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"(This) creates a very good defending position for Russians who expect Ukrainian offensive activity,” Matysiak said. Russia has denied responsibility and accused Ukraine of sabotaging the dam to deflect from what Moscow said were Ukrainian military failures. "For Russians the reason to do it would have been to stop the Ukrainian counteroffensive, obviously. For Ukraine, the breach might have provided a way of distracting the Russians while Kyiv launches its counteroffensive, she added. Patricia Lewis, Research Director for International Security at the Chatham House think tank, said the situation helps Russia even if the Ukrainian counteroffensive later makes inroads.

Persons: Ruslan Strilets, Ben Barry, Maciej Matysiak, ” Matysiak, Strilets, Mohammad Heidarzadeh, Heidarzadeh, Dmytro Kuleba, Marina Miron, Patricia Lewis, they're, Aiden Nulty, Ben Tavener, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: Kyiv, International Institute for Strategic Studies, Stratpoints Foundation, University of Bath, Civil, Engineering, University of Warwick, Reserve, Nova Kakhovka, King's College, International Security, Chatham House, Thomson Locations: Moscow, Dnipro, Kyiv, Nova, Ukraine, Ukrainian, Russia, Kherson, Crimea, Britain, London

☆ Ark Invest's flagship fund sold Nvidia before its big rally. Here's why
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( Ganesh Rao | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

However, Ark Invest's flagship Ark Innovation ETF (ARKK) exited its position in Nvidia entirely in early January —before the chipmaker enjoyed a powerful rally that propelled it to a $1 trillion market capitalization. We saw this potential for deep learning and enjoyed a lot of that ride," said Frank Downing, a research director at Ark Invest. The growth of the industry and the urgent need for powerful AI hardware has led to an increase in the number of companies entering the market. Ark Invest hasn't been alone in trimming an Nvidia stake. However, despite exiting a portion of their Nvidia positions, both Ark Invest and Damodaran maintain a favorable outlook for the company.

Persons: Ark, —, We've, Frank Downing, Downing, CNBC's, we've, Aswath, University's Organizations: Tech, Nvidia, AI, Innovation, Ark Invest, ARK Autonomous Tech, Robotics, Google, Amazon, AWS, AMD, Intel, University's Stern School of Business, NYU's Stern School of Business, Ark, Damodaran Locations: New

☆ Australian home prices climb for third straight month in May
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Swati Pandey/File PhotoSYDNEY, June 1 (Reuters) - Australian home prices rose for the third consecutive month in May, with the pace of growth accelerating sharply as demand remained strong despite high mortgage rates, and the number of available homes nudged lower. Figures from property consultant CoreLogic released on Thursday showed national home prices surged 1.2% in May after rising in March and April, and finding a floor in February. The report showed the rise in prices was because of persistently low levels of available housing supply running up against rising housing demand. Advertised listings trended lower through May compared with April, with about 1,800 fewer homes listed in the state capital cities. ($1 = 1.4743 Australian dollars)Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Jamie FreedOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Swati Pandey, CoreLogic, Tim Lawless, Sydney, Renju Jose, Jamie Freed Organizations: REUTERS, Brisbane, Perth, Thomson Locations: SydneyÕs, Chatswood, Australia's, Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra, Sydney

☆ There's one big reason why workers don't want to go back to the office 5 days a week
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-27 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Few workers enjoy the hassle of commuting to the office five days a week. Studies show that commuting is the main reason many don't want to stop working from home. A recent report by Centre for Cities, a UK think tank, suggested that policymakers should "encourage the benefits of office working while reducing the costs to workers of doing so." But Paul Swinney, its policy and research director, told Insider that employers could say commuting costs are covered by salaries, leaving companies "reluctant to set a precedent." ShutterstockBut many workers don't just regard commuting as a waste of money.

☆ Why foldable phones are so incredibly expensive
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

“I’ve owned practically every Pixel device,” said Pantons, 33, who has posted hundreds of YouTube videos about Pixel phones and other tech products. Premium partsThe flexible screen found on foldable phones is one of the biggest reasons why they cost so much. And the Google Pixel Fold has two: a 5.8-inch cover display and a 7.6-inch inner display. The new Google Pixel Fold phone Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesOther components unique to foldables also drive up the cost. Foldable phones are also notoriously fragile.

☆ Analysis: Overexposed US regional banks could sell commercial property loans
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Matt Tracy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Still, previously unreported data from New York-based real estate data provider Trepp, shared with Reuters, show many regional banks' holdings exceed thresholds stipulated by regulators. While big banks have recently warned about CRE exposure, the new Trepp data underscores how acute and widespread the problem is across the banking sector. The regulatory guidance requires that banks exceeding these thresholds "should employ heightened risk management practices," including potential sales of specific loans. Meanwhile, New York Community Bancorp (NYCB.N) and Flagstar Bank [RIC:RIC:FBCANK.UL] were among the top five banks listed by Trepp that exceeded the CRE loan threshold. In Tuesday congressional testimony, FDIC chair Martin Gruenberg warned CRE loan portfolios "face challenges" should market conditions persist.

☆ Bat lands worldwide are besieged, seeding risk of a new pandemic
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +16 min

This collision – bats and humans competing for resources on territory long the domain of the bats – could trigger the next pandemic. As people destroy bat habitats worldwide, they are unwittingly helping bat-borne viruses mutate, multiply, and infect other species, including homo sapiens. For millennia, bat viruses lurked across the forests of West Africa and in other undisturbed parts of the world but posed little threat to humanity. They’re potent proliferators: Some roost tightly together and in close quarters with other bat species. Each of the bat viruses analyzed by Reuters has epidemic potential, according to the World Health Organization.

☆ The one crucial industry where China is crushing America in the Tech Cold War
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Linette Lopez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +14 min

As of now, CATL has 13 factories worldwide that supply batteries for Tesla, Toyota, and Daimler. And thanks to its ownership of its battery supply chain, it's able to make cars cheaply. Stevenson-Yang sees parts of China's battery supply chain as the next glut it will need to dump. But the potential of a battery supply glut tomorrow doesn't help carmakers meet their needs today. "But if we're looking at evolutionary improvements, China Battery Inc. will still dominate.

☆ Fewer Adults Have Life Insurance, but Skipping It Can Be Risky
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: +11 min

But financial planners say a basic life insurance policy, especially products known as term life insurance, should be an important part of many Americans’ financial plans. A life insurance policy:Replaces lost income: If you were to pass away, your family could use your life insurance policy’s death benefit to replace your income. How to shop for life insuranceIf you’re ready to start shopping for a life insurance policy, follow these steps:1. According to PolicyGenius, an insurance marketplace, typical rates for a whole life policy, the most common type of permanent life insurance, are about 10 times the cost of a term life policy. Term Life Insurance Because term life insurance expires, it's often a far cheaper option.

☆ DeSantis signs law to cover up records of his travel and visitors ahead of anticipated 2024 presidential run
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

DeSantis signed a bill into law that will hide his travel records from public view. DeSantis signed the bill into law unceremoniously on Thursday afternoon, among more than 35 other bills. The security argument was nonsensical to Ben Wilcox, research director and co-founder of the good government organization Integrity Florida, given that the new law will apply to past travel records. "It strains credulity to suggest that hiding travel records could somehow prevent a security breach in the future," Wilcox told Insider. Another elections related bill is headed for DeSantis that will allow him to maintain his seat as governor while running for president.

REUTERS/Siyi LiuAustralian trade data shows exports worth A$60.5 million ($41.04 million) of copper ore and concentrate to China in January, though the cargoes have not appeared in Chinese customs data. It was the first month of exports since December 2020, Australian data showed. Copper ore and concentrate imports are likely to resume if the talks go well, according to an official surnamed Wang at a Chinese copper smelter, who said smelters want extra supply from Australia. China imported just over one million tonnes of copper ore and concentrate from Australia in 2019, according to customs data, worth about $1.67 billion at the time. Australian trade data showed A$78,000 worth of barley exports to China in January, the first since November 2020.

Copper ore and concentrate imports are likely to resume if the talks go well, according to an official surnamed Wang at a Chinese copper smelter, who said smelters want extra supply from Australia. Australian copper accounted for just 5% of Chinese imports in 2019 but is an important source of supply in what is expected to become a tight global market. Australian copper returns to ChinahereChinese customs data showed 10kg (22.05 lb) of copper ore and concentrate in the first quarter of this year, roughly the same as 2022. China imported just over one million tonnes of copper ore and concentrate from Australia in 2019, according to customs data. Australian trade data showed A$78,000 worth of barley exports to China in January, the first since November 2020.

☆ Disney CEO Bob Iger announces Hulu will be integrated into Disney+
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | 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 EmailDisney CEO Bob Iger announces Hulu will be integrated into Disney+Ken Leon, CFRA Research director of equity research, joins 'Closing Bell Overtime' to discuss Disney's earnings call and the announcement by Bob Iger that Hulu will be added to the Disney+ app.

Florida lawmakers sent DeSantis a bill that would let him stay governor while running for president. "I don't think we have seen a six-month stretch that has ever been this productive in the history of our state," DeSantis said at the Florida Capitol in Tallahassee on Friday. Should DeSantis be successful in a presidential run, he would follow in the footsteps of Democrat Bill Clinton and Republican George W. Bush. Ron DeSantis speaks during an election night watch party at the Convention Center in Tampa, Florida, on November 8, 2022. During a press conference in Panama City, Florida, on Thursday, DeSantis continued to play coy about his intentions.

☆ Premarket stocks: This is how the banking crisis ends
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Julia Horowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

London CNN —US regional bank stocks look set to rebound Friday but are still down sharply this week, accentuating fears that federal regulators have not yet contained a crisis in the sector that could shake the financial system. Breaking it down: Wall Street is on the hunt for any signs of vulnerability in the banking system after the high-profile demise of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic Bank in a matter of weeks. While authorities stepped in to protect depositors at those banks, investors were left with stocks that were suddenly worthless. “I believe it really only ends after we get some type of government intervention,” Michaud told me. The value of short positions in regional bank stocks reached $15.1 billion in mid-April, up from about $13.7 billion one year ago, according to data from S3 Partners.

☆ Positivity of Apple's latest figures bucks trend, says analyst
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | 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 EmailPositivity of Apple's latest figures bucks trend, says analystJeff Fieldhack, research director at Counterpoint Technology Research, discusses Apple's earnings, and explains why revenues have decreased despite China's reopening.

So far this year, super PACs have spent more than $12 million, about three times as much as four years earlier, according to public disclosures. The outlays suggest an aggressive cycle ahead for spending by super PACs, who helped drive about $1 billion in independent spending in the 2020 presidential contest. TRANSFERS QUESTIONEDRegistered as a super PAC, MAGA Inc is allowed to raise and spend unlimited sums supporting candidates as long as it doesn't coordinate spending with their campaigns. Steven Cheung, a Trump campaign spokesman, dismissed the Campaign Legal Center's arguments, calling the organization "a Democrat group." Campaign finance law specialists say they fear DeSantis could emulate Trump by transferring some of those funds into a federally registered super PAC to support his expected presidential campaign.

☆ What to expect from the jobs report
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Alicia Wallace | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Minneapolis CNN —If the latest employment trends continue and economists’ forecasts prove true, Friday’s jobs report could bring back that pre-pandemic feeling. Economists expect the US economy to have added 180,000 jobs in April, according to consensus estimates on Refinitiv. It could also hammer home the fact that the US labor market has indeed cooled down from its red-hot recovery over the past two years. What a rising unemployment rate meansEconomists are expecting the unemployment rate to tick up to 3.6% from 3.5%, according to Refinitiv. Mixed signalsPayroll processor ADP’s monthly look at private-sector employment activity, released two days before the BLS’ employment report, is sometimes looked at as a preview of what to expect from the federal data.

☆ US Declining Population, Worker Shortage Will Cause Economic Crisis Without a Fix
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Gadel Valle | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

That means that unless people start having a lot more kids, the US population could eventually start to shrink — just like China's population has. While the US population has managed to avoid an outright drop, population growth reached an unprecedented low of 0.12% in 2021. One way the US could encourage more immigration is by focusing on temporary visas for specific industries that need workers. And the treatment of workers in the country on temporary visas has been a problem for decades. After all, the US is running out of options, and soon its growing people shortage is going to spell economic disaster.

☆ Sallie Krawcheck says a single decision was almost ‘the end of my career’—instead it launched her to Wall Street stardom
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Tom Huddleston Jr. | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Sallie Krawcheck's legendary Wall Street career almost ended soon after it began. The move was slammed by her Wall Street peers. On Wall Street, the consensus is often seen as the safest bet. You were among the first female CEOs on Wall Street. The upside to running one of these storied Wall Street firms is [that] I'm going to get to turn it around, I'm going to learn a tremendous amount, I'm going to do something no one else has done.

☆ Australia's home prices rise again in sign of market bottom
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, May 1 (Reuters) - Australian home prices rose for a second straight month in April, in a further signal that the nation's property market may have hit a floor ahead of a central bank rate decision on Tuesday. Figures from property consultant CoreLogic released on Monday showed prices nationally rose 0.5% in April from March, when values were up 0.6%, indicating Australian home prices may have bottomed out after slumping 9.1% from May 2022 to February. We now expect home prices to rise by 3% in 2023 and forecast a further increase of 5% in 2024." Shane Oliver, chief economist at AMP, also no longer expects a top-to-bottom fall of 15-20% in housing prices, citing "a far worse property demand and supply imbalance" with immigration levels surging and supply remaining tight. PropTrack data on Monday showed that home prices rose 0.14% in April, bringing the cumulative increase this year to 0.75%.

☆ 31% of new crypto buyers influenced by friends. Here’s why that can be 'a horrible idea,' advisor says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Greg Iacurci | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

"I don't imagine friends are talking about when they lost money," said Lee Baker, a certified financial planner and founder of Apex Financial Services in Atlanta. "The sexy sells," added Baker, a member of CNBC's Advisor Council. On one hand, crypto can be an on-ramp to more traditional investing — which is generally a good outcome, Mottola said. There's some evidence of this happening: 36% of new crypto investors said their purchase made them more interested in investing in the stock market, the study found. However, "the friends recommending [crypto], the sources of information on social media, may not be reliable," Mottola said.

During a conference call with investors, the company projected that adjusted gross margins will climb above 40% in the second half, having hit historic lows in the first half of the year. Underscoring Intel's profitability slump in recent years, its first-quarter unadjusted gross margin fell to 34.2%, almost half of its multi-decade high of over 67% in 2010. The company forecast a further drop to an unadjusted gross margin of 33.2% for the second quarter. "While we understand investors may be disappointed in its 2Q23 gross margin outlook, we are confident that Intel's gross margin will recover in 2H23 as the burden of factory underutilization and new product start-up cost diminishes," said Kinngai Chan, analyst at Summit Insights Group. Intel said adjusted losses were 4 cents per share, above analysts' expectations of a 15 cent per share adjusted loss.

☆ Tim Cook is bullish on India being the new China for Apple. These 3 charts show there's a long way to go.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

This first store comes 14 years after Apple first opened in China, and Cook has sometimes compared the two markets. And so I'm very, very bullish and very, very optimistic about India," Cook told investors on an earnings call in 2017. In the same year, Apple only took 6% of the market share in India compared to Android's 94%. Apple has increased iOS device sales over the years to claim 17% market share from rivals, per Counterpoint Research's data. For Cook, India could offer similar tantalizing growth.

☆ GOP lawmaker leading Florida legislature's effort to rein in Disney was a company stock-holder until the DeSantis feud
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

One key ally, Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, previously held Disney stock but said he sold on principle. Ron DeSantis claw back control of Walt Disney World's special tax district was once a Walt Disney Company investor, annual disclosures show. Ingoglia told Insider that he manages his stocks himself, and that they were long-term holds with a retirement or brokerage account. The financial ties to Disney underscore the company's largess and influence in Florida, where it's the state's biggest attraction. Disney CEO Bob Iger told Time he would be willing to sit down with DeSantis over the feud.

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