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☆ Inside the private-debt boom: Wall Street's hottest asset faces a tremendous test in a dimming economy
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Rebecca Ungarino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

Defaults on private loans, which have fallen steadily since the pandemic's height in 2020, are ticking up. Private credit, or private debt, are catch-all terms to describe privately negotiated loans outside the public debt markets. Private credit firms engage in what's known as direct lending, making these private loans to companies who turn to them instead of a traditional bank. Analysts and asset management executives say private debt has held up well in 2022 in the face of brutal stock and bond market volatility. 'Fighting for allocation'A challenge for private debt funds in the past decade has been a dearth of companies they can lend to.

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried was the poster boy for 'effective altruism.' Now, its followers are heartbroken and critics are questioning its 'weird' funding setup.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Sam Bankman-Fried was a proponent of effective altruism: earning as much as possible to give your wealth away. He had a huge influence on the effective-altruism movement, which counts Silicon Valley tech workers and Oxford University academics among its fans. 'Devastated'Bankman-Fried was the main funder of Future Fund, a charitable project run by the FTX Foundation. "We joined the Future Fund to support incredible people and projects," they said, "and this outcome is heartbreaking to us." Science groups that had received money from the Future Fund told the magazine Science in mid-November that they were unsure of their funding's future.

☆ What increasing confidence in Biogen's latest Alzheimer's drug means for Eli Lilly
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Donanemab is the name of Eli Lilly's Alzheimer's drug in its own late-stage trials. JPMorgan has a neutral (hold) rating on Biogen shares and an overweight (buy) rating on Eli Lilly shares. What it means for Eli Lilly Eli Lilly has a phase three trial underway for its donanemab Alzheimer's drug that is similar to lecanemab, which is why the Biogen-Eisai data has been interpreted as favorable for the Club holding. Clumps of the protein, known as amyloid plaques, are one of the key markers of Alzheimer's disease. Previous drugs developed around the a-beta hypothesis — including those from Eli Lilly — have failed to meaningfully delay the disease's progression.

☆ Global 4-day week pilot was a huge success, organizers say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

London CNN Business —The verdict is in: A four-day work week is good for business. None of the 27 participating companies who responded to a survey by 4 Day Week Global said they were leaning towards or planning on returning to their former five-day routine. About 97% of the 495 employees who responded said they wanted to continue with a four-day week. 4 Day Week Global, a nonprofit organization, collaborated with researchers at Boston College, University College Dublin and Cambridge University for the trial. A separate six-month trial in the United Kingdom, also run by 4 Day Week Global, and which included 70 companies and 3,300 workers, wrapped up this month.

☆ The real reason Americans call it 'soccer' is all England's fault
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-29 | by ( Tony Manfred | Alan Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The word "soccer" comes from the use of the term "association football" in Britain, and goes back 200 years. "Association football" became "soccer." "Association football" became "soccer" in America, and what was called "gridiron" in Britain became simply "football" in America. Photo by Getty ImagesThe interesting thing here is that Brits still used "soccer" regularly for a huge chunk of the 20th century. Most British people stopped saying "soccer" because of its American connotations, however, UK broadcaster Sky Sports still used it to brand wildly-popular TV shows "Soccer Saturday" and "Soccer A.M."So, no, it's not wrong to call it "soccer" if you're American.

☆ Covid unrest in China will not impact the Fed's moves against inflation, says Mohamed El-Erian
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailCovid unrest in China will not impact the Fed's moves against inflation, says Mohamed El-ErianMohamed El-Erian, Allianz and Gramercy advisor and president of Queens' College, Cambridge, joins CNBC's 'Squawk Box' to discuss what the protests in China over the country's zero-Covid policies mean for markets.

☆ ‘Young Bloomsbury’ Review: A Bohemia of Their Own
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Donna Rifkind | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

It’s impossible to appreciate the context of Nino Strachey’s book “Young Bloomsbury” without a clear understanding of what Old Bloomsbury was. Unfortunately, that presents its own difficulties, since no one, not even the Bloomsbury Group’s original members, has ever agreed on how to define it. The achievements of the group took place in a variety of fields: literature (Virginia Woolf and E.M. Forster), art history (Roger Fry and Clive Bell), biography (Lytton Strachey), painting and decorative arts (Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant), international politics (Leonard Woolf) and economics (John Maynard Keynes). Among them, Virginia Woolf, Keynes and Fry were the farthest-reaching innovators. But if the others did not reach the same heights, their work nonetheless remains significant.

☆ 11-year-old British boy beats Einstein and Hawking on Mensa IQ test
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Sakshi Venkatraman | Sakshi Venkatraman Is A Reporter For Nbc Asian America. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

His performance beats those of physicists Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein, who were both estimated to have IQs around 160. Mensa, an international society open to high-IQ individuals, confirmed Shah's score to NBC News, saying he placed in the top 2% of the population and "has great potential." Shah's father, Irfan, told the Post that when his son was 7, he discovered a mathematical phenomenon that he couldn't explain. But Shah's parents said they're teaching him to nurture his work ethic and social life in addition to his natural abilities. “I still tell him that ‘your dad is still smarter than you,’” Shah's father told the Post.

☆ 100-hour workweeks and a bit of luck: How a 25-year-old CEO raised $50 million for his new drug discovery startup
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Andrew Dunn | Sarah Braner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

In June, Charm said it raised $50 million, valuing the firm at $100 million to $150 million. Charm has raised $50 million from top investorsDemis Hassabis, the CEO and a cofounder of DeepMind Technologies. In the spring, Aithani raised the $37 million million round that was announced in June, with investors like Khosla Ventures and General Catalyst joining OrbiMed and F-Prime Capital. The raise values Charm at between $100 million and $150 million, Aithani said, and brings the company's total funding to $50 million. This article was corrected on August 19 to show that Charm has raised two rounds of funding totaling $50 million.

☆ A former Harvard chemist just raised $178 million for a biotech startup that plans to treat previously untreatable cancers
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Andrew Dunn | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The biotech FogPharma has raised $178 million in a Series D round. The longtime Harvard chemist Greg Verdine founded Fog to tackle "undruggable" cancers. Fog's drugs, known as polypeptides or short fragments of proteins, blur the line between small molecules and biologics, sharing characteristics of both types of medicines. Verdine calls it "the magic structure" for Fog's drugs. "I thought he'd be able to find things that bind, but I was very skeptical that he could turn them into drugs," Klausner told Insider.

☆ Kindle’s 15-year anniversary is a reminder simplicity is king
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

It’s like holding nothing but the words.”Amazon (AMZN) launched the original Kindle on November 19 2007, pushing the publishing industry to further embrace digital books and also kickstarting the e-commerce giant’s hardware efforts. Amazon can keep Kindle prices relatively low because the business model is all about selling books, not selling hardware, McQueen said. Likewise, the original Kindle had access to 90,000 books in the Kindle Store compared to 13 million books now in the Kindle Store. Amazon’s current lineup of hardware devices includes the Fire tablet, the Firestick media streaming gadget and the Echo smart speaker. “The more interesting question is will Kindle be broadly considered retro tech like vinyl record players or arcade cabinets of today?”

☆ GOP megadonor Mercer family has no plans to boost Trump's 2024 campaign as former president loses more allies
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Brian Schwartz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Robert Mercer and Rebekah Mercer attend the 2017 TIME 100 Gala at Jazz at Lincoln Center on April 25, 2017 in New York City. Rebekah Mercer gave nothing to any pro-Trump group or Trump campaign entity during his last run for president, according to the filings. The 2016 Trump campaign then reportedly used that data to conduct some digital advertising. The Trump campaign paid Cambridge Analytica over $5.9 million for its services during the 2016 election cycle, according to the nonpartisan OpenSecrets. The pro-Trump super PAC funded in part by Robert Mercer also paid Cambridge Analytica just over $5.6 million that cycle, OpenSecrets says.

☆ Billionaires like Elon Musk want to save civilization by having tons of genetically superior kids. Inside the movement to take 'control of human evolution.'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Julia Black | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +40 min

"We are the Underground Railroad of 'Gattaca' babies and people who want to do genetic stuff with their kids," Malcolm told me. Ellison, meanwhile, who has two children in their 30s, has reportedly resumed having kids — with his 31-year-old girlfriend. "The person of this subculture really sees the pathway to immortality as being through having children," Simone said. The person of this subculture really sees the pathway to immortality as being through having children. Before she met Malcolm, Simone was convinced she wanted to live her life single and child-free.

☆ Here's why Home Depot and Lowe's are booming in a housing market bust
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Diana Olick | In Dianaolick | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Suzanne Kreiter | The Boston Globe | Getty ImagesWith rising mortgage rates, homeowners are staying in place. By the end of the first quarter of this year, before the steep runup in mortgage rates caused the housing market to falter, homeowners had a collective $11 trillion dollars in so-called tappable equity, according to Black Knight. That equity is part of a three-pronged driver of home improvement, according to the CEO of Lowe's, Marvin Ellison. "The growth rate for improvement spending will slow due to declines for existing home sales," said Robert Dietz, NAHB's chief economist. "However, an aging housing stock, work from home trends and a decline for household mobility all favor remodeling spending."

☆ California expected to partner with nonprofit Civica Rx to produce its own low-cost insulin, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Berkeley-Lovelace-Jr.Jpg | Berkeley Lovelace Jr. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

California plans to partner with Civica Rx, a nonprofit generic drug company, in the state's effort to produce its own low-cost insulin, according to two people familiar with the matter. Gavin Newsom announced in July that he had approved a budget that would allocate $100 million to allow the state to begin making its own insulin. It'll be the first state to produce insulin for its residents, which experts see as a road map for other states to make the lifesaving medication more affordable. California expects to announce the partnership in mid-December, although it hasn't been finalized and the state could select a different company, the sources said. A Civica Rx spokesperson didn't confirm the plan but said the company welcomes "the opportunity to partner with California."

A lawsuit was filed against Twitter on Thursday alleging the social media company now headed by Elon Musk violated federal and state law that requires 60 days' notice of mass layoffs, according to a court document. But Twitter told employees it will continue to provide pay and benefits, even though they are no longer working. The suit seeks a court to declare that Twitter is violating the WARN Act and to prevent it from doing so. It also seeks to prevent Twitter from trying to obtain releases from workers without informing them of their rights and the lawsuit, according to the document. A Twitter employee told NBC News that Thursday’s email was the first communication staff members had received from the company since the acquisition Oct. 27.

☆ Stormzy: After conquering music world, rapper targets racial inequality in football
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( Alasdair Howorth | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Premier League clubs Manchester United and Fulham are among the organizations that are partnering with rapper Stormzy’s Merky FC to improve diversity and representation at all levels of the football industry. “That statistic is embarrassing,” said the Croydon-born rapper who is set to launch the program next year. Rapper Stormy (C) has also been working in publishing and education to improve diversity and inclusion. “Hopefully with what we’re doing we can drive a change.”This isn’t the first time that Stormzy has worked within an industry to improve representation. The rapper has also provided scholarships for black students attending Cambridge University to improve the number of who attend the university.

☆ Moderna Cuts Outlook Amid Supply Constraints
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Sabela Ojea | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Moderna said higher costs and a decline in demand for its Omicron-targeting Covid-19 doses hit its performance in its latest quarter. Moderna Inc. said third-quarter revenue fell by nearly a third and cut its outlook as supply constraints sap up to $3 billion in sales this year. The Cambridge, Mass.-based pharmaceutical company on Thursday said higher costs and a decline in demand for its Omicron-targeting Covid-19 doses also hit its performance.

But none of that explains why political campaigns have been turning away from Facebook. Political ads have always been a small part of Facebook's overall business. The pandemic accelerated that trend since so many consumers turned to streaming platforms while stuck at home, and content for cord-cutters proliferated. Ad tracking firm AdImpact projected that of the $9.7 billion spent on political ads this cycle, $1.4 billion would go to connected TVs. Apple's crackdown has indeed diminished Facebook's position in political advertising.

☆ Job openings surged in September despite Fed efforts to cool labor market
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Jeff Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Job openings surged in September despite Federal Reserve efforts aimed at loosening up a historically tight labor market that has helped feed the highest inflation readings in four decades. Employment openings for the month totaled 10.72 million, well above the FactSet estimate for 9.85 million, according to data Tuesday from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey. The latest numbers are unlikely to sway central bank officials from approving what likely will be a fourth consecutive 0.75 percentage point interest rate increase this week. That was slightly better than the Dow Jones estimate for 50.0 but 0.9 percentage point lower than September. Markets are pricing in a nearly 90% chance of a 0.75 percentage point increase, while narrowly expecting another 0.5 percentage point move in December, according to CME Group data.

☆ Stanford lost 4% on its investments after making 40% a year ago, as slumping markets hit university endowments
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Zahra Tayeb | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Stanford University's endowment posted a 4% loss after gaining 40% the year before, per the WSJ. Other leading US schools have seen big swings from record returns on endowments to losses, it reported. It was among several academic institutions that saw falling returns on investments in the fiscal year ended June 30, the WSJ reported Monday. Meanwhile, Harvard University, the richest college in the US with a $51 billion endowment, saw a 1.8% loss after scoring a 33.6% gain. Stanford ranked third out of the 10 US universities with the largest endowments in 2021, per Statista, with an endowment fund value of $37.8 billion.

☆ Resentment is mounting as some employees are forced back to the office and some are allowed to work from home
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Samantha Delouya | Avery Hartmans | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Some workers are being forced to return to the office while others are allowed to stay home. "If you're offering two different types of employees different access to work, you potentially create an issue of equity," said Thomas Roulet, an associate professor of organizational theory at the University of Cambridge. To be sure, not all workplaces unevenly apply in-person work requirements: Some allow workers the choice of returning to the office and, if so, how often. Why are some employees allowed to work from home while others are required to come into the office? "Companies are experimenting to see if something works, and many employees need to be just as flexible in giving it a shot," she said.

☆ Ukraine has taken delivery of its first mine-clearing machine, which was made by a British company and cost almost $500,000
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ukraine received its first mine-clearing machine, the Armtrac 400, which was made by a UK company. download the app Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy PolicyUkraine has taken delivery of its first mine-clearing machine, which was made by a British company. Funds raised through the initiative have allowed Ukraine to buy an Armtrac 400 for the Kharkiv region, which is no longer occupied but remains contaminated with mines. Ukraine paid almost $500,000 for the Armtrac 400. UNITED24The mine-clearing vehicle was developed and manufactured by Armtrac, based near Cambridge, England.

☆ How United Airlines expects electric planes to change the way passengers make travel decisions
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-28 | by ( Tim Mullaney | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

As electric cars and SUVs move toward 5% of the new-car market in the U.S. and 9% globally, few airlines have made any major push toward electric planes. Sustainability plans being pursued by American Airlines , Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines barely mention electric planes. "Go back to the 1990s, there were hundreds of small aircraft serving a lot of communities that have now lost service." "There are literally dozens of companies that wouldn't have worked that are now viable startups that you'll hear about United Airlines and United Ventures investing in in the coming months." Most likely, electric planes will serve small markets, hydrogen-powered planes will serve medium-sized passenger loads, and SAF-powered jet engines will serve major cities.

☆ IBM salaries revealed: Engineers can earn nearly $200K. See how much analysts, managers, and others at the tech giant make.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( Caroline Haskins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

IBM is among the oldest and largest computer companies in the world and has more than 350,000 employees. These offers must be equal to what US employees earn making them a great guide to employee salaries at the company. When Insider analyzed IBM salary data in 2021, the highest offer was to an engineering program director, earning $335,000. A technical team lead, for instance, earned $57,500 in Monroe, LA, and as much as $114,500 in Parsippany, NJ. Insider has also compiled a database of salaries across other big tech companies like Google, Apple, Tesla, Amazon, and more.

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