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☆ Washington is at an impasse on the debt ceiling. Here’s what that might mean for your portfolio
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Darla Mercado | Cfp | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Income-focused investors seeking yield and safety in Treasury bills are likely nervous as debt ceiling rhetoric heats up in Washington, but they should take a breather before they dump these assets. In the short-term Treasury market, investors are already showing some signs of anxiety. In that case, holders of short-term T-bills could see declines in their portfolio values as yields spike, he added. Review your holdings Now could be a good time to review your bond holdings, particularly the short-term T-bills that are seeing a big jump in yields. But the longer-term advice is to snap up longer-dated bonds to prepare for the day the Federal Reserve starts to dial back its tight monetary policy.

Persons: Joe Biden, Biden, Kevin McCarthy, Hakeem Jeffries, Janet Yellen, Yellen, Kathy Jones, Gustavo Schwenkler, Jones, Thomas McLoughlin, McLoughlin, Christine Benz, Jamie Hopkins, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Treasury, Schwab Center, Financial Research, Santa Clara University Leavey School of Business, Federal Reserve, UBS, Morningstar, Carson Group Locations: Washington, D, U.S

☆ These are the top Senate races to watch in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

They have reason to be hopeful: Democrats face a daunting 2024 Senate map that puts them on defense in 23 of the cycle's 34 races, including multiple seats considered ripe for GOP challenges. The grim outlook has some Senate Democrats considering retirement, even after the caucus expanded to a 51-49 majority following a better-than-expected showing in the midterms. Jim Justice, reportedly the state's richest man and one of its favored contenders for the Senate race. But the 2024 Senate race in Ohio is currently considered a toss-up, as Republicans have made significant gains in the state in the last two election cycles. Sabato's Crystal Ball and the Cook Political Report both say the Michigan Senate race leans Democratic.

☆ Dr. Fauci Looks Back: ‘Something Clearly Went Wrong’
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( David Wallace-Wells | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +55 min

Dr. Fauci Looks Back: ‘Something Clearly Went Wrong’ In his most extensive interview yet, Anthony Fauci wrestles with the hard lessons of the pandemic — and the decisions that will define his legacy. But when people say, “Fauci shut down the economy” — it wasn’t Fauci. But somehow or other, the general public didn’t get that feeling that the vulnerable are really, really heavily weighted toward the elderly. We also had a public-health system that we thought was really, really good. But it was really, really antiquated.

☆ Appeals court partially blocks ruling that imperils access to key abortion pill
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Lawrence Hurley | Laura Jarrett | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

A federal appeals court late on Wednesday blocked part of a ruling issued last week by a Trump-appointed judge that endangers access to the abortion pill mifepristone. The Justice Department can still ask the Supreme Court to intervene in an attempt to completely block Kacsmaryk's ruling. The Justice Department has filed a motion in the federal district court in Washington state, asking for clarification on Friday's ruling. Kacsmaryk's ruling, if allowed to stand, would not mean that access to mifepristone would immediately be cut off nationwide. The agency has broad power to do so, with the Supreme Court in a 1985 ruling saying that such decisions generally cannot be challenged in court.

CNN —Dueling decisions in two federal district courts last week are likely to set up a showdown at the Supreme Court over the fate of the abortion pill mifepristone. When the Supreme Court upheld the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act in 2007, dubious scientific arguments became even more central to anti-abortion advocacy. In Gonzales v. Carhart, the court held that in circumstances of scientific uncertainty, legislators would have more latitude to regulate abortion. Implausible scientific claims are now visible on social media, in lawsuits and in congressional hearings. (By taking this position, abortion opponents can still defend bans with no or few exceptions by claiming that abortion is never necessary.)

☆ Donald Trump Indictment Sets Historical Marker
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( Jacob Gershman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A Manhattan grand jury’s indictment of former President Donald Trump represents an extraordinary moment for America: the first time a former U.S. president has ever been charged with criminal wrongdoing. Other presidents have been impeached or left office in disgrace under the shadow of scandal or criminal suspicion. But none of the other men who previously occupied the nation’s highest office ever found themselves in the legal jeopardy that now imperils Mr. Trump.

☆ Salesforce sufficiently acquiesces to angry mob
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Robert Cyran | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The software developer revealed financial progress in its quarterly results, indicated it would throttle pricey deals and installed new board members, including a representative from ValueAct Capital. Co-Founder and Chief Executive Marc Benioff said on Wednesday that improving profitability is the company’s top priority. As evidence of the commitment, Salesforce said in January that it would lay off 10% of its workers. They are Mason Morfit, chief executive of ValueAct Capital; Sachin Mehra, Mastercard’s finance chief; and Arnold Donald, the former CEO of Carnival. Assertive investors Starboard Value, ValueAct Capital, and Inclusive Capital, have held talks with Salesforce, according to Reuters.

☆ Studies show how asteroid-bashing spacecraft was 'phenomenally successful'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/4] This image depicts NASA's DART spacecraft and its two long solar panels over the spot where it impacted asteroid Dimorphos in September 2022. "The DART test was phenomenally successful. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft collided on Sept. 26 at about 14,000 miles per hour (22,530 kph) into Dimorphos, an asteroid about 490 feet (150 meters) in diameter, roughly 6.8 million miles (11 million km) from Earth. Finally, the spacecraft bus - the box between the solar panels - hit between these two boulders," Daly said. The research also clarified details such as the precise location of the impact and the angle of impact.

That money was to be given in $2 billion annual installments of Foreign Military Financing, or FMF, grants over five years. Republicans accused Biden's administration of failing to advocate strongly enough for the Taiwan grants, given that his fellow Democrats controlled both the Senate and House last year. "Securing FMF funding is always a challenge given the tight budget constraints, even for priority partners like Taiwan," said Eric Lee of the Project 2049 Institute think tank. "I would prefer to see a revival of FMF grants, but with clear strings attached," said Michael Hunzeker, a Taiwan military expert at George Mason University. Grants to buy specific weapons could be made on condition of Taiwan showing further moves toward asymmetric defense, he said.

☆ Putin: Russia suspends participation in last remaining nuclear treaty with U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

MOSCOW, Feb 21 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia was suspending its participation in the New START treaty with the United States that limits the two sides' strategic nuclear arsenals. Putin said Russia's nuclear energy company Rosatom must also ensure the country's readiness to test a nuclear weapon, if needed. It caps the number of strategic nuclear warheads that the United States and Russia can deploy, and the deployment of land- and submarine-based missiles and bombers to deliver them. He said NATO demands that Russia should allow inspections of its nuclear bases under the New START treaty were therefore absurd. Putin said NATO members France and Britain also had nuclear weapons aimed at Russia that should be taken into account.

☆ The Supreme Court lets police officers avoid being sued after they arrested an Ohio man for making fun of cops on Facebook
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Grace Eliza Goodwin | Ashley Collman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The Supreme Court declined to take up his case, effectively allowing the police officers to avoid the lawsuit. Novak appealed that decision to the Supreme Court, even getting the satirical news site The Onion to write an amicus brief. The Supreme Court regularly takes on less than 1% of the case petitions it receives every year, according to News 5 Cleveland. In recent years there has been an effort in the US to end qualified immunity protections for police officers. The George Floyd Justice in Police Act was passed by the House in 2020 and included a section restricting qualified immunity for police officers.

☆ Netanyahu fires key cabinet ally amid nationwide protests over judicial reform
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired a key Cabinet ally on Sunday, heeding a Supreme Court ruling commanding him to do so and deepening a rift over the power of the courts. Netanyahu announced he was firing Aryeh Deri, who serves as Interior and Health Minister, at a meeting of his Cabinet. Israel’s Supreme Court decided last week Deri could not serve as a Cabinet minister because of a conviction last year over tax offenses. The court ruling came as Israel is mired in a dispute over the power of the judiciary. Netanyahu’s far-right government wants to weaken the Supreme Court, limit judicial oversight and grant more power to politicians.

☆ What happens if you break the law in space — and 3 times people or governments have tested the rules
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( Paola Rosa-Aquino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

In 1967, 112 nations signed the Outer Space Treaty that laid the foundation for international space law. In 1967, more than 100 nations signed the Outer Space Treaty — essentially, the Magna Carta of space law. It also bans one nation from claiming outer space and celestial bodies. Leaders of spacefaring nations signing the Outer Space Treaty in 1967. From destructive missile tests to missing a tax deadline to go on a last-minute mission, here's how space law has been tested thus far.

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