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☆ Missouri Lawmakers Pass Bill to Ban Transition Care for Minors
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Mitch Smith | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Background: Transition care was already in flux in MissouriThe vote on Wednesday was not the first attempt to limit transgender care in Missouri this year. Why It Matters: New limits are emerging across the countryThe Missouri bill comes amid a national blitz of Republican legislation targeting transition care for transgender youth. The rapidly changing legal landscape has placed transition care out of reach for many transgender children in the Midwest and South, infuriating L.G.B.T.Q. Several states bordering Missouri — Iowa, Kentucky, Tennessee and Oklahoma — have passed new limits on transition care for minors this year. An attempt to ban care for minors in Kansas failed when lawmakers did not muster enough votes to override the Democratic governor’s veto.

☆ 'Lilo & Stitch' live-action remake raises concerns about colorism
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Harmeet Kaur | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Disney’s animated hit “Lilo & Stitch” is getting the live-action treatment, but a reported casting decision has set off a new conversation about colorism in Hollywood. Why some feel Nani’s skin color is relevantThe new “Lilo & Stitch” is based on an animated film and Nani is a fictional, animated character. But unlike “The Little Mermaid,” which is rooted in mythology despite receiving racist backlash over Halle Bailey’s casting in the live-action remake, “Lilo & Stitch” draws from a very real culture and people. The live-action “Lilo & Stitch” is only the latest in a long line of projects that have faced accusations of colorism. Though Connor is disappointed, she hopes the “Lilo & Stitch” remake will otherwise stay true to the original, which she loved so much growing up.

☆ Sick Britain no longer needs Dr Bailey’s medicine
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Francesco Guerrera | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

However, such monetary tightening increasingly looks at odds with Britain’s dire economic conditions. Bank of England hawks can point to key indicators that are still running hot, such as inflation, economic output and wages. Yet those gauges are backward-looking and will cool down this year as a recession and past rate hikes hit consumers and firms. The effects of rate hikes take time to show up in the numbers. The rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee of the BoE split three ways in December when the central bank sanctioned a 50-basis-point increase.

☆ 'It's A Wonderful Life': See the classic Christmas film on the big screen this month
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Jeanne Bonner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Karolyn Grimes and James Stewart in "It's A Wonderful Life." Fathom has long wanted to revive showings of “It’s A Wonderful Life,” Carey said, noting that fans have been asking for it. No film is a failure if it has fansWhat’s long delighted film historians is the fact that when “It’s a Wonderful Life” debuted, it was largely deemed a wash. As film historian Jeanine Basinger writes in her compendium, “The It’s A Wonderful Life Book,” the original idea for the film languished for years before the studio RKO sold it to Capra in 1945 for a mere $10,000. William Edmunds and James Stewart in 1946's "It's A Wonderful Life."

☆ Bailey outburst blunts BoE crisis-fighting tools
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Neil Unmack | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

LONDON, Oct 12 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Andrew Bailey is in danger of blunting the Bank of England’s crisis tools. The UK central bank governor on Tuesday vowed to end emergency bond-buying that has been propping up pension funds, even as investors increasingly assumed the scheme might get extended. Indeed, 30-year bond yields have risen further on Wednesday. Lastly, if Bailey is indeed forced to U-turn by extending the programme, he will have damaged the bank’s credibility. The BoE announced a 65 billion pound government bond purchase scheme on Sept. 28 to help indebted pension funds facing margin calls avoid being forced to sell gilts.

☆ Breakingviews: Bailey outburst blunts BoE crisis-fighting tools
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( Neil Unmack | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

LONDON, Oct 12 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Andrew Bailey is in danger of blunting the Bank of England’s crisis tools. The UK central bank governor on Tuesday vowed to end emergency bond-buying that has been propping up pension funds, even as investors increasingly assumed the scheme might get extended. Indeed, 30-year bond yields have risen further on Wednesday. CONTEXT NEWSBank of England Governor Andrew Bailey reiterated in a speech on Oct. 11 that the bank planned to its cease its emergency government bond purchases on Oct. 14. The BoE announced a 65 billion pound government bond purchase scheme on Sept. 28 to help indebted pension funds facing margin calls avoid being forced to sell gilts.

☆ BoE drawn into risky game of financial whac-a-mole
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Neil Unmack | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

On Tuesday, the UK central bank said it would buy more bonds to avert a fire sale by pension funds. But its plan to end such support on Friday is hampered by a distressed bond market, and wayward government. Prime Minister Liz Truss’s unfunded plan to cut taxes had triggered a surge in government bond yields, which in turn forced indebted pension funds to sell assets. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThere are plenty of signs that the bond market remains distressed. Without a credible fiscal strategy, investors may continue to steer clear of UK gilts.

☆ BoE’s insurance policy raises question of next act
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Oct 10 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The Bank of England is taking out insurance against a market meltdown. On Monday, the central bank said it was ready to double the daily limit of its bond-buying programme from 5 billion pounds to 10 billion pounds. This will cost users just 15 basis points above the base rate, although they face haircuts of up to 42%. (By Aimee Donnellan)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterFollow @Breakingviews on Twitter(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Pension fund blowup faces brutal second act
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-06 | by ( Aimee Donnellan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The Bank of England announced a 65 billion pound gilt-buying scheme to stabilise markets and rescue pension funds. Bailey’s move may have been too late to stop some pension funds from having to close out their hedges, like interest rate swaps or futures. The rate at which retirement payments are discounted will also fall, pushing up the pension fund’s future liabilities, but without a corresponding asset gain. Meanwhile, investors like Goldman Sachs are hoovering up cut-price stakes in private equity vehicles, which LDI funds are selling. They also held 78 billion pounds and 317 billion pounds in property and equities respectively.

Yet the government’s unfunded mini-budget on Sept. 23 stoked fears of runaway inflation, causing gilt yields to soar. The mess left pension funds scrambling to raise margin, and they wound up doing so by selling their most liquid asset – gilts. And the more the pension funds sold, the more gilt prices fell, causing a vicious spiral and fears the funds could run out of cash. By the time Governor Andrew Bailey intervened, certain pension funds had been hit with margin calls as high as 100 million pounds. Ahead of the BoE’s announcement, strategists said the 2.1 trillion pound gilt market was seizing up, with very poor liquidity and pricing quality being a clear sign of market dysfunction.

☆ Breakingviews: BoE’s bond-buying U-turn is worth the risk
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-28 | by ( Neil Unmack | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The fallout makes it even harder for Governor Andrew Bailey to convince markets he can tighten monetary policy. His decision on Wednesday to buy UK government debt and delay plans to sell down its 857 billion pound ($915 billion) bond portfolio carries big risks. Bailey’s goal is to cut holdings by 80 billion pounds over the next year. UBS analysts reckon issuance of gilts, after factoring in sales and redemptions from QT, will reach 355 billion pounds in the year ending March 2024. If Bailey can now tighten monetary policy without freaking out investors, his U-turn will have been worth the risk.

☆ Walmart enters the metaverse with Roblox experiences
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-26 | by ( Ramishah Maruf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —Walmart (WMT) has entered the metaverse. The retail giant announced Monday it is launching two immersive online experiences with Roblox, a metaverse mega-platform extremely popular with young kids. Its virtual dressing room offers products such as afp4, Halsey’s makeup brand, and YouTubers Brooklyn and Bailey’s skincare line with Walmart. Roblox began trading last March, immediately valuing the company at $45 billion when it debuted on Wall Street. Despite the buzz around the metaverse, Roblox shares have dropped almost 64% year-to-date.

☆ Halle Bailey says seeing a Black version of Ariel would have ‘changed my whole outlook on life’
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Halle Bailey knows the worth of her role in the upcoming “The Little Mermaid” adaptation. The titular character in the original animated film was a white mermaid with red hair. Bailey is Black, a factor that proved exciting and invigorating for the young audience of Disney animated films. Recently, videos of parents filming their young Black daughters reacting to Bailey’s appearance as Ariel went viral. “I know what it would have meant to me as a little girl to have been able to see a black Ariel when I was younger.

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