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☆ What’s in Our Queue? ‘Stick Season (Forever)’ and More
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-12 | by ( Patrick Laforge | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

What’s in Our Queue? ‘Stick Season (Forever)’ and MoreI lead a global breaking news team with hubs on three continents. I love podcasts, movies, TV and games, as well as music on vinyl. I’m also working my way through stacks of books that threaten to overflow the apartment. Here are some things I am enjoying →

Persons: I’m

☆ In Indonesia, an Election Threatens Democracy Itself - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-12 | by ( Gordon Laforge | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Indonesia’s transformation into a stable democracy over the past quarter century was as improbable as it was remarkable. Ethnic and religious violence across the sprawling archipelago raised the specter of Balkanization or a military crackdown. Then, against the odds, the nation’s entrenched elites acceded to public demands for reform and the military withdrew from political life, ushering in an era of open, competitive elections. Corruption and dysfunction persisted, but the world’s fourth most populous country emerged as a rare bright spot for liberalism. Indonesians will vote for a new president on Wednesday to succeed the outgoing Joko Widodo.

Persons: Suharto, Joko

☆ Labor Day weekend gas prices are near all-time highs
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Drivers hitting the roads this Labor Day weekend will be greeted by historically high gas prices for this time of the year. The good news is that gas prices are still well below the peak set in June 2022. Psychologically important pricesIt’s worth noting that while gas prices are high for this point of the calendar, these figures aren’t adjusted for inflation. Still, consumers are very sensitive to increases in gas prices, in part because of how visible they are. In fact, the Conference Board blamed the recent uptick in gas prices for driving down consumer confidence in August.

Persons: ”, John LaForge, Andy Lipow, – can’t, “ Organizations: New, New York CNN, Drivers, Labor, CNN, AAA, Wells, Investment Institute, Biden, Lipow Oil Associates, US Energy Information Administration, Conference Board Locations: New York, Illinois, Washington , Arizona, California, Russia, Saudi Arabia

☆ Breaking With the News, One Breath at a Time
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Patrick Laforge | More About Patrick Laforge | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

And then there is the mental effort of focusing awareness on the breath while the mind serves up plans, memories and emotions, not all of them pleasant. “Leave your front door and your back door open,” the Zen master Shunryu Suzuki used to say. Back in the newsroom these days, I’m more able to take a beat amid the stress of breaking news. After the first day on the retreat in June, thoughts of work slipped out the back door. The week ahead would bring fresh headlines, many of misery — more wildfire smoke, contaminated strawberries and deadly tornadoes in the South.

Persons: Shunryu Suzuki, I’m, Dennis Overbye, “

☆ The credit crunch is getting worse and bankruptcies are on the rise
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-03 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

David Tesher: Before we were forecasting a short and shallow recession, but we no longer think there’s going to be a recession. Hard decisions are being made, and that’s going to feed back into corporate growth prospects. As economic conditions slow, credit is becoming tighter and companies are defaulting at a faster pace than they have. So yes, some corporations are distressed, but this isn’t something affecting the entire market, which is what you’d associate with a broad credit crunch. Big Tech is back with a vengeanceLast year was rough for tech companies: Tech stocks fell more than 30% in 2022, while the overall market dropped 20%.

Persons: Banks, Bell, David Tesher, we’re, We’re, There’s, reevaluation, it’s, Meta, Wedbush’s Daniel Ives, Liz Ann Sonders, Charles Schwab, ”, Megan Horneman, Matt Egan, John LaForge Organizations: CNN Business, Bell, CNN, P, Big Tech, Tech, Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, Verdence Capital Advisors, Nasdaq, Dow Jones, AAA, That’s, US Energy Information Administration, Wells, Investment Institute

☆ Fourth of July gas prices take almost unprecedented plunge
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Matt Egan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

During the week ending June 26, the average gas price was $3.57 a gallon, according to the US Energy Information Administration. Although pump prices have retreated from last year’s record highs, gas prices were cheaper in the summer of 2021 and certainly in 2020 when Covid-19 shut down large swaths of the economy. Pump prices plunge in Ohio, CaliforniaStill, over the past 12 months, gas prices are down in all 50 states, according to AAA. Washington recently replaced California with the unwanted distinction of having America’s most expensive gas prices. Why gas prices are downThe tumble in gas prices is an undeniable positive for consumers.

Persons: John LaForge, ”, Patrick De Haan, De Haan, “, ” Wells Fargo’s LaForge, LaForge, Wagner, Vladimir Putin’s, GasBuddy’s De Haan Organizations: New, New York CNN, AAA, That’s, US Energy Information Administration, Wells, Investment Institute, Drivers Locations: New York, Covid, Ohio , California, Indiana, Ohio, California, Illinois, Washington, Ukraine, Russia

☆ When Will Gas Prices Go Down?
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-10 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: +10 min

Gas price outlook for 2023When you venture out during the summer travel season, expect gas prices to remain steady through September—mostly due to overseas economic pressures. “When per-barrel prices go up, gas prices go up. By that time, the EIA estimates gas prices will drop to roughly $3.09 per gallon—a near-50-cent price break from today’s prices. Other factors affecting gas pricesWhile supply and demand are the leading factors that dictate oil and gas prices, they aren’t the only players. The Google Maps app also has a gas pump icon under the main search bar that will highlight local gas prices.

Persons: ”, Stuart Katz, Robertson Stephens, “, we’ve, John LaForge, Barack Obama, Biden, Katz, — you’ll Organizations: U.S . Energy Information Administration, Organization of, Petroleum, Energy, Wells, Wells Fargo Investment Institute, Strategic Petroleum Reserve, Bush, Hurricane, International Energy Agency, Treasury Department, State Tax Gas, of, PayPal, Google, Gas, Shell, Exxon, Mobil, Consumer, Lexus, Ford, University of California Locations: Ukraine, Russia, China, Wells Fargo, Persian, West Coast, California, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Washington, Hawaii, Illinois, Alaska, New Jersey, Connecticut, Los Angeles

☆ Wells Fargo: We're in the early stages of a commodity bull market super-cycle
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-09 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailWells Fargo: We're in the early stages of a commodity bull market super-cycleJohn LaForge, head of real asset strategy at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, discusses why commodities ranging from energy to metals and agriculture, are in a new bull market cycle, with plenty of more room and years of upside ahead.

☆ This $6 million Las Vegas bunker is still looking for a buyer. It's 26 feet underground, decorated like the 1970s, and owned by a foundation that wants to freeze humans for science.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Dan Latu | Mary Meisenzahl | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

A Las Vegas house with a 15,000-square-foot underground bunker is for sale for $5.9 million. Built in 1978, the bunker is outfitted in furniture and decor to match the original time period. A Las Vegas property that fits the bill, initially listed in 2019 for $18 million, is still looking for a buyer — now for just $5.9 million. To build a comparative property, LaForge estimates it could take up to eight times the current asking price. The property is currently owned by the Stasis Foundation, which bought the site in 2015 for $1.15 million as part of a bank auction.

☆ Gold demand surged to an 11-year high in 2022 on 'colossal' central bank buying
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Alexander Manzyuk | ReutersGold demand soared to an 11-year high in 2022 on the back of "colossal central bank purchases, aided by vigorous retail investor buying," according to the World Gold Council. Annual gold demand jumped 18% to 4,741 tons (excluding over-the-counter or OTC trading) across the year, the largest annual figure since 2011, fueled by record fourth-quarter demand of 1,337 tons. "Central bank net purchases in Q4 totalled 417t, lifting H2 total buying to 862t. The majority of the central bank buying in 2022 came from emerging markets, with the Central Bank of Turkey the largest buyer at a record 542 tons. This means that the purchasing power of non-U.S. buyers is reduced and harms global gold demand.

☆ Elon Musk’s Twitter blocked links to rival Mastodon. That could raise alarms among regulators
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Brian Fung | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Soon, however, Twitter began throwing up roadblocks — marking links to Mastodon as “unsafe” and potentially malicious, blocking tweets containing those links and preventing users from adding Mastodon links to their profiles. Now, legal experts are pondering whether there may be anticompetitive or other regulatory implications arising from Twitter’s blocking of Mastodon links. Eugen Rochko, the founder and CEO of Mastodon, has not publicly addressed Twitter’s link blocking, but has amplified a public report about it. Baer added that Twitter’s link blocking doesn’t just raise potential competition concerns. And prior to Thursday, there did not appear to be grounds for Twitter to claim that Mastodon links were unsafe.

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