How a Pirate-Clad Pastor Helped Ignite Trump Media’s Market Frenzy
Business

How a Pirate-Clad Pastor Helped Ignite Trump Media’s Market Frenzy

Related media - Connected media Mr. Nedohin raised his arms in celebration. A few minutes later, he cut to a video of a rocket blasting into the sky, with Mr. Trump photoshopped onto it. “We are holding Trump stocks,” he declared. “We are now financial investors in him.” Mr. Nedohin is one of hundreds of thousands of amateur investors who own shares of Trump Media, convinced that its sole platform, Truth Social, will become one of the world’s most popular and profitable social media sites. In recent months, tens of thousands of Trump fans have tuned into Mr. Nedohin’s webcasts, where he exhorts viewers to invest in the company, arguing that “Trump always wins in the long run.” The enthusiasm from Mr. Nedohin and other Trump supporters has turned Trump Media into the latest “meme stock,...
New Nutrition Guidelines Put Less Sugar and Salt on the Menu for School Meals
Health

New Nutrition Guidelines Put Less Sugar and Salt on the Menu for School Meals

Related media - Associated media The Sugar Association, a trade group, said it supported limiting added sugars in a weekly menu but called applying limits to individual products like flavored dairy products “arbitrary.” The group also warned that the new standards might lead to increased use of artificial sweeteners, which is not addressed but could have its own health ramifications. Schools will need to reduce sodium in lunches by 15 percent from current levels and in breakfasts by 10 percent by the 2027-28 academic year. This was scaled back from a proposed reduction of 30 percent by the 2029-30 school year. Mr. Vilsack said the Agriculture Department was unable to more meaningfully cut salt because it was essentially handcuffed by a policy rider in a spending package Congress approv...
Now Arriving at an Airport Lounge Near You: Peloton Bikes, Nap Pods and Caviar Service
Business

Now Arriving at an Airport Lounge Near You: Peloton Bikes, Nap Pods and Caviar Service

Linked media - Related media A handful of new lounges opened by credit card issuers, including Capital One and American Express, have recently landed in airports across the United States, promising posh spots of refuge for select travelers awaiting their flights. At La Guardia Airport, caviar service will be available for pre-order. At Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, travelers can get complimentary massages, and at Denver International Airport, there are nap pods. In addition to amenities, the new lounges provide an ambience reminiscent of a luxury hotel lobby, both in interior design and scale, and fit several hundred people at a time. “Lounges have certainly gotten busier, so we’ve expanded our footprint,” said Audrey Hendley, president of American Express Travel, w...
Is the Boom-and-Bust Business Cycle Dead?
Business

Is the Boom-and-Bust Business Cycle Dead?

Linked media - Linked media The rise of international trade, Mr. Kelly added, can often offset slowing domestic demand since businesses, enabled by the internet, can find customers throughout the globe. And the service sector’s growth, he concluded, has “made the economy more stable and, importantly, less sensitive to interest rates.” Across the economics profession, many are not feeling as reassured. When weighing recession risks, Thomas Herndon, a professor of economics at John Jay College of the City University of New York, doesn’t take much long-term solace in the growing sophistication of big business. There are, he said, “many, many, many causes” for downturns — some of which are not directly linked to financial instability. Mr. Herndon noted the work of the 20th-century Polish e...
Soft Landing or No Landing? Fed’s Economic Picture Gets Complicated.
Business

Soft Landing or No Landing? Fed’s Economic Picture Gets Complicated.

Linked media - Connected media Mr. Biden said on Wednesday that he stood by his prediction that the Fed would lower interest rates this year — an unusual comment from a president who usually avoids talking about Fed policy out of respect for the central bank’s independence from the White House. “This may delay it a month or so — I’m not sure of that,” Mr. Biden said. Many Fed watchers think today’s high rates could persist for considerably longer. Many economists and investors previously expected rate cuts to start in June or July. After this week’s inflation report, investors increasingly see rate cuts starting in September or later. Blerina Uruci, chief U.S. economist at T. Rowe Price, noted that the longer inflation flatlined, the more it could delay rate cuts: Officials are likely ...
What could Caitlin Clark’s WNBA transition from Iowa look like?
Sports

What could Caitlin Clark’s WNBA transition from Iowa look like?

Associated media - Related media Reality is coming. In the words of Diana Taurasi, as spoken to Scott Van Pelt on SportsCenter, Caitlin Clark is due for a reckoning when she gets to the WNBA. After four years of dominating the college game, Clark is starting the next chapter of her career at the bottom as one of the youngest players in the most talented league in the world. Regardless of what the overall arc of Clark’s career ends up being, it is unlikely that she hits the ground running as the best player on the court every night, as she did at Iowa. Diana Taurasi on Caitlin Clark coming to WNBA «Reality is coming….you look superhuman playing against some 18 years olds but you’re going to come play with some grown women that have been playing professional basketball for a long time» ...
The Worst Part of a Wall Street Career May Be Coming to an End
Business

The Worst Part of a Wall Street Career May Be Coming to an End

Associated media - Connected media If they persevere, they move up the ranks to associate, then director and managing director; a handful end up running divisions. Although grueling, the life of a senior banker can be glamorous, involving traveling around the globe to pitch clients and working on big-money corporate merger deals. Many who get through the two-year analyst program have gone on to become business titans — the billionaires Michael Bloomberg and Stephen Schwarzman began their careers in investment banking — but a majority will leave before or after their two years are up, bank representatives said. There are jokes among junior bankers that the most common tasks of the job involve dragging icons from one side of a document to another, only to be asked to replace the icon ove...
NFL Draft 2024 ‘The Beast’ Guide: Dane Brugler’s scouting reports and player rankings
Sports

NFL Draft 2024 ‘The Beast’ Guide: Dane Brugler’s scouting reports and player rankings

Connected media - Associated media Finally! It’s here. I’m thrilled to share this year’s draft guide with everyone. I don’t remember who first referred to it as “The Beast,” but I use that moniker as motivation to make sure this annual primer lives up to the nickname — and I don’t think I’ve let you down this year. Every NFL prospect is a puzzle. And it is a scout’s job to find the puzzle pieces to create as clear a picture of each player as possible. Those puzzle pieces include everything from the player’s physical traits to his mental makeup to the details of his upbringing — and everything in between. That’s precisely how I attack this draft guide. Over the last 18 months, I’ve collected as many puzzle pieces as I could dig up, through countless hours of tape study and con...
March’s Hot Inflation Report is a Political Blow to Biden
Business

March’s Hot Inflation Report is a Political Blow to Biden

Related media - Linked media The unexpected re-acceleration in price growth across the economy is at least a temporary setback for President Biden, who has been banking on cooling inflation to lift his re-election prospects. Mr. Biden and his aides have publicly cheered the retreat of annual inflation rates over the last year, after watching the fastest price growth in 40 years dent the president’s approval ratings earlier in his tenure. They have been anxious for inflation to fall even further, in order give relief to consumers and to potentially spur the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates — a move that would help to drive down borrowing costs for mortgages, car loans and other consumer credit. Mr. Biden has been particularly focused on home buyers, including young voters who are k...
NBA Pre-Postseason Player Tiers 1 and 2: Wembanyama quickly rising; Giannis, Jokić steady at top
Sports

NBA Pre-Postseason Player Tiers 1 and 2: Wembanyama quickly rising; Giannis, Jokić steady at top

Linked media - Linked media Yesterday, I largely focused on setting the table for the updated NBA Pre-Postseason Players Tiers before revealing Tier 3 (players between the 24th and 42nd spot) and Tier 4 (Nos. 43-80). Today, I’m going to get a little more into some of the more interesting and/or challenging placements, as well as note a few overall trends. For starters, a consistent bit of feedback — and one I’ve gotten from multiple sources since the release of Tiers 3 and 4 — is the always difficult evaluation of which player is more valuable between an elite role player and a good-but-not-great primary or secondary creator. A senior analytics staffer within the league went so far as to argue they would prefer essentially the entirety of Tier 4A, largely made up of elite role players ...