Bitcoin is once again having a moment

Bitcoin is once again having a moment

VERBATIM:

The world’s largest cryptocurrency recently soared past $41,000 for the first time in over a year and a half — and marking a 150% increase so far this year. The recent rally for volatile bitcoin coincides with the prospect of exchange-traded funds being launched based on spot bitcoin. Industry advocates say that could make entering the cryptoverse easier, while lowering some of the well-documented risks associated with investing in cryptocurrencies.

Republicans are still favored over Democrats on issue of taxes…

Republicans are still favored over Democrats on issue of taxes…

…but the margin has narrowed by two percentage points compared with last July’s poll.
The latest Rasmussen Reports survey finds that 45 percent of Likely U.S. voters have more trust in Republicans to handle taxes, compared with 40 percent for Democrats. 15% are not sure. In July, the GOP was more trusted than Democrats by 48 to 41 percent.
The issue carries weight: Eighty-one percent (81%) of those likely voters believe the issue of taxes will be important in the upcoming presidential election, including 41% who think the tax issue will be Very Important. SOC

The U.S. Border Patrol says it’s overwhelmed by a change in human smuggling routes

The U.S. Border Patrol says it’s overwhelmed by a change in human smuggling routes

VERBATIM:

Officials say human smugglers are dropping off hundreds of migrants in a remote desert area in Arizona.

That area around the town of Lukeville is hours away by car to U.S. hospitals and migrant shelters.

Border officials say these migrants come from faraway countries like Senegal, Bangladesh and China.

Meanwhile, the U.S. government has indefinitely closed the crossing between Lukeville and Sonoyta, Mexico.

UAW says over 1,000 workers at VW plant in Tennessee have signed cards seeking union representation

( ) -q-27- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “UAW-represented auto plants.”

More than 1,000 workers at Volkswagen’s Tennessee factory have signed cards authorizing a vote to be represented by the United Auto Workers union.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting. The factory in Chattanooga employs about 3,800 people who make the VW ID.4 electric vehicle and the Atlas family of gas-powered SUVs.

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VERBATIM: It’s the first plant in the nation to reach that milestone in the UAW’s quest to organize more than a dozen nonunion factories. The union says the workers signed on in less than a week. In November, VW gave workers an 11% pay raise at the plant after UAW members ratified new contracts with Detroit automakers. But the union says VW’s pay lags behind what workers make at UAW-represented auto plants.

Retail group pulls back on claim organized retail crime accounts for nearly half of inventory loss

( ) -v-36- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “std.”

The National Retail Federation has revised a report released in April that pulls back the claim that organized retail crime accounts for nearly half of overall industry shrink, which measures overall loss in inventory. Correspondent Jeremy House has the details.

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VERBATIM: The revision of the group’s organized retail crime report follows an analysis from online news site Retail Dive that found mistakes in the data. NRF said it recognizes the challenges that the retail industry and law enforcement face in tracking theft. A shoplifting report by a nonpartisan group released last month examined 24 major U.S. cities and showed that shoplifting incidents were 16% higher compared with the first half of 2019. Excluding New York City however, reported incidents actually fell 7% over the same time period…JH reporting.

Investment banks to put $10 billion into projects aimed at interconnecting South America

( ) -q-25- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “Guyana and Suriname.”

Four investment banks have announced they will put $10 billion for infrastructure works aiming to better connect South America.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting.

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VERBATIM: Potential projects that could receive funds include ports, airports, roads, electricity transmission lines, railways, and others. The “Routes for South American Integration” initiative was launched in Rio de Janeiro with host Brazil introducing a plan with more 120 projects that could better connect the region. They include many in the country’s north bordering Venezuela, Guyana, French Guyana and Suriname.

US employers added a solid 199,000 jobs in November in sign of a still-sturdy labor market

( ) -q-18- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “a steep recession.”

The nation’s employers added 199,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate fell.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting. The November gain was a reminder that many employers continue to hire, though last month’s increase was inflated by the return of about 40,000 formerly striking auto workers and actors, who were not at work in October but returned in November.

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VERBATIM: The Labor Department showed that the unemployment rate dropped from 3.9% to 3.7% in November. The figures are fresh signs that the economy could achieve an elusive “soft landing.” Should that occur, inflation would return to the Federal Reserve’s 2% target without causing a steep recession.

Supreme Court signals it will uphold a tax on foreign income and leave a wealth tax for another day

( ) -q-28- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “of Redmond, Washington.”

The Supreme Court seems inclined to uphold a tax on foreign income while leaving broader questions about a never-enacted tax on wealth for another day.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting.

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VERBATIM: Conservative and liberal justices have voiced concerns that ruling for a Washington couple challenging a provision of the 2017 tax bill would threaten other provisions of the tax code. There seems to be a consensus on the court to craft a narrow ruling that would avoid what Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar (pree LOH gur) said would be “several trillion dollars in lost revenues.” The case argued this week was brought by Charles and Kathleen Moore of Redmond, Washington.

China raises stakes in cyberscam crackdown in Myanmar, though loopholes remain

( ) -q-26- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “revenue a year.”

China has intensified a crackdown on online scams operated in border areas of Myanmar.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting. Experts say the crackdown, concentrated on two special zones close to China’s border with military-ruled Myanmar, will hinder but probably not stop the scammers’ operations.

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VERBATIM: The drive has been showcased by confession videos and national TV broadcasts of arrests of high-profile suspects. But the drive is confined to a limited area and appears unlikely to root out the criminal syndicates operating the human trafficking and other illicit activities of those running the scams that cheat people of their savings via phone calls and online schemes. Such schemes are thought to generate tens of billions of dollars in revenue a year.

US job openings fall to lowest level since March 2021 as labor market cools

( ) -q-17- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “month this year.”

U.S. employers posted 8.7 million job openings in October, the fewest since March 2021.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting. The job market has shown surprising resilience even as the Federal Reserve has raised its benchmark interest rate 11 times since March 2022 to fight high inflation.

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VERBATIM: It’s a sign that hiring is cooling in the face of higher interest rates. Openings were down significantly from 9.4 million in September. Hiring is slowing from the breakneck pace of the past two years. Still, employers have added 239,000 jobs a month this year.

2023’s most-viewed articles on Wikipedia

( ) -q-22- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “seemingly everywhere today.”

Remember what you searched for in 2023?

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting. The second most-read article on Wikipedia in 2023 was the annual list of deaths, which sees high traffic year after year. Meanwhile, the 2023 Cricket World Cup took third place.

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VERBATIM: Turns out…Wikipedia has the receipts. English Wikipedia raked in more than 84 billion views this year. That’s according to numbers collected by the Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit behind the free, publicly edited online encyclopedia. And the most popular article was about ChatGPT…the AI chatbot that’s seemingly everywhere today.

Danish union to take action against Tesla in solidarity with Swedes

(   ) -v-35- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “std.”

The conflict against Tesla in Sweden is spreading to neighboring Denmark. Correspondent Jeremy House has more on the story.

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VERBATIM: Transport workers in Denmark say they will take industrial action in solidarity with workers in Sweden against the Texas-based automaker. Tesla is non-unionized globally, but the Swedish workers are demanding that the carmaker sign a collective bargaining agreement. Tesla has no manufacturing plant in Sweden but has several service centers. The United Federation of Workers in Denmark which has some 262,000 members, says there had been speculation that Tesla would deliver its cars to Danish ports and transport them on trucks to Sweden after Swedish dock workers blocked the reception of Tesla cars there…JH reporting.

US unveils global strategy to commercialize fusion as source of clean energy

( ) -q-22- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “fusion companies worldwide.”

The United States will work with other governments to speed up efforts to make nuclear fusion a new source of carbon-free energy.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting.

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VERBATIM: That announcement from U.S. Climate Envoy John Kerry, who’s in Dubai for U.N. climate talks. Nuclear fusion melds two hydrogen atoms together to produce a helium atom and a lot of energy. Some say it is at best years away. But if achieved, it could be a major solution to climate change. Globally, there are more than 40 fusion companies worldwide.

Europe’s world-leading AI rules face do-or-die moment

( ) -q 29– UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “Google’s Bard chatbot.”

Hailed as a world first, European Union artificial intelligence rules are facing a make-or-break moment.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting. Big tech companies are lobbying against what they see as overregulation that stifles innovation. European lawmakers, meanwhile, want added safeguards for the cutting-edge AI systems those companies are developing.

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VERBATIM: Negotiators will meet to hammer out the draft’s final details this week. However, the talks have been complicated by the sudden rise of generative AI. First suggested in 2019, the AI Act was expected to be the world’s first such comprehensive regulations. But the process has been bogged down by a last-minute battle over how to govern systems that underpin general purpose AI services like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard chatbot.

Spotify axes 17% of workforce in third round of layoffs this year

( ) -q-22- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “about 15-hundred people.”

Spotify says it’s axing 17% of its global workforce in the music streaming service’s third round of layoffs this year.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting. Spotify had used cheap financing to expand the business but Ek indicated it was caught out as central banks started hiking interest rates last year.

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VERBATIM: Spotify is trying to slash costs while focusing on becoming profitable. In a message to employees posted on the company’s blog, CEO Daniel Ek said the jobs are being cut as part of a “strategic reorientation.” The post didn’t specify how many employees would lose their jobs, but a spokesperson confirmed that it amounts to about 1,500 people.

OxyContin maker bankruptcy deal goes before the Supreme Court

( ) -q-18- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “give up ownership.”

The Supreme Court is hearing arguments over a nationwide settlement with OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting. The agreement also stipulates that the company would emerge from bankruptcy as a different entity, with its profits used for treatment and prevention. But the justices put the settlement on hold during the summer, in response to objections from the Biden administration. Arguments take place Monday.

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VERBATIM: The settlement would shield members of the Sackler family, who own the company, from civil lawsuits over the toll of opioids. The agreement hammered out with state and local governments and victims would provide billions of dollars to combat the opioid epidemic. The Sacklers would contribute up to $6 billion and give up ownership.

Egg producers must pay a hefty penalty to food manufacturers, after losing a lawsuit on charges of price-fixing

Egg producers must pay a hefty penalty to food manufacturers, after losing a lawsuit on charges of price-fixing

A federal jury in Illinois has awarded more than 17 and a half million dollars in damages to several big name companies, such as Kraft and Kellogg, who successfully sued egg producers on charges of a conspiracy to limit the supply of eggs in the U.S. between 2004 and 2008, thus driving up prices. According to federal antitrust law, the amount of those damages becomes automatically tripled, bringing the total to over $53 million dollars. Two of the egg suppliers indicated they would appeal Friday’s decision. SOCS

European regulators say Amazon’s proposed acquisition of robot vacuum maker iRobot may harm competition

European regulators say Amazon’s proposed acquisition of robot vacuum maker iRobot may harm competition

VERBATIM: ‘

The European Commission, the European Union’s top antitrust enforcer, says it has informed Amazon of its “preliminary view” regarding the deal following an investigation that began in July. Regulators have raised concerns that the buyout may hinder iRobot’s rivals from effectively competing on Amazon’s marketplace. They say Amazon is an important platform for sales of robot vacuum cleaners in France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

Sweden’s economy shrank in the third quarter of 2023 to mark the second time of contraction and signal that a recession may have hit the country

Sweden’s economy shrank in the third quarter of 2023 to mark the second time of contraction and signal that a recession may have hit the country

VERBATIM:

Data released by Statistics Sweden showed that the country’s gross domestic product declined by 0.3% in the period ending in October. Jessica Engdahl of the statistical agency said that “the downturn in the economy was broad, but was held back somewhat by strong service exports.” Two consecutive quarters of contraction is a common definition of recession. But, economists on the eurozone business cycle dating committee use a broader set of data, including employment figures.

Tesla delivers a dozen Cybertruck pickups amid production woes

( ) -q-26- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “in 2.6 seconds.”

With manufacturing kinks still to be worked out, Tesla has delivered the first dozen or so of its futuristic Cybertruck pickups to customers.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting.

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VERBATIM: The deliveries came two years behind the original schedule amid uncertainty over when large-scale production will begin. CEO Elon Musk showed off the angular trucks with an event at the company’s factory outside of Austin, Texas, that was broadcast on X, formerly Twitter. Musk said the truck had 17 inches of ground clearance to drive off the road, and it can go from zero to 60 mph in 2.6 seconds.

Congressmen ask DOJ to investigate water utility hack

( ) -q-19- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “the system targeted.”

Three members of Congress are asking the U.S. Justice Department to investigate how hackers breached a water utility system near Pittsburgh.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting. An electronic calling card left by the hackers suggests they picked their target because it uses components made by an Israeli company.

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VERBATIM: The attack prompted the nation’s top cyberdefense agency to warn other water and sewage-treatment utilities they may be vulnerable. In a letter, the Pennsylvania lawmakers say Americans must know their drinking water and other basic infrastructure is safe. The Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, was the system targeted.

Some OPEC+ members will cut oil exports to try to boost prices

( ) -q-19- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “in global supply.”

The OPEC oil cartel and allied producers have made another big swipe at propping up lagging crude prices.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting. Sweeping cutbacks from OPEC+ and individual member countries since October 2022 haven’t made lasting changes to oil prices because of concerns about oversupply in a weakening global economy. That’s a good thing for U.S. drivers who have been getting cheaper gas.

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VERBATIM: The OPEC+ oil ministers came out of an online meeting with more than 2 million barrels per day in voluntary cuts through the first three months of next year. They also declared that Brazil will join the bloc in January. The move brings one of the world’s fastest-growing oil producers into an alliance that is trying to rein in global supply.

Fed’s preferred inflation gauge shows price pressures continuing to cool

( ) -q-19- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “than 2.5 years.”

The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure cooled last month.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting. It’s the latest sign that price pressures are waning in the face of high interest rates and moderating economic growth. Excluding volatile food and energy costs, increases in so-called core prices also slowed. They rose just 0.2% from September to October, down from a 0.3% increase the previous month. Compared with 12 months ago, core prices rose 3.5%, below the 3.7% year-over-year increase in September.

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VERBATIM: Prices were unchanged from September to October, down from a 0.4% rise the previous month. Compared with a year ago, prices rose 3% in October, below the 3.4% annual rate in September. It was the lowest year-over-year inflation rate in more than 2 1/2 years.

GivingTuesday donations flat this year, with fewer donors

( ) -q-30- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “the nonprofit sector.”

The nonprofit organization GivingTuesday estimates that donors gave $3.1 billion this year.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting. GivingTuesday has become one of the most important fundraising dates for U.S. nonprofits, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.

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VERBATIM: Donations on GivingTuesday this year were up $20 million more than what was donated last year, or a 0.6% increase before adjusting for inflation. GivingTuesday makes the estimate by drawing on data from donor management software companies, donation platforms, payment processors and donor advised funds. Woodrow Rosenbaum, GivingTuesday’s chief data office, said the results also show a reliance on fewer, larger donor, which is a concerning sign for the nonprofit sector.