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☆ Gold prices ease with Fed rate trajectory in focus
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Kavya Guduru | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Spot gold was down 0.1% at $2,001.75 per ounce, as of 0342 GMT, after rising 1% on Thursday. Gold prices have been moderating in the absence of real incoming news flow and "we really need to see some bigger pieces of information to give it that directional conviction", said Ilya Spivak, head of global macro at Tastylive. "Gold pushed back above $2,000/oz as the weaker economic outlook is enticing safe-haven buying," ANZ said in a note. Rate hikes raise the opportunity cost of holding non-interest-bearing gold. Spot silver dipped 0.3% to $25.22 per ounce, while platinum was flat at $1,093.33 and palladium rose 0.5% to $1,594.26.

☆ I work for a nude cruise. It's liberating — but there are rules. Passengers can't get too excited, and clothes must be worn to dinner.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Brooke Morton | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

I'm a cruise organizer for Bare Necessities Tour and Travel, a nudist cruise company. I spend all year as part of a team planning our two sailings: a February trip aboard a big cruise ship called our Big Nude Boat, which has 3,000 passengers, and a smaller cruise in summer. Now I'm vice president of sales for the two Bare Necessities cruises. Entertainers and staffers on a Bare Necessities cruise wear clothes. On our Big Nude Boat with a little more than 2,100 passengers, about 70% of guests on board are repeat guests.

☆ Copper Shortage Threatens Green Transition
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Yusuf Khan | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

In 2021, refined copper demand stood at 25.3 million tons, according to the International Copper Study Group. Mined output globally in 2022 was 21.8 million tons according to the International Copper Study Group, rising only 1 million tons over the previous three years. According to Congo’s Ministry of Mines, copper metal exports totaled 2.3 million metric tons in 2022, up from 1.8 million metric tons in 2021, less than half of Chile’s output. According to analysts it is more of a “when” not an “if” copper demand is likely to surge. Changes in technology should ease some copper demand pressures.

☆ Australian court approves BHP's $6.4 bln OZ Minerals takeover
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

April 17 (Reuters) - Global miner BHP Group Ltd (BHP.AX) said on Monday the Federal Court of Australia had approved its A$9.6 billion ($6.44 billion) takeover of OZ Minerals Ltd (OZL.AX). The court approval follows overwhelming support from OZ Minerals shareholders for the deal, which is the third largest in global mining in recent months. Shares of the Australian copper producer will be suspended from trading on the local bourse at the close of trading on Tuesday. ($1 = 1.4914 Australian dollars)Reporting by Echha Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi AichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Nikki Haley gets early support from wealthy donors while some remain on the sidelines
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Brian Schwartz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Both Haley and Ramaswamy are trailing former President Donald Trump, according to the latest public polls. Team Stand for America's filing says the group received individual donations from wealthy donors ranging from $5,000 to $16,600. The joint fundraising committee finished raising over $4.3 million, while the Haley campaign itself brought in around $5.1 million, according to FEC records. Team Stand for America transferred about $1.8 million to the Haley campaign on March 31, according to the records. Leonard Stern, the CEO of real estate firm Hartz Mountain Industries, contributed the same amount as Hamm to Team Stand for America in March.

☆ Gold off one-year highs as investors weigh rate hike prospects
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Kavya Guduru | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies Gold prices biased for a grind higher - analystsMarkets pricing in Fed 25-bps rate hike in MayU.S. dollar up 0.1%April 17 (Reuters) - Gold prices inched higher on Monday but were off one-year highs reached late last week as mixed economic data prompted investors to reassess the U.S. Federal Reserve's rate hike trajectory and boosted the dollar. Spot gold was up 0.1% at $2,004.74 per ounce, as of 0353 GMT. The dollar index was 0.1% higher, making bullion expensive for overseas buyers. Other data showed households expected inflation to rise over the next 12 months. The CME FedWatch tool shows markets are pricing in a 80.9% chance of a 25 basis point hike in May.

☆ Big copper deals to take centerstage in Santiago as demand heats up
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Lundin Mining Corp (LUN.TO) is paying nearly $1 billion for control of Chile's Caserones copper mine despite ongoing political uncertainty in the country. "The green transformation theme remains a strong tailwind for copper, the king of green metals," Saxo Bank strategist Ole Hansen told Reuters. Global copper demand expected to reach 53 million tonnes annually by 2053 - more than double current levels - but supply is still expected to fall short, according an S&P Global (SPGI.N) study. And Hudbay Minerals Inc (HBM.TO) last week said it would pay $439 million for rival Copper Mountain Mining Corp (CMMC.TO). Neighboring Peru, the world's second-largest copper producer, also expects to boost production this year.

☆ Republicans in battleground states sidestep endorsing Trump as they eye 2024 Senate bids
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Nicole Gaudiano | Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Republicans weighing 2024 Senate bids in key states haven't settled on Donald Trump for 2024. "As Senate Republican's primary dynamics get messier by the day, Senate GOP candidates are in a lose-lose situation when it comes to Trump," said Nora Keefe, a spokesperson for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. Representatives for the three GOP prospects and the Senate GOP campaign arm either did not elaborate or respond when asked for comment. Rep. Mike Gallagher, a potential Senate candidate in another battleground state, Wisconsin, has repeatedly said he would not support Trump since the Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol in the January 6 insurrection. I stand by what I said," he said during an Axios forum when asked if he would support Trump if he becomes the nominee.

☆ ChatGPT needs to 'drink' a water bottle's worth of fresh water for every 20 to 50 questions you ask, researchers say
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Will Gendron | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Training GPT-3 requires water to stave off the heat produced during the computational process. Every 20 to 50 questions, ChatGPT servers need to "drink" the equivalent of a 16.9 oz water bottle. While training GPT-3 in its data centers, Microsoft was estimated to have used 700,000 liters — or about 185,000 gallons — of fresh water. When asked about LaMDA's water usage, Google pointed to a November 2022 report that published 2021 data on the broad consumption of water across data centers. "While it is impossible to know the actual water footprint without detailed information from Google, our estimate shows that the total water footprint of training LaMDA is in the order of million liters," the researchers wrote.

Some 78.9% of proxy votes on behalf of Oz Minerals' investors were in favour of the takeover offer of A$26.50 cash from BHP and a A$1.75 special dividend paid to Oz Minerals investors, at a shareholder meeting in Adelaide on Thursday. It will bring in Oz Minerals' Carapateena copper mine, close to BHP's own Olympic Dam copper mine and smelting operations in South Australia. Strategically it will also boost BHP's nickel supply through Oz Minerals' West Musgrave nickel project in Western Australia, where BHP is already producing nickel sulphate at its Nickel West operations. If the deal is approved as expected, Oz Minerals shares will be suspended on April 18. Oz Minerals' board had unanimously supported the bid.

☆ Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey announces re-election bid for fourth term
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Summer Concepcion | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., on Monday announced he will seek a fourth term in the battleground state next year as Democrats fight to keep their Senate majority. "I'm running for re-election because with so much on the line for Pennsylvania's working families, I want to keep delivering results for Pennsylvania," Casey said in a statement announcing his re-election campaign. No other candidates for the 2024 Pennsylvania Senate race have been officially announced. During his time in the Senate, Casey has joined Republicans and other Democrats to negotiate bipartisan bills. Casey, who has long held anti-abortion views, had a complicated stance on the government's role in abortion rights.

☆ Gold slides 1% after US jobs data raises rate hike bets
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Kavya Guduru | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies Gold slips below $2,000/ozMarch U.S. payrolls rise by 236,00066% chance seen of Fed rate hike in May- CME Fedwatch ToolApril 10 (Reuters) - Gold prices fell about 1% to slip below $2,000 on Monday, after U.S. employment data pointed to a tight labour market and raised expectations of another rate hike by the Federal Reserve in May. Friday's data from the U.S. Labor Department showed non-farm payrolls increased by 236,000 jobs in March, versus expectations of 239,000. The data also showed the unemployment rate dipped to 3.5% from 3.6% in the prior month. The report raised bets that the U.S. central bank would increase rates next month, with markets pricing in a 66% chance of a 25 basis-point (bps) rate hike, according to the CME FedWatch tool. Gold is traditionally considered a hedge against inflation, but higher rates increase the opportunity cost of holding the non-yielding asset.

☆ Blockbuster pushed HBO to start investing in original content, cable giant's ex-chief says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Alex Sherman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

What's less known is it was also the catalyst for HBO's pivot toward original programming, according to former HBO and Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes. HBO, at the time led by Michael Fuchs, decided the answer was original programming. Source: HBO | YouTubeEven after "The Sopranos" debuted, HBO still faced a dilemma over how much to invest in original shows. HBO's TV schedule was always shifting, based on the length of feature films. Had HBO's early investments in original programming not hit, Bewkes acknowledged he's not sure what HBO would have done to fight off Blockbuster.

☆ John Fetterman opens up about his 'downward spiral' after winning the Pennsylvania Senate race in 2022: 'Depression can absolutely convince you that you actually lost'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-02 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

"I had stopped engaging some of the most — things that I love in my life," Fetterman told CBS News. "The whole thing about depression is that objectively, you may have won, but depression can absolutely convince you that you actually lost. Fetterman revealed that between the November 2022 election and his swearing-in ceremony in January 2023, his depression began to accelerate. Last year's Pennsylvania Senate election, which was an open seat contest as a result of then-Republican Sen. Pat Toomey's impending retirement, was seen as one of most competitive races in the country. But Fetterman won the race 51%-46%, picking up a critical seat for Democrats and affording the party an expanded 51-49 majority in the upper chamber.

Senator John Fetterman has been discharged from hospital where he was treated for weeks for depression, his office said on Friday, adding he will return to the Senate mid-April. Fetterman's depression is now in remission, his office said in a statement, citing a doctor. Fetterman had checked into a Washington-area hospital for treatment for clinical depression in mid-February. Fetterman, who suffered a stroke last May and later acknowledged he had "almost died," has faced challenges adjusting to life in the Senate during his recovery. During the course of Fetterman's depression treatment, his speech abilities also improved as he worked with speech-language specialists, his office said on Friday.

☆ Why so many banks seem to fail on Fridays
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

That’s because when banks fail, they have a tendency to do so on Friday. Friday, March 10, 2023: Silicon Valley Bank seized by regulators, the second biggest bank failure in US history. “That was very unusual.”Similarly, Silicon Valley Bank’s unraveling happened at a head-spinning pace nearly three weeks ago. Skinny cansAnyone else notice how skinny cans are these days? My colleague Nathaniel Meyersohn, a reporter with an eagle eye for retail trends, explains that skinny cans are, in fact, in.

☆ Gold prices dip as bank angst recedes
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Kavya Guduru | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies Gold down for second sessionGold could decline to $1,920/oz - analystVolumes in SPDR Gold Shares highest since OctMarch 30 (Reuters) - Gold prices edged lower on Thursday as easing concerns about the global banking system fed risk appetite and curbed some safe-haven bullion bids. Spot gold was down 0.2% at $1,960.52 per ounce, as of 0346 GMT, falling for a second session. Volumes in SPDR Gold Shares, the largest gold-backed ETF, have surged to their highest level since October," they said. The opportunity cost of holding non-yielding gold rises when interest rates are increased to bring down inflation. Markets see a 43.2% chance of the Fed raising interest rates by 25 basis points in May, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

☆ Why skinny soda cans are everywhere
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Drink manufacturers are aiming to distinguish their products on crowded shelves and save money on shipping and packaging with skinny cans, say analysts and drink makers. The can, presented at New York’s Fashion Week, had the tagline: “The New Skinny.” It was widely criticized as offensive and the National Eating Disorders Association said the company’s comments were both “thoughtless and irresponsible.”White Claw's skinny white cans have brought along copycats. Red Bull was one of the first brands to popularize slim cans, and White Claw saw success with its hard seltzer in thin white cans. skinny cans on store shelves, warehouse pallets and trucks than wider cans, said Dave Fedewa, a partner at McKinsey who consults for retail and consumer packaged goods companies. But the key, Fedewa said, is that skinny cans catch the eye: “It’s funny how much growth that can drive in retail.”

☆ Gold retreats as waning banking crisis dampens demand
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Kavya Guduru | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Spot gold was trading 0.7% lower at $1,960.91 per ounce, as of 0619 GMT, after rising 1% on Tuesday. "We've seen a natural retracement ... gold is pulling back after a failed 'bid' to break above $1,975," said Matt Simpson, senior market analyst at City Index. But some investors "still seem to be holding onto gold 'just in case' there's another skeleton or two lurking in the closet," Simpson said. The opportunity cost of holding non-yielding gold rises when interest rates are increased. Silver fell 0.8% to $23.08 per ounce, platinum lost 0.7% at $956.76 and palladium edged down 0.2% to $1,416.93.

☆ Softer dollar buoys gold, but banking optimism limits safe-haven appeal
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Kavya Guduru | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies Gold might retest support at $1,945/oz - technicalsU.S. dollar down 0.2%Global stocks rise on TuesdayMarch 28 (Reuters) - Gold prices rose on Tuesday as the dollar slipped, although an improvement in risk appetite after efforts by regulators to allay fears over the global banking system limited the safe-haven metal's appeal. "The U.S. dollar seems to be stabilising, this should entice fresh buying back into the (gold) market," said Clifford Bennett, chief economist at ACY Securities. However, gold remains the "resolute safe-haven" in a "rolling risk environment" for the banking sector as risks of contagion are far more persistent than the market would like to believe, Bennett added. Gold might retest a support at $1,945 per ounce, a break below could open the way towards $1,927, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said. Spot silver eased 0.1% to $23.06 per ounce, while platinum rose 0.5% to $976.87 and palladium added 0.7% at $1,418.44.

☆ Republicans are seeking wealthy, self-funding candidates to help the party win a Senate majority in 2024, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

GOP leaders are seeking out wealthy Senate candidates to counter Democratic fundraising successes. In recent cycles, some GOP candidates have used outside spending to mitigate spending disparities. Last year, Democratic Senate nominees in the six most competitive races outraised their GOP counterparts by $288 million, per Politico. The well-known doctor poured $26.8 million of his own funds into his unsuccessful Senate campaign, according to OpenSecrets. Dolan, who put more than $10.5 million into his 2022 Senate bid, could face Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown.

☆ As John Fetterman heals, his Senate staff soldiers on with the help of veteran lawmakers and crisis bonding: 'We all have each other's back'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Sen. John Fetterman has been hospitalized for clinical depression since February 15. Casey is coordinating with Fetterman staff on constituent services issues and legislative priorities, according to recent reports, but doesn't call Fetterman directly so as not to disturb his ongoing recovery. Some of the others working hard to meet that internal standard include legislative assistant Madeleine Marr, a former aide to Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire. Conservative commentator Stephen L. Miller has been more blunt, accusing Fetterman's staff of unduly wielding power in his absence. "John Fetterman's chief of staff is not an elected senator," Miller wrote in an op-ed run by the Delaware Valley Journal.

☆ Gold pauses rally as traders seek clarity on banking crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Gold retreated on Thursday from a safe-haven-driven rally, which sent prices to their highest since early-February, as traders sought more clarity on the financial sector after Credit Suisse became the latest focal point for fears of a banking crisis. Spot gold was down 0.3% at $1,912.48 per ounce, as of 0328 GMT, after rising more than 1% on Wednesday. Swiss regulators pledged a liquidity lifeline to Credit Suisse in an unprecedented move by a central bank. Gold competes with the dollar as a safe store of value, and gains in the currency make bullion less attractive for overseas buyers. Spot silver slipped 0.4% to $21.71 per ounce, platinum was 0.3% lower at $959.52, while palladium gained 1.3% at $1,465.91.

☆ Trump proposes 10 futuristic 'Freedom Cities,' featuring Jetsons-like flying cars
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Former President Donald Trump on Friday shared the broad strokes of an ambitious plan to build 10 new "Freedom Cities" and beat China in the development of flying cars. Another plank of Trump's plan, detailed in a less-than-four-minute video shared by his campaign, is for the federal government to boost investment in flying personal vehicles. "I want to ensure that America, not China, leads this revolution in air mobility," Trump said in the video. Trump's video also teased a "major initiative" to lower the cost of living, with a focus on lowering the costs of buying a car building a single-family home. Days earlier, Trump unveiled a protectionist trade agenda featuring "universal" tariffs aimed to encourage domestic production.

☆ 2 college friends created energy gum and mints that got the attention of Kevin O'Leary and Robert Herjavec on 'Shark Tank.' They turned down the offers and still built a 7-figure business while workin
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Kathleen Elkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

College friends Kent Yoshimura and Ryan Chen came up with the idea of making caffeinated gum in 2013. "Shark Tank" stars Robert Herjavec and Kevin O'Leary both wanted a piece of the company when the co-founders entered the tank three years ago. Yoshimura and Chen came up with the idea of creating energy gum and mints on a 2013 scuba diving trip. Courtesy of Kent Yoshimura and Ryan ChenIt was on a scuba diving trip in 2013 when the friends thought about creating an energy product more approachable than pills. Turning down a $1 million deal from Robert Herjavec on 'Shark Tank'In 2019, Yoshimura and Chen got a casting call from the hit business reality TV show "Shark Tank."

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