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☆ Thyssenkrupp gives investors wrong kind of breakup
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, April 24 (Reuters Breakingviews) - An abrupt CEO departure adds yet more problems for Thyssenkrupp’s (TKAG.DE) long-suffering investors. Merz was drafted in after her predecessor Guido Kerkhoff himself left after just 14 months, amid an aborted steel spinoff. Progress on a listing of Thyssenkrupp’s hydrogen business or a steel spinoff has been slow, despite a plan to hive off weaker units. Thyssenkrupp says it will continue its transformation, and appointed a former Siemens (SIEGn.DE) executive, Miguel Ángel López Borrego, to replace Merz. Yet investors still smarting from a minus 37% total return under its last bold CEO now seem to be expecting more of the same.

☆ Philips’ convalescence has way longer to run
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes and amortisation of 359 million euros beat analysts’ average estimate of 226 million euros, per Visible Alpha data. The recall of faulty breathing devices and ventilators means Philips needs to set aside another 575 million euros for lawsuits on top of over 1 billion euros last year, but that’s less than Bernstein analysts’ expectation of 2.4 billion euros. Still, probes by the U.S. Department of Justice and further claims from injured patients mean Philips may need to cough up more money. Jakobs still faces some fundamental questions: Philips’ 7% EBITA margin last year was way off rival Siemens Healthineers’ (SHLG.DE) 18%. That explains why the latter trades on 28 times its 2023 earnings, versus Philips’ 19 times.

☆ Bob Iger’s stalling may be stifling
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The $180 billion company run by Bob Iger is kicking off its second round of layoffs, according to Reuters, part of an effort to cut $5.5 billion in costs. That’s a solid effort to keep activist Nelson Peltz, who had griped about Disney’s margins, at bay for now. The tricky part is ensuring assets don’t lose even more value before Iger heads out the door. Iger said he would leave the company and is meant to be setting up a successor. The balance act is ensuring Iger doesn’t degrade value, leaving a mess for his successor, whenever that person comes along.

☆ ‘South Park’ showdown animates streaming dilemma
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, April 21 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Paramount Global (PARA.O) and Warner Bros Discovery (WBD.O) bosses are fighting over “South Park” like the foul-mouthed cartoon fourth graders featured in the hit adult-oriented series. Paramount has countersued its rival to stream the program whose library Warner Bros Discovery bought for $500 million, along with the rights to new episodes, for its newly rebranded Max service. Not long ago, producers were keeping movies and shows to beef up their own streaming audiences. Paramount boss Bob Bakish and Warner Bros Discovery CEO David Zaslav both champion the idea of letting others carry the content for which their companies are paying so dearly to develop. These sorts of complicated dealings will only get tougher as the streaming wars get more cutthroat.

☆ P&G earns household-staple status
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The $356 billion company said on Friday that sales grew 4% year-over-year to $20 billion in the three months ended March 31. That growth was led by a 10% price hike for the second consecutive quarter, while also growing market share in the United States. P&G warned of higher commodities and packaging costs, as well as wage inflation. P&G is proving that the cushy Charmin double roll is irreplaceable. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ DeSantis' policies are controversial even among his supporters. They might come back to bite him, even in a primary
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Madison Hall | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

DeSantis supporters revealed they were less inclined to vote for him after learning about his policies. Diving into the poll's results, 40% of all respondents — over 620 respondents — said they "definitely" or "might" vote for DeSantis. The pollster then asked respondents about eight of the policies that DeSantis has championed as governor, but didn't note the relation to DeSantis. Looking at the poll's crosstabs, however, and it appears that DeSantis supporters were less likely to vote for him after learning about his policies. DeSantis' signature achievements are unpopular amongst the massesDeSantis, along with the Florida legislature, hasn't shied away from unpopular policies in the past.

☆ Basketball’s Best Passer Understands the Art of Letting Go
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Robert O'Connell | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Early in Wednesday night’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Nikola Jokic caught a pass from his teammate, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Or, rather, Jokic touched the ball for a moment, hardly letting it come to rest before flipping it back again. A Minnesota defender had turned his head as Caldwell-Pope snuck to the rim; Jokic’s return-to-sender package met him there, and Caldwell-Pope laid it in. Alongside a retooled supporting cast, Jokic has averaged a career-high 9.9 assists per game. His distribution animates basketball’s second-best offense, an attack that has the Nuggets at the top of the Western Conference.

☆ Did we get Egyptian mummification totally wrong? It might have nothing to do with preserving the body after death, experts say.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Egyptians may not have used mummification to preserve the body at all, some scientists say. Their aim may have been to turn royal remains into godly statues — preservation was a perk, they say. Instead, the experts say, Egyptians intended to turn their pharaohs into statues, works of art with religious significance. The approach is explored in the upcoming "Golden Mummies of Egypt" exhibition, which opens at the Manchester Museum in February. Manchester Museum/ Julia ThorneStatues were seen by ancient Egyptians as godly.

☆ Kyrsten Sinema's bombshell split from the Democratic Party could be more about sidestepping a tough 2024 primary than a principled stand against partisanship
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Bryan Metzger | Nicole Gaudiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

But the decision means she'll avoid what likely would've been a bruising Democratic primary campaign. That means her decision may be as much about side-stepping what was expected to be a tough Senate primary campaign in 2024 as it is a principled stand against partisan politics. In a statement on Friday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer made clear that the party's functional 51-49 majority next year would remain. Unfortunately, Senator Sinema is once again putting her own interests ahead of getting things done for Arizonans." As Senate majority leader, Schumer has control of who serves on committees in the chamber.

[1/2] People take part in a protest against the electoral reform proposed by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and in support of the National Electoral Institute (INE) in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, November 13, 2022. Without opposition support, Lopez Obrador cannot pass his planned electoral overhaul, a constitutional reform which requires a two-thirds majority in Congress. Critics view that as a presidential power grab, something Lopez Obrador denies. If the bill founders, Lopez Obrador has mooted lesser changes that only require a simple majority. Lopez Obrador may have a last chance to reshape the INE when four of its 11 commissioners step down next April.

☆ The Visions of Octavia Butler
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Lynell George | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +27 min

As a science fiction writer, Butler forged a new path and envisioned bold possibilities. Mural with a portrait of Octavia Butler and her name, composed of dots of various densities in 3-D space. In 1995, she became the first science fiction writer to be awarded a MacArthur “genius” grant. “‘Kindred’ was a story of ordinary people trapped in fantastic circumstances,” Butler wrote in a 1988 notebook. Her point of view was one not traditionally found in science fiction and, simply by writing, she demanded a larger world.

☆ Mike Pence said there's no room for Putin 'apologists' in the Republican Party as he criticized Russia's 'unconscionable war' in Ukraine: AP
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Mike Pence spoke out against Putin "apologists" and the growing populism in the GOP on Wednesday. Several Republicans have either supported Putin or dismissed the war he's waged against Ukraine. Pence also criticized the group of Republicans who have defended Russia's war in Ukraine or dismissed it by arguing the US should stay out of foreign affairs. "As Russia continues its unconscionable war of aggression to Ukraine, I believe that conservatives must make it clear that Putin must stop and Putin will pay," he added. "There can be no room in the conservative movement for apologists to Putin.

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