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☆ A Biden Bait-and-Switch on Electric Vehicles
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., asks questions during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government hearing to examine proposed budget estimates and justification for the 2024 fiscal year at the Capitol in Washington on Wednesday, March 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades)We interrupt the latest Donald Trump melodrama for a word from Biden Administration regulators. While the world isn’t watching, and certainly the press corps isn’t, regulators on Friday announced they are essentially rewriting last year’s Inflation Reduction Act so more electric vehicles will qualify for subsidies. In return for his vote, West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin insisted on numerous conditions for the IRA’s $7,500 EV tax credit. He wanted to encourage more U.S. manufacturing and ensure subsidies don’t go to the affluent.

☆ One year after the first rate hike, the Fed stands at policy crossroads
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Jeff Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

"That being said, given the fact the Fed has tightened as aggressively as they have, the economy is still very good." But recent days have shown the Fed has another problem on its hands besides inflation. watch nowBecause prices fall when rates go up, the Fed hikes have cut into the market value of those fixed income holdings. Rate hike expected"If you're waiting for inflation to go back to 2% and that's what's caused you to raise rates, you're making a mistake," said Joseph LaVorgna, chief economist at SMBC Nikko Securities. Since the rate increases started, depositors have pulled $464 billion from banks, according to Fed data.

While ostensibly focused on monetary policy, the questions tend to range across issues, and the sessions this week - the first since Republicans took control of the House after midterm elections - may be particularly wide in scope. Powell's last monetary policy report to Congress was in June, early in what became the most aggressive cycle of Fed rate increases since the 1980s. Fed rate hikes "are designed to harm the labor market. Despite some high-profile layoff announcements, weekly new jobless claims have remained below 200,000 for seven consecutive weeks, comparable to pre-pandemic levels. That ongoing strength has posed perhaps the key question for Powell to answer: Whether the impact of monetary policy is just delayed and on the way, or whether the current economy needs even tighter monetary policy, with all the risks that entails.

[1/2] U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks to David Rubenstein (not pictured) during a meeting of The Economic Club of Washington, at the Renaissance Hotel in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 7, 2023. REUTERS/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/File PhotoMarch 7 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in Asian markets from Jamie McGeever. Arguably the main event in Asia will be the expected quarter point rate hike from the RBA, which would take the cash rate up to 3.60%. Tuesday's focus rests squarely on the first of two Congressional appearances this week from Powell. On the Asian data front, China's FX reserves for February could cast a light on whether Beijing is starting to reduce its huge holdings of dollar-denominated assets amid the sharp rise in U.S.-Chinese tensions.

☆ Amazon and Other Tech Firms’ Dwindling Demand Upends Office Market
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Konrad Putzier | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Photo: Amanda Andrade-Rhoades for The Wall Street JournalThe site of Amazon’s second headquarters in Arlington, Va., where the company has halted the start of construction on a second phase. Amazon .com Inc.’s decision to delay building part of its Virginia office campus is the latest sign that fading demand from technology companies is becoming a problem for the commercial real-estate sector. Tech giants like Amazon, Alphabet Inc. and Microsoft Corp. for years drove demand for office space, helping prop up building values in cities like New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

☆ Amazon’s and Other Tech Firms’ Dwindling Demand Upends Office Market
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Konrad Putzier | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

[1/2] U.S. President Joe Biden's State of the Union Address to a joint session of Congress is broadcasted to a television set up in a hallway at Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., February 7, 2023. REUTERS/Amanda Andrade-RhoadesFeb 8 (Reuters) - An estimated 23.4 million people watched U.S. President Joe Biden's State of the Union speech on the biggest TV networks Tuesday, according to early ratings figures from Nielsen and shared with Reuters by Fox News and NBCUniversal, down from total viewership last year. The early figure includes viewership on the biggest U.S. broadcast and cable networks, including Fox News, CNN, ABC News and NBC News. Biden's early audience figure came in below the final ratings total for former President Donald Trump's first State of the Union speech in 2018, which attracted close to 46 million people. Nielsen is expected to provide final ratings data later on Wednesday, which will include viewership across smaller networks.

"We didn't expect it to be this strong," Powell said, but it "shows why we think this will be a process that takes quite a bit of time." It has just confounded all sorts of attempts to predict," Powell said, noting that wage growth has slowed even with continued strong job gains. Officials raised the target interest rate a quarter point to a range between 4.5% and 4.75% at that session, and said in the latest policy statement that "ongoing increases" would be needed. 1 2 3 4 5As of December, the Fed's preferred measure of inflation was increasing at a 5% annual rate, still more than double the Fed's target. While Powell said he expected "significant declines in inflation" this year, the U.S. economy was still "in the beginning of getting that down."

☆ So You Worked for FTX. Now What? Advice From Recruiters and Employers
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( Mengqi Sun | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +5 min

Former employees of FTX and other failed crypto firms will likely face extra scrutiny in their job hunt. While not all of the failed firms are associated with fraud allegations like FTX, anyone who worked at these businesses could face a tough slog finding their next job. “I worked with plenty of compliance folks who came from Lehman Brothers…Is it gonna be career-ending for some people? “People who you worked with that can vouch for you can bolster and can set you apart,” Mr. Brown said. Candidates also need to practice how to separate themselves and their own work experience and accomplishments from the firm they worked at, recruiters and hiring managers said.

☆ Lauren Boebert and Matt Gaetz stayed sitting and looked at their phones while Congress gave Zelenskyy a standing ovation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Reps. Lauren Boebert and Matt Gaetz were seen seated and on their phones through one of them. Both are vocal opponents of US military aid for Ukraine, and want to block future payments. In his speech, Zelenskyy declared "Ukraine is alive and kicking" and touted the strength of the US-Ukraine alliance. Reps. Lauren Boebert and Matt Gaetz stand as lawmakers give Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a standing ovation on Wednesday. The Independent also reported that Boebert and Gaetz skipped a security screening when going to hear Zelenskyy's speech.

☆ New York Times employees launch 24-hour strike in newspaper's first major staff walkout in 40 years
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( The Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

NEW YORK — Hundreds of journalists and other employees at The New York Times began a 24-hour walkout Thursday in what would be the first strike of its kind at the newspaper in more than 40 years. But New York Times spokesperson Danielle Rhoades Ha said in a statement that they were still in negotiations when they were told that the strike was happening. The NewsGuild also said the company told employees planning to strike they would not get paid for the duration of the walkout. Members were also asked to work extra hours get work done ahead of the strike, according to the union. The New York Times has seen other, shorter walkouts in recent years, including a half-day protest in August by a new union representing technology workers who claimed unfair labor practices.

☆ Mitch McConnell could've tried to block a bill to protect same-sex marriage. He stayed silent about it instead.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Mitch McConnell never publicly offered his position on a bill to protect same-sex marriage. Susan Collins of Maine and Thom Tillis of North Carolina on amendments to the bill, told Insider. "You know, the leader has to look at his conference," Tillis told Insider, referencing his own time as the Speaker of the North Carolina House. Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, a conservative opponent of the bill, told Insider that "of course" he wished McConnell had taken a vocal position on the bill. As Sinema stood up to embrace the Iowa Republican, McConnell rose from his seat and voted no.

WASHINGTON, Dec 1 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden rolled out the red carpet on Thursday for celebrities, lawmakers, and titans of industry at the White House's first state dinner in honor of French President Emmanuel Macron. The guest list included actress Jennifer Garner and her daughter with Ben Affleck, Violet; singer John Legend and model Chrissy Teigen; "Vogue" editor Anna Wintour; and director Baz Luhrmann. On Thursday night, Biden and his wife, Jill, welcomed the Macrons back to the White House for the dinner after diplomatic meetings earlier in the day. [1/7] Jennifer Garner and her daughter Violet Affleck arrive for a state dinner in honor of French President Emmanuel Macron at the White House in Washington, U.S., December 1, 2022. The lavish Washington dinner is one of few events that bring together people including the president's son Hunter and Kevin McCarthy, who leads a Republican congressional delegation that has vowed to investigate his business dealings.

☆ Worker complaints alleging anti-union shutdowns rise as organizing surges
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Eli M. Rosenberg | Eli Rosenberg Is An Investigative Tech Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +13 min

The company, G&D Integrated, had closed the factory, saying it had suddenly lost its decade-old contract with a Japanese company, workers said. Starbucks closed multiple stores this year following union activity. Trader Joe’s, for example, abruptly closed a wine shop in the center of New York City where workers had been organizing. Demonstrators protest outside a closed Starbucks in Seattle on July 16. More than 40 percent of the stores had union campaigns, according to data from Starbucks Workers United, the union that has been organizing the workers.

☆ Wall Street Firm Makes a $1.8 Billion Bet on Forest Carbon Offsets
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( Ryan Dezember | Photographs Amanda Andrade-Rhoades For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

PISGAH, Md.—A major player in credit markets has made one of the largest U.S. timberland purchases in years, laying Wall Street’s biggest wager yet on forest carbon markets. Oak Hill Advisors LP, a subsidiary of T. Rowe Price Group Inc. that manages $56 billion and is best known as a corporate-debt investor, said that it led a consortium to pay about $1.8 billion for 1.7 million acres of forest.

WASHINGTON — A Jan. 6 rioter who dragged former D.C. Police Officer Michael Fanone into the crowd on the steps of the U.S. Capitol was sentenced to 7.5 years in federal prison on Thursday. Albuquerque Head, circled in red, on the steps in front of a tunnel at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. U.S. District Court for D.C.“Show him the same mercy that he showed me on Jan. 6 … which is none," Fanone said. Jackson described former Officer Fanone as Head’s “prey” and his “trophy.” She also described Fanone as “protecting America” during the riot. That's who Officer Fanone was, that's what Officer Fanone was doing."

☆ The bear market blues: a diagnosis for our times
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( Alden Bentley | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

John Schott MD, a portfolio manager at The Colony Group, retired psychiatrist and a recognized expert on market psychology, coined the term Bear Market Depressive Syndrome (BMDS) in his 1998 book "Mind Over Money." After prolonged bull markets, investors tend to go into denial during bear markets. MARKET RISK FACTORS ALMOST UNPRECEDENTEDThe S&P 500 (.SPX) was down more than 27% year-to-date in mid-October. "That essentially moves the market at a faster pace than you would have seen in previous periods of market weakness." Negative sentiment readings indicate the market is running out of sellers, and are thus considered a bullish signal.

☆ Trump fan who assaulted Officer Fanone on Jan. 6 sentenced to more than 7 years in prison
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-27 | by ( Ryan J. Reilly | Ryan J. Reilly Is A Justice Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON — A Donald Trump fan who brought his teenage son along as he assaulted then-D.C. police officer Mike Fanone and another officer at the Capitol on Jan. 6 was sentenced to more than seven years in prison on Tuesday. Former Metropolitan police officer Michael Fanone during a House select committee hearing on July 12. After Fanone's statement, a supporter of the Jan. 6 defendants called Fanone a "piece of s---." More than 850 people have been charged in connection with the Jan. 6 attack and more than 350 have pleaded guilty. The longest sentence of 10 years in federal prison went to an ex-NYPD officer who assaulted a D.C. cop with a flagpole and tackled him to the ground, and then lied on the stand about his conduct.

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