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☆ Good news: The ‘hard landing’ forecasters got it wrong
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-07 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

But as we wind down 2024, one thing appears clear: The naysayers on Team Hard Landing got it wrong. The “soft landing” versus “hard landing” metaphor — perhaps overused but visually handy — refers to the economy as an airplane and the Fed as the pilot. Pull the right levers at the right time, and you get a nice comfortable soft landing, with inflation cooling and the labor market thriving. He was far from alone in thinking that a soft landing was little more than a fantasy. “We should just drop the soft landing versus hard landing discourse and start talking about a robust expansion at mid-cycle,” Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM, told Schwab Network in an interview.

Persons: CNN Business ’, everyone’s, ”, Sung Won Sohn, we’d, ” Aaron, “, there’s, Justin Wolfers, Bill Dudley, “ I’ve, Dudley, Larry Summers, they’re, Joe Brusuelas Organizations: CNN Business, New York CNN, Loyola Marymount University, Fed, . Upjohn Institute, Employment Research, ICYMI, Bureau of Labor Statistics —, Federal Reserve Bank of New, Bloomberg, RSM, Schwab Network Locations: New York, Federal Reserve Bank of New York

☆ OpenAI just secured a ton of new cash. Now it needs to wow us
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-04 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

One thing seems clear: The company is burning through far more cash than it’s bringing in, according to reporting from the New York Times. (That’s revenue largely from subscriptions to premium versions of ChatGPT and licensing its tech to third-party developers.) Here’s where things get a little wild:Next year, OpenAI estimates that its revenue will more than triple to $11.6 billion. It’s not clear how, or whether, OpenAI is working on reducing its significant cash burn. “It has nothing to do with reality.”One way OpenAI could improve its margins would be to cut costs.

Persons: CNN Business ’, New York CNN —, Goldman Sachs, that’s, Gil Luria, Davidson, ” Luria, “, Luria, There’s, OpenAI, Sam Altman, we’ve, ” Organizations: CNN Business, New York CNN, Google, Pfizer, Microsoft, Nvidia, Ark Investment Management, Apple, Wall Street, New York Times, Times, CNN, CNBC, Bravo, ” Locations: New York, Silicon Valley, Silicon

☆ A three-headed economic monster lurches into the presidential campaign
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-03 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —With barely a month to go before the US presidential election, a trifecta of economic shocks is threatening to sap Vice President Kamala Harris’ momentum on voters’ No. 1 issue: a port strike, a hurricane and an escalation of fighting in the Middle East. Price pain could crop up elsewhere if the East Coast port strike, which began Tuesday, drags on longer than a week. “If the Boeing strike and the port strike … last through the second week of October, job growth for October could be negative,” researchers at Oxford Economics wrote Wednesday. A negative jobs report hasn’t been seen in this country since December 2020, the last full month of the Trump administration.

Persons: CNN Business ’, Kamala Harris, Donald Trump hasn’t, “, ”, Harris, Emily Elconin, Harris ’, Price, Biden, Hurricane Helene, Moody’s, Helene, hasn’t, Trump, — Organizations: CNN Business, New York CNN, Republican, Democratic, Bloomberg, Getty, Boeing, Biden, Oxford Economics Locations: New York, Georgia, East, Maine, Texas, Carolinas, Florida, Tennessee

☆ Massive East Coast port strike: five things to know
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-03 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New York CNN —A massive port strike along the East and Gulf Coasts that kicked off on Tuesday has the potential to become one of America’s most disruptive work stoppages in recent times. Here’s the latest information you need to know about the port strike. People are panic-buying toilet paper, reports on social media show, displaying empty store shelves where toilet paper and sometimes paper towels used to be. Unlike toilet paper, bananas go bad, so shippers weren’t able to ship large volumes in advance of strikes. On Wednesday, Biden starkly warned against the “man-made disaster” caused by the ongoing port strike and urged the two sides to come to an agreement to avoid significant economic impacts.

Persons: ”, Harold Daggett, Dockworkers, USMX, Biden, Joe Biden, Taft, Hartley, “, ” Biden, Kamala Harris, didn’t, Donald Trump’s, Trump, Kamala Harris ’, Joint Base Andrews, “ We’re, Betsy Klein, Allison Morrow, Chris Isidore, Vanessa Yurkevich, Kayla Tausche, Arlette Saenz Organizations: New, New York CNN, Gulf Coasts, International Longshoremen’s Association, United States Maritime Alliance, CNN, ILA, Anderson Economic, American Farm Bureau Federation, Democratic, ”, NLRB, American, Wednesday, Joint Base Locations: New York, East, USMX, Maine, Texas, Canada, Mexico, Taft, America

☆ Dockworkers are waging a battle against automation. The rest of us may want to take notes
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-02 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Here’s the deal: The East Coast port strike is getting a lot of attention for its potential disruption to the economy — which is precisely the point. No dockworkers means no bananas (or whatever), which means no profits for the companies that produce and ship them. While research shows automation has obvious benefits, like lower operating costs and fewer human-related errors, port automation does not, on its own, significantly improve performance, according to a 2018 McKinsey report. But automation anxiety is rapidly spilling over into office work, where managers are adopting AI in the hopes of replacing human work or amplifying production. As Washington Post columnist Heather Long wrote Tuesday, the strike is “an early battle of well-paid workers against advanced automation.

Persons: CNN Business ’, It’s, ”, Dennis Daggett, Mark Felix, Sameera Fazili, Biden, it’s, …, ” Fazili, Heather Long Organizations: CNN Business, New York CNN, Hollywood, McKinsey, International Longshoremen’s Association, Economic, Getty, National Economic Council, Washington Locations: New York, East Coast, China, Singapore, Europe, Port of New York, New Jersey, Long Beach, Los Angeles, AFP

☆ Silicon Valley has a plan to save humanity: Just flip on the nuclear reactors
▼ + stars: | 2024-10-01 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

No, the tech that’s going to save humanity will be powered by the tech that very nearly destroyed it. The tech industry’s solution, for now, is nuclear energy, which is more stable than wind or solar and is virtually carbon-emission-free. Amazon is working on putting a data center campus right on the site of a Talen Energy nuclear power plant in Northeast Pennsylvania. And while AI doomer predictions often get brushed off as alarmist forecasts, you can’t as readily dismiss the folks who are concerned about nuclear energy. Bottom line: There’s no AI future without a serious uptick in our power supply, which makes the expansion of nuclear power practically unavoidable.

Persons: CNN Business ’, Sam Altman, Peter Thiel, Anna Erickson, ” Organizations: CNN Business, New York CNN, Nvidia, International Energy Agency, JPMorgan, Microsoft, Energy, Financial Times, Founders Fund, Georgia Tech, Big Locations: New York, Harrisburg , Pennsylvania, Northeast Pennsylvania, Idaho, Big Tech

☆ Moo Deng now has her own crypto, because of course she does
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-27 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

Moo Deng crypto. Given the sudden popularity of Moo Deng, the Thai national treasure whose name roughly translates as “bouncy pork,” it was only a matter of time before someone turned her into a digital asset. And given the nature of such memecoins, which have zero underlying value and trade purely on vibes, it’s no surprise Moo Deng Coin has shot up 1,400% since it was created less than three weeks ago. (It should be noted that crypto traders suspect this anonymous Moo Deng booster is an “insider,” since they bought the coin four hours after its creation, per the crypto news site Decrypt. Moo Deng coin is just the latest product of a niche online culture that also birthed Dogecoin (created as a joke to dunk on bitcoin) and Shiba Inu coin (a joke to dunk on Dogecoin).

Persons: Moo Deng, it’s, Deng, Shiba Inu Organizations: New, New York CNN Locations: New York, Thai

☆ We may have finally pulled ourselves out of our economic funk
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-26 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

After two years of the double pain of inflation and high interest rates, those things are normalizing. Sure, jobs were plentiful and the economy was growing, but the combination of high prices and high interest rates felt demoralizing. It’s hard to overstate how much interest rates can change the economic mood, Brendan Duke, a senior director for economic policy at the Center for American Progress, told me. And while both Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump have proposed ways to increase the housing supply, the process will take years. “There are economic trends like falling interest rates, and there are policies like making an investment in housing supply that can move the needle,” Duke says.

Persons: CNN Business ’, New York CNN —, Matt Phillips, Dow, That’d, Brendan Duke, ‘ it’s, ’ ”, that’s, Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, It’s, ” Duke, they’re Organizations: CNN Business, New York CNN, Dow, Wall, Center for American Progress, National Association of Realtors Locations: New York, Canada, Australia, New Zealand

☆ Another unforced error by Boeing is souring the new boss’ good vibes
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-25 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Less than two months into his tenure as CEO, Ortberg has largely understood the assignment. See here: We’re nearly two weeks into a strike by Boeing’s largest labor union. Initially, Ortberg seemed to have buy-in from labor leaders, who publicly acknowledged that the new boss was walking into a conflict that predated him by 16 years. All of that gave the new boss, who spent his first day at work touring a factory floor, a kind of pro-labor halo. “This tactic is a blatant show of disrespect” to union members and the bargaining process, the International Association of Machinists wrote Monday.

Persons: CNN Business ’, Kelly Ortberg, Ortberg, ’, ”, International Association of Machinists, “, “ We’ve, Wheaton, ” Wheaton, ’ …, ” It’s, it’s, ” Ortberg, It’s, Richard Aboulafia, ” Aboulafia, what’s, …, CNN’s Chris Isidore Organizations: CNN Business, New York CNN, Boeing, machinists, International Association of, Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations Locations: New York, what’s

☆ Caroline Ellison, whose testimony helped convict Sam Bankman-Fried, faces her own sentencing
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-24 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —A year ago, Caroline Ellison was preparing to testify against her former boss and ex-boyfriend in one of the biggest fraud trials in US history. Ellison, who ran Alameda, pleaded guilty to seven federal counts of fraud and conspiracy shortly after FTX’s collapse. A jury last year convicted former crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried on multiple counts of federal fraud and conspiracy. Over three days on the stand, Ellison, who is 29, repeatedly reinforced that throughout her years at Alameda, the buck stopped with Bankman-Fried. While sentencing is entirely up to Judge Kaplan’s discretion, legal experts say it’s highly unlikely Ellison will end up in prison.

Persons: CNN Business ’, Caroline Ellison, she’ll, FTX, Ellison, Sam Bankman, Lewis Kaplan, Ellison’s candor, Angela Weiss, “ Sam, ”, Dennis Kelleher, “, Kaplan’s, Jordan Estes, Kramer Levin, Josh Naftalis, Kaplan, Pallas, Ryan Salame, Nishad Singh, Gary Wang Organizations: CNN Business, New York CNN, Alameda Research, Getty, Better, of, New, Bankman Locations: New York, Alameda, Bankman, of New York

☆ What happened to 23andMe?
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-20 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Takes the company public. 23andMe went public in 2021, jumping on the SPAC trend of the era, when a bunch of companies went public via “special purpose acquisition companies” — essentially shell-company mergers that let firms go public in a hurry when investor appetite is strong. 23andMe co-founder and CEO Anne Wojcicki, pictured in 2020. Side note: I did my own 23andMe test, in 2019, motivated by a millennial compulsion to spend money on any product that promises to alleviate and/or deepen my corporeal angst. 23andMe has tried to convert one-time buyers into subscribers with the promise of continued feedback and personalized wellness plans.

Persons: CNN Business ’, it’d, Anne Wojcicki, ”, It’s, Susan Wojcicki, 23andMe, Emma McIntyre, Oprah’s, there’s …, Wojcicki, “ Organizations: CNN Business, New York CNN, Yale, Google, Wall Street, Wall Street Journal Locations: New York, Bay

☆ The Fed’s rate cut had nothing to do with politics. That’s not holding politicians back
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-19 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

But in his own way (very demure, very mindful) that is what happened Wednesday when he announced the Fed’s first rate cut in four years, a giant half-point reduction that will lower the cost of borrowing and offer financial relief for consumers and businesses. Whenever a reporter asks him about politics, Powell refuses to bite. Like on Wednesday, when he was asked whether the half-point rate cut had political motivations, he responded with something approaching exasperation. It’s just maximum employment and price stability on behalf of all Americans.”Of course, that’s unlikely to stop either party from using the rate cut news to their advantage, given that the economy is the No. Trump can continue to claim that a rate cut is a sign the economy is weak.

Persons: CNN Business ’, Jerome Powell, That’s, ” Powell, “ We’re, Republican Sen, Tommy Tuberville, “, Kamala Harris, ”, it’s, It’s, Jason Furman, Donald Trump, they’re, Pubkey, ” Trump, Powell, He’s, Joe Biden, Powell isn’t, Barack Obama, don’t, Harris, Biden, Steve Sosnick Organizations: CNN Business, New York CNN, Republican, CNN, Trump, Fed’s, Governors, Interactive Brokers, Fed Locations: New York, America, Alabama, New York City, Trump

☆ The Fed’s rate cuts could have unintended consequences for the housing market
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-18 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The market had become all but impenetrable after mortgage rates went from historic lows in 2020 to their highest levels in a generation last year. “And I think if we even go down to 5.9%, that would be really psychologically impactful to the housing market. The current 6.2% mortgage rate average is, of course, preferable to last year’s peak of 7.8% — a difference that could translate to hundreds of dollars in monthly payments. As my colleague Samantha Delouya wrote this week, a drop in mortgage rates could be a double-edged sword. “A further drop in mortgage rates could bring a surge of demand that makes it tougher to actually buy a house.”

Persons: ” Daniel Alpert, Alpert, “, ” Daryl Fairweather, Samantha Delouya, ”, Greg McBride Organizations: New, New York CNN, Federal Reserve, Westwood Capital, Fed, Bankrate Locations: New York

☆ What this Boeing strike is really all about
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-14 | by ( Allison Morrow | Chris Isidore | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

New York CNN —At the heart of the Boeing strike that began Friday is a story about what happens when penny-pinching executives lose the plot and it falls to workers to get everyone back on track. If Boeing were any other business — and not a too-big-fail half of a global duopoly — it almost certainly would have declared bankruptcy. Years of pent-up resentment over Boeing’s mismanagement, combined with pandemic-era inflation and a resurgent labor movement, made this strike inevitable. Ahead of the strike, Ortberg urged workers not to strike while acknowledging their anger over nearly two decades of past contracts that downsized their retirement and health care benefits. Almost exactly one year ago, the United Auto Workers union won historic guarantees from the Big Three automakers after a seven-week strike.

Persons: —, ”, Richard Aboulafia, James McNerney, Aboulafia, Kelly Ortberg, missteps, Ortberg, Jon Holden, “, — who’ve, Dave Calhoun’s, Holden, haven’t, ” Holden, Sharon Block Organizations: New, New York CNN, Boeing, SpaceX, International Association of Machinists, United Auto Workers, Big, UAW, hardball, Harvard Law School’s Center for Labor Locations: New York, January’s, Renton , Washington, Seattle, Virginia, South Carolina, Washington, United States

☆ Sam Altman’s lesser-known crypto project wants to scan the world’s eyeballs
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-13 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

And when that happens, he’s got another project, Worldcoin, in the works to help fix it. To do that, it’s using its proprietary, basketball-ball sized “orbs” that scan people’s eyeballs and create a unique, immutable code based on the pattern of their irises. So I sat down (virtually) with Worldcoin’s co-founder and CEO, 30-year-old Alex Blania, to discuss the project’s origins and future. CNN: A lot of Worldcoin’s focus is future-focused — targeting problems that are hard for us to imagine today. Blania: I think there’s two pieces to that.

Persons: CNN Business ’, Sam Altman, it’ll, he’s, ChatGPT, Altman, ”, AGI, it’s, VCs, Andreesen Horowitz, Alex Blania, Joseph Nair, It’s, you’ve, Worldcoin, We’ve, there’s, There’s, You’ve Organizations: CNN Business, New York CNN, Netflix, Worldcoin’s, CNN, Bloomberg, Getty, SpaceX, Apple Locations: New York, Singapore, Asia, Japan, Spain, Hong Kong, Malaysia, United States

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried files appeal nearly a year after FTX fraud conviction
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-13 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Lawyers for Sam Bankman-Fried, the convicted former CEO of crypto exchange FTX, filed an appeal Friday, claiming he was denied a fair trial last fall and seeking new proceedings under a different judge. Bankman-Fried, 32, was sentenced to 25 years in prison after a jury convicted him on multiple federal counts of fraud and conspiracy in November. Two years after FTX collapsed in the midst of a cash crunch, Bankman-Fried is arguing that he didn’t get a fair shake in his trial. The court, they say, prohibited Bankman-Fried from introducing evidence of solvency for FTX and its sister firm, Alameda. Ellison pleaded guilty in cooperation with the government and became a star witness against Bankman-Fried during his trial.

Persons: Sam Bankman, FTX, Fried, Lewis Kaplan, ”, Caroline Ellison, Ellison Organizations: New, New York CNN, ”, Bankman Locations: New York, Bankman, Alameda

☆ Trump is drowning in the misinformation swamp he helped create
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-12 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

New York CNN —The Republican nominee for president went on live TV and presented an unhinged, debunked Facebook rumor as fact. Scrolling on Facebook or X, it’s hard not to see some of that chaos creeping into the mainstream. Just a few weeks ago, the former president posted an AI-generated image on his Truth Social platform that suggested Taylor Swift had endorsed him. Of course, it was a fake image — the same kind of obvious AI slop that has overrun Facebook and X. Either Trump didn’t know the image was fake, or he didn’t mind lying to his followers and perpetuating the fake endorsement.

Persons: CNN Business ’, Donald Trump, ”, “, Jake Tapper, It’s, Clare Duffy, Elon Musk, ” Musk, there’s, Alex Brandon, Barack Obama, Taylor Swift, Trump, he’s, Kamala Harris, Swift, JD Vance, who’s, “ Fine Taylor Organizations: CNN Business, New York CNN, Republican, 4chan, Meta, Trump, AP, Facebook Locations: New York, Ohio

☆ What is ‘founder mode?’ The meaning behind the latest Silicon Valley buzzword
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-11 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —The battle over “founder mode” versus “manager mode” is one of those manufactured dramas that only a small segment of the world cares about — like going to Davos or Cannes or the Vanity Fair Oscar Party. The idea is that a founder knows their company the way a parent knows their child. Graham doesn’t really define founder mode because every founder and every firm is different. I’ll offer another: Ray Dalio, the founder of Bridgewater, one of the world’s biggest hedge funds. The most successful “founder mode” guys (they’re almost all male, as far as I can tell) seemed to always have a trusted manager by their side.

Persons: CNN Business ’, Paul Graham, Graham, ” Graham, Brian Chesky, Chesky, Steve Jobs, It’s, Graham doesn’t, Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, Ray Dalio, narc, Rob Copeland, ”, Rich Hagberg, Ashley Herd, Jessica Lessin, “, Tim Cook Organizations: CNN Business, New York CNN, Bridgewater, New York Times, LinkedIn Locations: New York, Davos, Cannes, Silicon Valley

☆ The two words Apple never mentioned at its iPhone 16 event
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-10 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —Apple is wedging AI into its phones like a new U2 album no one asked for. However, given the “Apple Intelligence” highlights the company previewed in June and officially rolled out Monday, investors and customers alike may want to temper their expectations. Even Apple seemed to hedge a bit: It never mentioned the words “artificial intelligence.”The new tools look … fine. Munster expects iPhone sales will exceed Wall Street’s estimates in the coming quarters. The always image-conscious Apple knows better than to fall into the “AI” trap, even if its whole pitch for the new iPhone is AI.

Persons: CNN Business ’, you’ll, Siri, You’ll, ”, Gene Munster, Justin Sullivan, Tim Cook, ChatGPT, Apple Organizations: CNN Business, New York CNN, Apple, Deepwater Asset Management, Munster, Apple Intelligence, Wall, of Hospitality Marketing, Management Locations: New York, Valley, Silicon Valley

People walk past an Apple store in the Americana at Brand shopping center on December 26, 2023 in Glendale, California. Apple Intelligence — the collective brandname for all of Apple’s own AI tools — is intended to be more of a personal assistant than anything else. What about your data: Since Apple Intelligence and ChatGPT will be used for largely different purposes, the amount and type of information users send to each AI may be different, too. While Apple users will have to send their personal information and AI queries to OpenAI if they want to use ChatGPT, Apple has said that most of the time Apple Intelligence won’t be sending user data anywhere. As much as possible, Apple will try to process AI prompts directly on your device using smaller AI models.

Persons: Mario Tama, you’ve, ChatGPT, Siri, Apple Organizations: Apple, Brand, Apple Intelligence Locations: Glendale , California

☆ Companies are caving to anti-DEI crusaders. That’s bad for business
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-06 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

(And in doing so, gave rise to a generation of hilarious “That’s why, for this pride month, I’ve partnered with” memes. But more damaging than the cringe of a tone-deaf tweet about diversity is when companies give up on the performance altogether. This week, Molson Coors, a longtime sponsor of Pride events and partner to LGBTQ+ nonprofits, joined the list. A Molson Coors representative declined to comment beyond the memo. Coors Light may have looked at its rival getting pummeled by right-wing pundits and feared being the next target.

Persons: CNN Business ’, Kendell Jenner, I’ve, John Deere, Davidson, Molson Coors, Coors, Robby Starbuck, ”, Nathaniel Meyesohn, Starbuck, George Floyd, Bud Light, Cait Lamberton, “, you’ve, pummeled, they’re, Tom Sebok, Molson, Sebok Organizations: CNN Business, New York CNN, Pepsi, Harley, Tractor Supply, Molson Coors, Molson, Human Rights, Coors, DEI, University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, The New England Consulting Locations: New York, America, United States

☆ Nvidia has more than just billions of dollars in value to lose if its stock keeps falling
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-05 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —Nvidia, the nearly $3 trillion AI chip maker, is well known as a “golden handcuffs” employer. It’s worked especially well for Nvidia, a 30-year-old tech company whose specialized chips now account for 90% of AI-related chip sales. Since 2019, Nvidia’s stock has soared 3,000% — minting millionaires among its rank and file. Things got worse for Nvidia on Tuesday, when shares fell 9.5%, wiping $279 billion off its value. As my colleague David Goldman noted, only 27 companies on Earth are worth as much as Nvidia lost on Tuesday.

Persons: CNN Business ’, It’s, Jensen Huang, Per, David Goldman Organizations: CNN Business, New York CNN, Nvidia, Bloomberg, Santa, Per Bloomberg, Wall, Google, Competition Locations: New York, ”

☆ This week could shift the focus of a key narrative for Harris and Trump
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-04 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Those two events are the kind of thing that, in normal times, are tracked mostly by economists and Wall Street types. For former President Donald Trump and the Republicans, the narrative is simple: Anything bad you’re feeling about inflation or the job market? Harris entered the race trailing Trump on a range of issues, including the economy. If that were the whole story, Trump might have a harder time disparaging Harris’ and President Joe Biden’s economic record. If the data doesn’t behave, however, then jobs — not inflation — may become the key economic narrative that Harris and Trump will start talking about in their stump speeches.

Persons: CNN Business ’, New York CNN —, we’re, pollsters, Donald Trump, Kamala Harris, Harris, Price, Trump, Harris ’, Joe Biden’s, it’s, ”, Aaron Sojourner, Heidi Shierholz, Biden, — Organizations: CNN Business, New York CNN, Federal Reserve, Republicans, Biden, Democratic, Trump, July’s, Fed, WE Upjohn, Employment Research, Economic Policy Institute, ”, of Labor Statistics Locations: New York, Washington

☆ The change that Realtors’ powerful trade group resisted for decades is finally happening
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-14 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Much of that is by design, reinforced by the National Association of Realtors, a mega trade group with monopoly-like control over US real estate. Sellers, who historically have paid both the listing agent and the buyer’s Realtor, will be on the hook for their agent’s fee. While NAR has long stated that the 5% to 6% fee was always negotiable, in practice, that’s just not happening. One recent national study found that “buyer agents do in fact steer clients away from properties that offer low buyer agent commissions,” and that those properties take longer to sell, if they sell at all. The changes to the commission model upend decades of legal and political wrangling to maintain Realtors power in American real estate.

Persons: Sellers, ”, Stephen Brobeck, that’s, That’s, ” Brobeck, Kenny Parcell, Parcell, “ They’ve, they’ve, Brobeck, “ Organizations: New, New York CNN, National Association of Realtors, Consumer Federation of America, NAR, Realtors, MLS, of Justice, CNN, New York Times Locations: New York, Washington

☆ The era of freeloading is officially over
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-12 | by ( Allison Morrow | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

But thanks to the fine-tuning of the tech that Corporate America uses to police subscriptions, those freeloading days are over. Costco and Disney this month took a page from the Netflix playbook and announced they are cracking down on account sharers. Disney’s streaming business — Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ — only became profitable in the second quarter this year. Like Netflix, Costco is betting that you’re already emotionally invested in the routine and the satisfaction of getting a closet’s worth of toilet paper that can last the whole year. Last year, the store reported $4.6 billion in revenue from membership fees, and that accounts for the majority of its profit.

Persons: CNN Business ’, they’d, It’s Organizations: CNN Business, New York CNN, Thought Police, Costco, Netflix, America, Disney, Wall Street, Amazon, Apple, HBO, YouTube, Hulu, ESPN, Costco there’s Locations: New York

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