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☆ ‘Ghosted’ Review: Chris Evans Falls For Ana de Armas’s Spy
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( John Anderson | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Chris Evans and Ana de Armas Photo: AppleTV+Aside from the real classics of cinema, Hollywood tradition has been largely about extremely attractive people doing extraordinarily silly things—which makes “Ghosted” an old-fashioned movie. Ghosted Friday, Apple TV+It is also, it turns out, a spoof of those movies and of entire genres, notably the spy thriller and the rom-com of the hate-at-first-sight variety. Cole Turner ( Chris Evans ), a self-described “farmer” who lives outside Washington (with his parents), sells his honey at a D.C. sidewalk market; Sadie Rhodes ( Ana de Armas ) is a CIA operative who wings her way around the world firing automatic weapons at bad guys. The gender flip, such as it is, is less clever than it once would have been; likewise the fact that their meet-cute isn’t cute at all. Thanks for the tip.

☆ A huge win in Wisconsin shows Dems how fiercely defending abortion rights can kneecap the GOP in 2024
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( Nicole Gaudiano | Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Expect Democrats to make abortion rights a dominant theme in 2024. The Democratic party chair there says it's "vital" that party members convey their position. Expect Democrats to make sure of that, especially after a recent Wisconsin election further demonstrated the power of abortion rights at the ballot box. Abortion rights advocates protest outside the White House in July 2022. Dems shift to talking openly about abortionThe Democratic Party has rapidly changed its views on abortion.

☆ Boeing delays Starliner's first astronaut launch by 3 months because of parachutes and paperwork
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Boeing has postponed the launch of its spaceship taxi, Starliner, until at least July. A NASA manager said the data from Starliner's parachute system needed reviewing. Fitting the date in among the busy launch schedule on the East coast was also a factor, he said. However, a review of Starliner's parachute system needed to be extended into May, he said. Stich said there were no issues or concerns with the parachutes and Starliner was in good shape.

The hiring of a major national campaign figure represents a key step by DeSantis's allies to prepare for a formal launch of his 2024 campaign. In recent weeks, DeSantis has toured states including Iowa and Nevada, which are key stops in the Republican nominating contest. Advisers have also begun identifying potential operatives in those states and have begun collecting resumes for a national campaign staff, sources close to the governor said. Roe is a close advisor to Republican Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, who is also seen as a potential contender for the Republican nomination. Representatives for Never Back Down, Roe and Youngkin did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

☆ Don't let NASA fool you: The next astronauts on the moon will not be wearing black spacesuits
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Morgan Mcfall-Johnsen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

NASA and Axiom Space revealed a new spacesuit for the Artemis moon missions last week. The spacesuit is black, but astronauts have to wear white when they're on the lunar surface. Axiom Space chief engineer Jim Stein shows off the prototype spacesuit in Houston on March 15, 2023. Astronauts can't wear black on the moonThe Apollo moon suits were white for a reason. Axiom's spacesuit prototype looks cool, but we're waiting for the version that will go to the moon.

The latest move to restore calm to restive regional bank stocks came as Pacific Western Bank (PACW.O), one of the regional lenders caught up in the market volatility, said it had raised $1.4 billion from investment firm Atlas SP Partners. While that deal brought some respite to battered banking stocks, First Republic (FRC.N) remains firmly in the spotlight. For now, the rescue of Credit Suisse appears to have calmed the worst fears of systemic contagion, boosting shares of European banks (.SX7P) and U.S. lenders (.SPXBK). Reuters Graphics Reuters Graphics'HEAD IN SAND'The wipeout of Credit Suisse's Additional Tier-1 (AT1) bondholders has sent shockwaves through bank debt markets. Seeking to boost confidence among investors rattled by its $3 billion Credit Suisse rescue, UBS said on Wednesday it would buy back 2.75 billion euros ($2.96 billion) worth of debt it issued less than week ago.

March 22 (Reuters) - U.S. authorities are set to explore ways to bolster financial stability, along with steps to tackle the problems facing First Republic Bank, as central banks assess whether turmoil in banking makes interest rate rises less pressing. SVB's collapse kicked off a tumultuous 10 days for banks which led to the 3 billion Swiss franc ($3.2 billion) Swiss engineered takeover of Credit Suisse by rival UBS (UBSG.S). While that deal brought some respite to battered banking stocks, U.S. lender First Republic (FRC.N) remains firmly in the spotlight. Reuters Graphics Reuters Graphics'HEAD IN SAND'The wipeout of Credit Suisse's Additional Tier-1 (AT1) bondholders has sent shockwaves through bank debt markets. For now, the Swiss bank rescue appears to have assuaged the worst fears of systemic contagion, boosting shares of European banks (.SX7P) and U.S. lenders (.SPXBK).

UBS is buying back the bonds at the price at which they were sold rather than at market prices, compensating investors after a sell-off this week. UBS shares and bonds have seesawed this week as investors assess the impact of the Credit Suisse deal. The prices of the bonds UBS is buying back on Wednesday had also tumbled but partially recovered on Tuesday. "The issuer has decided to launch this exercise as a result of a prudent assessment of these recent developments and the issuer's long-term commitment to its credit investors," UBS said in its statement. UBS shares were last down 2.3% at 18.97 Swiss francs ($21.05), having risen as much as 3.6%.

But an unexpected jump in UK inflation last month led investors to bet heavily that the Bank of England will raise interest rates by at least another 25 bps on Thursday. SVB's collapse kicked off a tumultuous 10 days for banks which led to the 3 billion Swiss franc ($3.2 billion) Swiss regulator-engineered takeover of Credit Suisse by rival UBS. While that deal brought some respite to battered banking stocks, U.S. lender First Republic remains firmly in the spotlight. First Republic (FRC.N) shares fell 9% in extended trade on Tuesday, having surged as much as 60% at one stage. For now, the Swiss bank rescue appears to have assuaged the worst fears of systemic contagion, boosting shares of European banks (.SX7P) and U.S. lenders (.SPXBK).

☆ Credit Suisse bondholders prepare lawsuit after contentious $17 billion writedown
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

A sign of Credit Suisse bank is seen at their headquarters in Zurich on March 20, 2023. A number of Credit Suisse bondholders said Tuesday that they were considering legal action after $17 billion of the bank's additional tier-one (AT1) bonds were wiped out as part of its emergency sale to UBS . David Benamou, chief investment officer at Axiom Alternative Investments and a holder of Credit Suisse AT1 bonds, told CNBC on Tuesday that he would be joining the lawsuit along with, he imagined, "probably most bondholders." Was Credit Suisse failing? The Credit Suisse write-down represents the largest loss ever inflicted on AT1 investors since their inception.

[1/2] Logos of Swiss banks UBS and Credit Suisse are seen in Zurich, Switzerland March 19, 2023. UBS will buy rival Swiss bank Credit Suisse for 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.23 billion) and agreed to assume up to $5.4 billion in losses as it winds down the smaller peer's investment bank after a shotgun merger engineered by Swiss authorities. The U.S., UK and Swiss central banks are all scheduled to meet in the week ahead. Even after Sunday's news on Credit Suisse, optimism from analysts was laced with caution and some scepticism. Others drew attention to the losses likely to be suffered by Credit Suisse junior bondholders.

☆ What are AT1 bonds and why are Credit Suisse’s now worthless?
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( Anna Cooban | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

But it is the owners of Credit Suisse’s $17 billion worth of “additional tier one” (AT1) bonds who have been left fully in the cold. David Benamou, chief investment officer at Axiom Alternative Investments, a French wealth management firm with exposure to AT1 bonds, called the decision “quite surprising, not to say … shocking.”What are AT1 bonds? AT1 bonds are also known as “contingent convertibles,” or “CoCos”. It is not the write-down of Credit Suisse’s AT1 bonds that has rocked investors, but the fact that the bank’s shareholders will receive some compensation when bondholders will not. But because Credit Suisse’s demise has not followed a traditional bankruptcy, analysts told CNN, the same rules don’t apply.

FINMA, the Swiss regulator, said the decision would bolster the bank's capital. Engineered in the wake of the global financial crisis, AT1 bonds are a form of junior debt that counts towards banks' regulatory capital. "It's stunning and hard to understand how they can reverse the hierarchy between AT1 holders and shareholders," said Jerome Legras, head of research at Axiom Alternative Investments, an investor in Credit Suisse's AT1 debt. Credit Suisse's AT1 debt had rallied earlier on Sunday amid reports that shareholders would receive something in a deal with UBS, raising hopes that bondholders would be protected. The move by the Swiss regulator could make it harder for other lenders to raise new AT1 debt, investors said.

FRANKFURT/LONDON, March 19 (Reuters) - Swiss authorities are examining imposing losses on Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) bondholders as part of a rescue of the bank, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on Sunday. Losses on bondholders may need to be larger if Credit Suisse were wound down rather than if it were taken over by UBS, one of the sources said. Authorities are trying to engineer a UBS takeover of Credit Suisse before financial markets reopen on Monday. A $1 billion deal would mean Credit Suisse shareholders getting a fraction of what their shares were worth on Friday. "I would be surprised if Credit Suisse bondholders, including AT1 investors, weren’t made whole.

[1/2] Logos of Swiss banks UBS and Credit Suisse are seen in Zurich, Switzerland March 19, 2023. UBS will buy rival Swiss bank Credit Suisse for 3 billion Swiss francs ($3.23 billion) and agreed to assume up to $5.4 billion in losses as it winds down the smaller peer's investment bank after a shotgun merger engineered by Swiss authorities. The failure of two U.S. banks and a rout in Credit Suisse shares have sent shock waves through markets over the past week, reviving memories of the 2008 financial crisis. The U.S., UK and Swiss central banks are all scheduled to meet in the week ahead. Others drew attention to the losses likely to be suffered by Credit Suisse junior bondholders.

LONDON, March 19 (Reuters) - Credit Suisse has written down its Additional Tier 1 bonds to zero as part of its takeover by UBS, angering some bondholders who thought they would be better protected in a rescue deal announced on Sunday. The Swiss regulator and Credit Suisse said that the bonds, which are a riskier type of debt than traditional bonds, have a notional value of 16 billion Swiss francs ($17.24 billion). Credit Suisse said it had been informed by the regulator, FINMA, on Sunday of the decision to write the bonds down. Some bondholders were angry at the move to write down the bonds to zero, especially as it appears bondholders will fare worse than shareholders in the deal. ($1 = 0.9280 Swiss francs)Writing by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes; Editing by Hugh LawsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ NASA’s New Artemis Spacesuits Are Designed to Put a Woman on the Moon
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Gareth Vipers | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration unveiled its next generation of spacesuits, and this time they have been designed without just men in mind. The prototype suits, which NASA says have been developed by Axiom Space Inc. for moonwalkers on the Artemis III mission currently planned for 2025, takes a major departure from the kit featured on earlier missions.

NASA unveiled the suit astronauts will wear during the 2025 Artemis III moon mission. The new Extravehicular Mobility Unit spacesuit was developed by private company Axiom Space. NASA gave astronauts their first operational spacesuits in the early 1960s. The space agency just unveiled a new fit for the occasion, developed by private company Axiom Space. From the silvery suits of the Mercury program to Elon Musk's sleek Crew Dragon suits, here's how astronauts' spacesuits have evolved over six decades.

As part of the overhaul announced in October, it is seeking to spin off merger advice and leveraged finance into a new entity named Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB), for which it has been seeking buyers. Credit Suisse is most valuable in separate parts, and there are high-level M&A talks taking place, said a senior banker who advises banks on deals. TAKEOVERSelling off parts of Credit Suisse could require time, which markets may not give. The two have complementary investment banking businesses -Credit Suisse is stronger in credit and UBS in equities. However, some have faith that Credit Suisse can still make it safely to the end of the tight rope.

Credit Suisse fell below 2 Swiss francs ($2.18) for the first time after Saudi National Bank said it could not go above 10% ownership due to a regulatory issue. Credit Suisse shares fell by as much as 23.8% and were last down 20.2%. An index of European bank stocks (.SX7P) fell in morning trading and was last down 6.1%, hitting its lowest since January 3. Fears of contagion after the collapse of tech-focused lender SVB (SIVB.O) and New York-based Signature Bank (SBNY.O) last week have weighed on European bank stocks. We move from the problems of American banks to those of European banks, first of all Credit Suisse," said Carlo Franchini, head of institutional clients at Banca Ifigest in Milan.

☆ Axiom unveils spacesuits for NASA's upcoming Artemis moon missions
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Michael Sheetz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Chief Engineer Jim Stein wears the new spacesuit during the Axiom Space Artemis III Lunar Spacesuit event at Space Center Houston in Houston, Texas, on March 15, 2023. "We're pleased that humanity's next steps on the moon are going to be in an Axiom spacesuit," Suffredini added. NASA's Artemis program represents a series of missions with escalating goals. In addition to Axiom, NASA also awarded a contract to Collins Aerospace, a subsidiary of Raytheon , to build next-generation spacesuits. Under the Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services program, NASA expects to provide up to $3.5 billion for spacesuits through 2034.

Big hedge funds including Marshall Wace and Odey Asset Management added to short positions against Europe's banks, regulatory filings seen by Reuters and data from Breakout Point showed. Marshall Wace held the largest disclosed number of short positions against banks, public filings from Austria, Italy, Sweden, Britain, Spain and Poland analysed by Breakout Point showed. The banks included BAWAG (BAWG.VI), FinecoBank (FBK.MI), Handelsbanken (SHBa.ST), CaixaBank (CABK.MC), NatWest Group (NWG.L) and PKO Bank Polski (PKO.WA). BNP Paribas shares fell by as much as 12% on Wednesday before recovering to show a loss of 9%, while Deutsche Bank shares fell almost 9%. In the week to Wednesday, some 120 billion euros ($126 billion) had been wiped off the value of European bank shares.

☆ Palantir lands $99.6 mln deal with U.S. State Department
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Jeffrey Dastin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 8 (Reuters) - Palantir Technologies Inc (PLTR.N) has won a contract to sell up to $99.6 million worth of software to the U.S. Department of State for monitoring the health of the diplomatic corps, the company told Reuters ahead of a Wednesday announcement. The bureau has sought software to record health incidents, predict risks, manage medical-evacuation missions and handle other tasks, according to a government document. Palantir told Reuters the State Department has already paid the company $10 million as part of the purchase agreement, and it will book the remaining value over the next five years. The Denver, Colorado-headquartered company said the deal continues a pilot dating back to 2021 and other State Department work since 2017. Reporting By Jeffrey Dastin in Palo Alto, Calif.; Editing by Sherry Jacob-PhillipsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ NASA's $3.5 billion contract has it renting its next-generation spacesuits
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Magdalena Petrova | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailNASA's $3.5 billion contract has it renting its next-generation spacesuitsNASA's been using the current spacesuits on the International Space Station for decades and they are showing their age. The agency has had issues not only with finding the proper sizes to fit its increasingly diverse astronaut corps, but also with degradation of some suit components. Now NASA is turning to two commercial companies, Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace, a subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies, to build and maintain its new generation of spacesuits.

☆ NASA’s $3.5 billion plan to redesign its aging spacesuits
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( Magdalena Petrova | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

NASA has been using the current spacesuits on the International Space Station for decades and they are showing their age. "The spacesuits that are being used now in the International Space Station by NASA are suits that were really designed in the '70s. Now the agency is turning to two commercial companies: Axiom Space and Collins Aerospace, a subsidiary of Raytheon Technologies , to build and maintain its new generation of spacesuits. Under the Exploration Extravehicular Activity Services Contract, or xEVAS, NASA is providing Collins and Axiom, along with a number of their industry partners, with up to $3.5 billion through 2034. NASA hopes to use this new suit on the International Space Station by 2026.

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