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☆ The sponsor of Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' bill was indicted on federal charges of money laundering and wire fraud related to COVID relief loans
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Azmi Haroun | Erin Snodgrass | Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The sponsor of Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' bill was indicted on money laundering charges. He raked in more than $150,000 through his scheme, per the US Attorney's Office, and was indicted by a grand jury on Wednesday on six counts of wire fraud, money laundering, and making false statements. In the indictment, prosecutors said that Harding used the SBA's Economic Injury Disaster Loans, meant for COVID-related expenses, to enrich himself between December 2020 and March 2021. If found guilty, Harding faces a maximum possible sentence of 20 years on the wire fraud charges; 10 years on the money laundering allegations; and five years in prison for allegedly making false statements. In 2022, Harding sponsored Florida's so-called "Don't Say Gay" Bill, which is officially called the "Parental Rights in Education" bill.

☆ The media business is in turmoil — but its stocks may be close to bottoming
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Wall Street, for what it’s worth, seems to think the worst is over for the streaming leader after it finally decided to cave and launch an ad-supported service. And what’s more, many media companies are in the midst of layoffs and other cost-cutting measures, including CNN and its parent Warner Bros. But Wall Street is certainly more bullish about the prospects for media stocks. Wall Street is predicting that Warner Bros. So even though it feels like there’s still more bad news to come, media stocks may have already hit the bottom.

☆ McCarthy's struggle to lock down House Speaker roils GOP caucus, delays key committee assignments
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Christina Wilkie | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

A spokesman for McCarthy did not respond to questions from CNBC about the committee vote schedule. Instead, both sides have dug in over the past week, telling reporters they're ready to take the fight all the way to the House floor on Jan. 3. "Oh yeah, I'll take the speaker's fight to the floor," McCarthy told reporters in the Capitol recently. "The goal was never to embarrass Kevin McCarthy on the [House] floor, no one wants that," she said. It also prompted McCarthy to issue a long statement condemning her prior remarks, which he said "do not represent the values or beliefs of House Republicans."

☆ Premarket stocks: The corporate world has a succession problem
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

It’s been a nasty year for Fortune 500 companies and top executives are paying for it: CEOs are exiting in droves. CEO exits eased in the third-quarter, but the C-suite door seems to be revolving again as a slew of Fortune 500 CEOs have said their goodbyes this month. Looking back: One way to avoid the succession problem is to recycle an old CEO. On average, the annual stock performance of companies led by boomerang CEOs was 10.1% lower those with a first-stint leader, he found. Shares of movie theater chain AMC (AMC) have also plummeted 55% this year.

Three weeks ago, conservative Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., was defeated by GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy in their party’s private, internal vote for speaker of the House. “I’m running for Speaker to break the establishment,” Biggs tweeted, linking to an op-ed in the conservative Daily Caller outlining his opposition to McCarthy. Democrats are expected to back their own leader for speaker, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and five conservative lawmakers are already on record saying they will not vote for McCarthy under any circumstance. The last time a speaker vote went multiple ballots was exactly a century ago. Some moderate GOP McCarthy allies say it would never reach that point.

☆ Stocks sink again as CEOs sound alarm bells about economy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN Business —Some top CEOs appear to be worried that the economy could be the Grinch that steals Christmas this year. Stocks sank Tuesday, the second straight day of losses on Wall Street. The Dow fell more than 500 points, or 1.5% in midday trading. Four of America’s leading chief executives gave cautious comments about the economy in interviews Tuesday, and that seems to have spooked the market. Shares of JPMorgan Chase, Walmart and Goldman Sachs, which are all Dow components, fell 0.6%, 1.3% and 2.6% respectively.

☆ Meme stock mania may finally be over
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Meme stocks, that is. Shares of movie theater chain AMC (AMC) have plummeted 55% this year. But investors may also be realizing that companies like GameStop, AMC and Bed Bath & Beyond face legitimate challenges. But mostly, investors are aware of the fact that in uncertain times like this, it may make more sense to play it safe instead of taking a huge gamble on a meme stock. Add all that up and it’s a miserable time for investors to be considering speculative meme stocks.

☆ Is the worst over for bitcoin and the rest of crypto?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-04 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

This is not the first crypto winter, as long-term fans of bitcoin can attest. “It is very clear that we as an industry need to build better products,” said Hany Rashwan, CEO of 21.co, a crypto investment firm. That’s about triple where prices were during the depths of the crypto bear market in the early pandemic days of 2020. Others point out that the underlying blockchain technology behind bitcoin and crypto remains solid. Pride and Reynolds added that it’s erroneous to think that bitcoin can hold up well during stock market volatility.

In recent years, researchers have looked for supplements, in particular to data like JOLTS, to provide more nuance about job market dynamics. "When JOLTS came along it was stepping into a data void that it has done a good job of filling. An expanded JOLTS survey may get directly at that and other issues in the future, said Paul R. Calhoun Jr., who was involved with developing the survey in the 1990s and is its current manager. "You got all these job openings," Calhoun said. "We had the unemployment rate, so we knew how many people there are who are looking for work and don't have a job.

☆ What the heck happened to Salesforce?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Exhibit A: software giant Salesforce. Salesforce (CRM) has lagged the performance of top cloud software rivals such as Microsoft (MSFT), Germany’s SAP (SAP) and Oracle (ORCL). Salesforce said it now expects earnings per share of about $1.20 to $1.21 for this quarter and sales of $7.82 billion to $7.83 billion. So is Salesforce, led by co-CEOs Marc Benioff and Bret Taylor, due for a comeback in 2023? Salesforce has spent nearly $50 billion since 2018 to buy application software company MuleSoft, data visualization software leader Tableau and workplace productivity suite Slack.

☆ Bank of America CEO predicts two years of pain ahead in the housing market
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN Business —The CEO of one of the nation’s largest banks is preparing for an economic downturn in 2023. But Moynihan told Harlow that the worst-case fears for the economy may not materialize — thanks to the continued resilience of American shoppers. Still, Moynihan is concerned that there could be more tough times ahead for the housing market. And the way you do that is raising interest rates,” Moynihan said. “The intended outcome of [the Fed’s] policies doesn’t feel good when you are trying to buy a home.”Moynihan told Harlow that there could be two years of pain in the housing market before activity returns to normal.

☆ Kevin McCarthy says Democrats could select the next speaker if Republicans 'play games' on the House floor
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

McCarthy said Republicans could cede control of the House in January if they aren't unified. While on Newsmax, the Californian warned against the GOP playing "games" on the House floor. McCarthy is working to round up votes among GOP members that he'll need to lead the lower chamber. If we play games on the floor, the Democrats could end up picking who the speaker is," he said. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia cautioned against a handful of Republicans potentially joining Democrats in selecting a more moderate speaker.

☆ Freddie Roman, Catskills comedy scene staple and former Friars Club dean, dies at 85
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Comedian Freddie Roman, the former dean of The Friars Club and a staple of the Catskills comedy scene, has died. Roman died Saturday afternoon at Bethesda Hospital in Boynton Beach, Florida, his booking agent and friend Alison Chaplin said Sunday. His uncle and grandfather owned the Crystal Spring Hotel in the Catskills, where Roman started emceeing at age 15. In “Catskills on Broadway,” Roman commented about everything from his childhood in Queens to his “retirement life” in Florida. He was also made Dean of the New York City Friars Club, where he mentored many aspiring comedians and infused the private club with young talent.

☆ Dow tumbles 500 points but could actually end the year in the green
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN Business —Most of 2022 has been pretty dismal for investors, and Monday was no exception: The Dow fell about 500 points, or 1.5%, Monday. The Dow enjoyed its best month in nearly a half-century in October and it’s up nearly another 3% in November. It would be a stunning comeback if the Dow reclaims all its lost ground and finishes the year in positive territory. Top industrial stocks in the Dow such as Boeing (BA), Caterpillar (CAT) and Honeywell (HON) have surged. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are still pretty deep in the red for 2022, off 17% and almost 30% respectively.

☆ The Dow could actually end the year in the green
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

It would be a stunning comeback if the Dow reclaims all its lost ground and finishes the year in positive territory. As recently as mid-October the Dow was in bear-market territory for 2022, down more than 21%. Top industrial stocks in the Dow such as Boeing (BA), Caterpillar (CAT) and Honeywell (HON) have surged. (owner of The North Face and Vans), IBM (IBM) and 3M (MMM), is actually up 1% this year. There were several times when the stock market came back and then went back down,” said John Duffy, co-founder of Trending Stocks.

☆ Outgoing Democratic House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer says the 'biggest change' he's seen in his congressional career is 'how confrontational Republicans have become'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Steny Hoyer spoke about his time in leadership as he prepares to hand over the reins. He lamented the "confrontational" nature of some Republicans in the chamber in a Washington Post interview. Hoyer is stepping down from leadership, but will remain in the House in January 2023. "I think the biggest change in the institution is how confrontational Republicans have become," he told the newspaper. "That's the biggest change," Hoyer said, while also pointing to the events of January 6, 2021.

☆ World’s heaviest flying bird uses plants to self-medicate, scientists say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Hafsa Khalil | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Published in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution scientific journal on Wednesday, the study reveals that the great bustards ate an abundance of corn poppies (Papaver rhoeas) and purple viper’s bugloss (Echium plantagineum). In humans, corn poppies have been used for their medicinal properties as a sedative and pain relief while purple viper’s bugloss can be toxic if consumed. Both plants were highly effective in killing or inhibiting the effects of the protozoa and nematodes, according to the study. The purple viper’s bugloss showed moderate defensive action against the fungi. “We normally associate self-medication in species like primates, so to see researchers studying endangered birds is brilliant,” Rose told CNN.

☆ Hasbro CEO says inflation won't ruin Christmas but Wall Street is worried
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

New York CNN Business —The holidays are rapidly approaching, and for the toy company Hasbro, a slowing economy could be a proverbial Grinch that steals Christmas. Before joining Hasbro, Cocks was an executive at Microsoft (MSFT) from 1999 through 2006 and 2008 through 2016. Cocks said Hasbro is investing “significantly” in digital toys, particularly digital versions of classic Hasbro board games like “Monopoly” and “Scrabble” as well as D&D and the company’s “Magic: The Gathering” game. It’s definitely been a boon for the game,” Cocks said. “If there’s a couple of truisms in life, there’s death, there’s taxes, and there’s parents wanting to have a great holiday for their kids.”

☆ Fed offers more rate hike clues
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

At its November 2 meeting the Fed raised rates by three-quarters of a percentage point — its fourth straight hike of such a large magnitude. But Fed chair Jerome Powell suggested at a press conference that the Fed may soon begin to slow the pace of hikes. The minutes from that meeting showed that several other Fed policymakers agreed with Powell’s assessment. The job market remains relatively healthy as well, although the most recent jobless claims figures ticked up from a week ago. But as long as the labor market remains firm and inflation pressures continue to ebb, the Fed will likely pull back on the magnitude of its rate hikes.

☆ Top Florida lawmakers want to change state law so DeSantis can run for president in 2024 without resigning as governor
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Republicans in Florida want to change the law so DeSantis can run for president and keep his job. The comments came as the new GOP legislature and leaders were sworn in Tuesday. Ron DeSantis could run for president without resigning from his current job. Senate President Kathleen Passidomo echoed Renner's comments, saying it would be an "honor" to have someone from Florida running for president. Under current Florida law, if DeSantis were to run for president then he would have to resign his post as governor — even if he eventually lost the presidency.

☆ Former House Speaker Paul Ryan says there's no one 'better suited' to lead House Republicans than Kevin McCarthy: 'He's been good for conservatives'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Paul Ryan said there was no one "better suited" to lead House Republicans than Kevin McCarthy. McCarthy is trying to lock up votes to lead the House, which will have a slim GOP majority in 2023. Ryan also told Karl that he believed McCarthy would get at least 218 votes on the floor, and expressed confidence in the lawmaker's abilities to lead Republicans. "There isn't anybody better suited to running this conference than Kevin McCarthy. He's been good for conservatives, frankly, but he's also a person who really understands how to manage a conference."

☆ For retirement-system changes proposed in Congress via 'Secure 2.0,' December is do-or-die time
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Sarah O'Brien | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

While no specific agenda has been released yet, supporters of the retirement-change proposals collectively called "Secure 2.0" are hopeful that it will be among the pieces of legislation that make it across the finish line. Increasing the extra amounts — so-called catch-up contributions — that individuals age 50 or older can put in their retirement accounts. watch nowThis year, the House passed its version of Secure 2.0, the Securing a Strong Retirement Act (H.R.2954), in late March with a bipartisan vote of 414-5. Secure 2.0 could be attached to a must-pass billAssuming that Secure 2.0 wouldn't get floor time for a vote on its own, supporters are hoping legislators will attach it to a must-pass bill this year. In September, Congress passed a stopgap measure to fund the government's 2023 fiscal year, which started Oct. 1, through Dec. 16.

☆ Investors have very little to be thankful for in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Oil stocks have been huge winners this year, thanks to the spike in crude prices…which boosted sales and profits. For now, at least, energy investors are reaping the rewards. And there are also opportunities for investors looking for a little more risk…and potential reward. Finally, investors who’ve bet against the stock market also can give thanks for this year’s volatility. PC giants Dell (DELL) and HP (HPQ) also report results this week.

☆ GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger says House Republicans will have a 'totally nonfunctional majority' in 2023 and McCarthy as speaker will be 'the equivalent of the dog who caught the car'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Rep. Adam Kinzinger said House Republicans will have a "totally nonfunctional majority" in 2023. But despite their newfound House majority, the GOP will have a razor-thin edge, with the party currently holding a 219-211 advantage with just a handful of races left to call. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Calif., arrives to speak with journalists after winning the House Speaker nomination at a House GOP leadership meeting on Capitol Hill on November 15, 2022. Because probably Kevin McCarthy has yet to promise him anything, and secondarily, he wants to be more famous than Marjorie Taylor Greene," he added. "Kevin McCarthy is going to have trouble."

As House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said herself, quoting scripture on the House floor Thursday: “For everything there is a season — a time for every purpose under heaven.”For Pelosi, the season to be leader of House Democrats has passed. She’ll continue to represent San Francisco while serving as an invaluable source of guidance and resolve for the next generation of House Democratic leaders. At 82, Pelosi is a historic figure, of course: the first female House speaker and one of the strongest speakers, if not the strongest, that America has ever seen. Yet as a minority in a GOP-run House, Democrats won’t be able to rack up accomplishments like they did in the last two years. There were calls for Pelosi to step aside in 2010 when Democrats lost 60 House seats — a true wipeout.

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