causes of Britain's long-term economic funk. "In the autumn we took difficult decisions to deliver stability and sound money," Hunt is due to say, according to excerpts of his budget speech. "Today, we deliver the next part of our plan: a budget for growth," he adds. Labour's would-be finance minister, Rachel Reeves, sought to keep the heat on Hunt by calling for urgent action now. In an attempt to soften that tax hit, Hunt has hinted at new incentives for business investment.

☆ Post-Pandemic Americans Try Political Sobriety
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Daniel Henninger | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Americans are in a sour mood. Most of those willing to talk to a pollster say the country is going in the wrong direction. Republicans were supposed to win big in the midterm elections, but voters declared a pox on both parties and kept the win small. There is a more positive way to view the nation’s dark mood. What’s emerging instead is an active dissatisfaction with the political and cultural status quo in America, with the intention growing to replace it.

☆ Wayne Shorter, master composer of jazz, dies aged 89
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( William Schomberg | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] U.S. Jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter performs onstage during a 'tribute to Miles Davis evening' at the 45th Montreux Jazz Festival in Montreux July 13, 2011. REUTERS/Valentin FlauraudMarch 2 (Reuters) - American saxophonist Wayne Shorter, who wrote some of jazz's most acclaimed compositions and whose often plaintive playing changed the sound of jazz in the 1960s before he explored rock-fusion, died on Thursday aged 89. "The master writer to me, in that group, was Wayne Shorter," the keyboardist said. "Wayne was one of the few people who brought music to Miles that didn't get changed." Other hit records included "Native Dancer" featuring Brazilian singer Milton Nascimento which mixed jazz, rock and funk with Brazilian rhythms.

☆ Some schools are switching to the 4-day workweek to bring in and keep teachers, but education officials say it's not a 'magic pill' to fix the educator shortage
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Korie Wilkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

"Right now, the climate across the country with educators is that they are exhausted and they are tired," Gabe Dannenbring, a middle-school-science teacher and popular TikToker, told Insider. His studies include deep dives on how the four-day schedule impacts student success, and he is considering future studies on how this schedule change can help curb educator burnout. As of 2020, about 550 districts nationwide have adopted a four-day schedule, according to the National Conference of State Legislature. Heather Luke Drozlek teaches in a small private school in Indiana, which is on a four-day school week. "I can see the benefits, but I can also see that it could cause systemic issues," Tell Williams, a preschool teacher and social-media influencer, told Insider.

WHAT CAN’T chicken wings do? The key ingredient, nam yu (fermented red bean paste), delivers impressive funk, tang and heat. Ms. Lin marinates the wings for 24 hours, gives them a good char and serves them with a ginger-scallion sauce. Though she’s not a follower of football, her wings have become her signature Super Bowl contribution. “I think that’s honestly the best party food,” she said.

Click to unmute A global city needs a global soundtrack, and in New York, you can find nearly anything you want. Over the past several months, we followed several New York musical scenes that reflect the city’s creative soul, thriving in community centers, local bars and public parks. The sight of a new generation encouraged Mr. Joseph, who sees the band as preserving traditional culture in the modern city. It becomes part of you.” New York itself is as much a player as any musician, transforming traditional tunes into something new. The people who embraced Mateo and his mother when they moved from Boston to New York in 2016 now consoled her.

☆ China's people shortage is a grim omen for the rest of the world
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( Matt Turner | Dave Smith | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

We're merging with our daily Insider Today newsletter, so we'll be known as the Insider Today: Sunday Edition moving forward. On the agenda today:Up first: It was a big week for tech earnings. Senior tech reporter Diamond Naga Siu, who writes our 10 Things in Tech newsletter, is here to break it all down. Apple meanwhile retained its crown as the only Big Tech giant that hasn't conducted mass layoffs within the past year. That means reining in costs, stripping back perks, and upending the office culture that's defined the world of Big Tech for so long.

☆ Vodafone travails require more than caretaker CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Feb 1 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Vodafone (VOD.L) needs more than an interim chief executive to dig itself out of its current funk. Sales fell 1.8% in Germany in the quarter ending December, which accounts for more than 30% of the group’s overall revenue. Della Valle is accelerating the group’s 1 billion euros cost-cutting plan, and implementing her predecessor’s decisions. But an interim CEO cannot take strategic decisions, such as whether or not to sell the Italian unit eyed by France’s Iliad - whose owner Xavier Niel has taken a 2.5% stake in Vodafone. Vodafone needs a permanent CEO.

☆ Fraud Economy: How Current Economic Trends Lead to More Corporate Scams
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Linette Lopez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Get ready for what will feel like an inescapable wave of corporate fraud. And as interest rates have risen, the stock market has fallen off — which makes it harder to get dollars by whipping up new investors or offering stock. Despite Scheck's assertion that the risk of a wave of corporate fraud has heightened, he didn't want to speak in historical analogies. There be icebergsOf course, there's also fraud that goes undetected in times of easy money — companies where the very act of existing means stretching the truth. Kreuger had managed to hide that he had stretched the company's finances beyond solvency by raising money on the US stock market while it was raging.

☆ Great Fraud Reckoning Will Expose Scam Companies, Cause Stock Market Chaos
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Linette Lopez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Get ready for what will feel like an inescapable wave of corporate fraud. And as interest rates have risen, the stock market has fallen off — which makes it harder to get dollars by whipping up new investors or offering stock. Despite Scheck's assertion that the risk of a wave of corporate fraud has heightened, he didn't want to speak in historical analogies. Kreuger had managed to hide that he had stretched the company's finances beyond solvency by raising money on the US stock market while it was raging. That may have been enough when the stock market was on a heater and investors were winning, but it's not enough when the stock market is falling, the economy is slowing, and everyone from regulators to lawmakers to kids on TikTok want answers.

☆ My wife and I are raising 2 daughters with type 1 diabetes. It can be overwhelming at times.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Joelle Speranza | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Val Emmich felt powerless when his elder daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. My daughters, 11-year-old Harper and 7-year-old Lennon, have Ttype 1 diabetes, a chronic condition in which the pancreas makes little or no insulin. That next day, Jill took Harper straight to the doctor. After examining Harper and running tests, the pediatrician took Jill aside and told her to bring Harper to the ER immediately. Raising two young children with type 1 diabetes is overwhelming.

☆ Debt-Ceiling Madness
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Daniel Henninger | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

There comes a point in every politician’s life of doublespeak when he has to tell the truth. John Kerry ’s came this year in Davos. Asked how to achieve the always-receding goals of climate control, he said, “Money, money, money, money, money, money, money.”The Kerry money quote rang a bell. It wasn’t “The Color of Money.” Mr. Kerry was channeling the unforgettable “money, money, money” chorus from the O’Jays’ 1973 funk song “For the Love of Money.” This column’s intention isn’t to revisit the history of soul but to pull you in to reading about the Biden-McCarthy debt-ceiling fight, which is about real money. To survive that, I recommend you first watch the YouTube video of the O’Jays’ performance.

Although Britain saw the same easing of wholesale energy prices, UK industry - by stark contrast - continued to contract this month. More than two thirds of the 42 economists polled by Reuters this month expect another hefty 50 basis point rate rise to 4% next week, while their average 'terminal rate' forecast implies yet another quarter point rise to 4.25% after that. Despite economic funk, the implied peak BoE rate derived from money and swaps markets shows almost another full percentage point of hikes to 4.5% before the Bank calls it quits later this summer. Either way, the eventual outcome leaves the BoE and the pound in something of a half way house. Reuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsUK vs Euro zone economic surprise gapThe opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.

☆ The bloodletting at Goldman Sachs might not be done yet as the bank looks for more ways to cut costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

If you're a Goldman Sachs' employee who made it through the company's recent layoffs, be warned: There could be more to come. Anyone hoping Goldman's fourth-quarter earnings report would represent a fresh start for the bank was sorely disappointed. Today should provide some hints at to how the bank will navigate things, as Goldman is set to inform employees on their year-end bonuses. Steve Pagliuca, the PE firm's co-chairman, is retiring, The Wall Street Journal reports. Read more on how Wall Street analysts got it so wrong.

☆ Nadal shrugs off rocky buildup to Australian Open defence
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( Ian Ransom | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MELBOURNE, Jan 14 (Reuters) - An upbeat Rafa Nadal has shrugged off his warm-up defeats ahead of the Australian Open as "just part of the business" and declared himself in a happy place ahead of his title defence. Nadal heads into a first-round match against rising Briton Jack Draper undercooked and with only one win since September's U.S. Open. Nadal arrived at Melbourne Park last year in a funk after a serious foot injury but ended up winning his second Australian Open crown by beating Russian Daniil Medvedev in a classic final. Last year's French Open winner, Nadal won two of the four Grand Slams, with fellow great Novak Djokovic winning Wimbledon. World number one Carlos Alcaraz, who is not playing at the Australian Open due to injury, was the only player to break the Nadal-Djokovic duopoly by claiming the U.S. Open.

☆ Smarter taxes could ease UK productivity crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Francesco Guerrera | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Britain’s sluggish productivity – the amount of output per hour worked – deters investment and limits growth, in turn depressing wages. After keeping pace with other developed countries for decades, UK productivity has grown by 0.3% a year since 2008. That is a third of the 0.9% averaged by G7 members, and well below the 1.2% rate recorded by the United States, according to figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. In 2021, gross fixed capital formation, a measure of investment, accounted for 17% of UK GDP, compared to 24% in France and 21% in the United States, according to the World Bank. Despite a long-standing scheme for research and development, UK businesses still only fund 55% of total R&D spending, below the 63% of the United States, according to a Cambridge University study.

☆ M3GAN Is Already the New Boss of Scary-Doll Movies. Can She Deliver Audiences?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( John Jurgensen | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Late one night in New Zealand, while director Gerard Johnstone was typing up plans for a horror movie about a toy android that turns evil, a menacing funk tune came on and triggered a thought: What if the doll could dance? “I wasn’t sure if it was one of those ideas that would seem terrible when I woke up the next morning,” he said. His whim would help make the movie “M3GAN” a viral marketing hit long before its Jan. 6 release.

☆ Earth, Wind & Fire drummer Fred White dies at age 67
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Drummer Fred White, who backed up his brothers Maurice and Verdine White in the Grammy-winning ensemble Earth, Wind & Fire, has died. He didn’t say how or where his brother died. Fred White was already an accomplished drummer, playing for Donny Hathaway, before he joined Earth, Wind & Fire in the mid-1970s. Verdine White said his brother Fred was a gifted child musician, “with gold records at the young age of 16 years old!” Fred White remained with the band until 1983. Maurice White died at the age of 74 in 2016.

☆ US Army general retires without 'reprimand or admonishment' after spat over Tucker Carlson segment about women in the military
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Steve Beynon | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

"I retired honorably and without any reprimand or admonishment," Donahoe told Military.com in an interview. Military.com interviewed multiple women Donahoe frequently engaged with on Twitter, none of whom described his behavior as inappropriate. Multiple senior service officials and rank-and-file troops interviewed by Military.com blasted the Army's slow response, saying it suggested women serving at all is inherently political. "So let me be clear: I expect [Army] leaders to stand up for women — and all Soldiers — who are unduly attacked or disrespected." Related: 'The Army Gave a Hunting Permit to Radical Partisans': What a General's Bout with Fox Could Mean for Women

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