Month: May 2021

Categories
Business

How the $1 trillion marketplace for ‘inexperienced’ bonds is altering Wall Road

How the $1 trillion market for ‘green’ bonds is changing Wall Street

So-called green bonds have become increasingly popular in recent years, and this rapidly growing segment of the global bond market of $ 128.3 trillion could continue to grow.

When an issuer sells a green bond, it makes a non-binding commitment to earmark the sales proceeds for environmentally friendly projects. This can include renewable energy projects, building energy efficient buildings, or investing in clean water or transportation.

Green bonds fall under the broader umbrella of sustainable bonds, which include fixed income instruments, the proceeds of which are used for social or sustainability projects.

Big names like Apple and PepsiCo dive into this space. A handful of massive banks and governments around the world are also issuing sustainable bonds, including China, Russia, and the European Union.

This can contribute to the rapid growth of the room. According to a report by Moody’s, new sustainable bond issuance could exceed $ 650 billion in 2021. That would mean a jump of 32% compared to 2020.

Watch the video above to learn more about how green bonds work, how issuers can be held accountable, and how green bonds can move capital towards more climate-friendly projects and goals.

Categories
Politics

Texas Republicans Finalize One of many Nation’s Strictest Voting Payments

Texas Republicans Finalize One of the Nation’s Strictest Voting Bills

Republican state lawmakers have often cited voters’ worries about election fraud — fears stoked by Mr. Trump, other Republicans and the conservative media — to justify new voting restrictions, despite the fact that there has been no evidence of widespread fraud in recent American elections.

And in their election push, Republicans have powered past the objections of Democrats, voting rights groups and major corporations. Companies like American Airlines, Dell Technologies and Microsoft spoke out against the Texas Legislation soon after the bill was introduced, but the pressure has been largely ineffective so far.

The final 67-page bill, known as S.B. 7, proved to be an amalgamation of two omnibus voting bills that had worked their way through the state’s Legislature. It included many of the provisions originally introduced by Republicans, but lawmakers dropped some of the most stringent ones, like a regulation on the allocation of voting machines that would have led to the closure of polling places in communities of color and a measure that would have permitted partisan poll watchers to record the voting process on video.

Still, the bill includes a provision that could make overturning an election easier. Previously, Texas election law had stated that reversing the results of an election because of fraud accusations required proving that illicit votes had actually resulted in a wrongful victory. If the bill passes, the number of fraudulent votes required to do so would simply need to be equal to the winning vote differential; it would not matter for whom the fraudulent votes had been cast.

Democrats and voting rights groups were quick to condemn the bill.

“S.B. 7 is a ruthless piece of legislation,” said Sarah Labowitz, the policy and advocacy director at the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas. “It targets voters of color and voters with disabilities, in a state that’s already the most difficult place to vote in the country.”

But Republicans celebrated the proposed law, and bristled at the criticism from Mr. Biden and others.

“As the White House and national Democrats work together to minimize election integrity, the Texas Legislature continues to fight for accessible and secure elections,” State Senator Bryan Hughes, one of the bill’s sponsors, said in a statement. “In Texas, we do not bend to headlines, corporate virtue signaling, or suppression of election integrity, even if it comes from the president of the United States.”

Categories
Health

Summer time Drink Recipes – The New York Occasions

Summer Drink Recipes - The New York Times

Like moving turtleneck sweaters to the back of the closet, it’s time to retire well-aged whiskeys and bring on the clear spirits, fruit juices and crushed ice. The warmer seasons demand refreshing drinks, alcoholic or not, served in tall, frosted glasses.

The classic repertoire has much to offer in this category; it’s hard to go wrong with a gin and tonic or a caipirinha. But many of these summer staples could stand a creative update or a touch of surprise without compromising their honest appeal. Detailed below are a gin and tonic with a Spanish twist, sangria made with rosé wine and a Bellini buzzed with one of the new pink Proseccos that did not exist when Giuseppe Cipriani created the now-classic in Venice. There is also a slushy Southside, with rum replacing the usual gin, a Paloma bolstered with grapefruit liqueur and spiked with chile, and a spritzer bejeweled with cherries, which always ramp up the refreshment level of a glass of wine, especially red.

For drinks of the nonalcoholic sort, Agua Fresca is the Mexican and Central American quencher made by simply adding some fruit purée or juice to cold water with a squirt of lime and, depending on the ripeness of your fruit, a touch of sweetener. Almost anything goes for this drink, even non-sweet additions like cucumbers. The Fourth of July American version would be lemonade, an almost blank canvas that can be splashed with summery flavors like strawberry, peach or mango.

Beyond these suggestions, you can add liqueurs like triple sec and elderflower or white rum to make a happy-hour iced tea, or drop a jigger of Sambuca into iced coffee to serve with or instead of dessert. Gin in the lemonade is a quick nod to Tom Collins, a summer standby, and crushed fresh berries enliven chilled sparkling cider, alcoholic or not.

Having fresh fruit, like watermelon and strawberries, on hand will give you access to festive, colorful summer drinks on a moment’s notice. Process some of it, diced, in a blender, stir into a glass of ice with (or without) the spirit of your choice and top it off with soda water. You might consider expanding your wardrobe of fruit liqueurs and spirits beyond the usual orange to include grapefruit, lemon, raspberry and apricot. In small amounts they can brighten up many summer drinks. And for sweetening drinks, especially chilled ones, it’s a good idea to have simple syrup on hand, made by simmering equal parts granulated sugar and water together until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Refrigerated, the syrup will keep for a month.

To serve, warm-weather drinks demand generous glasses; tall ones are best, chilled before filling. Plastic is often the choice for outdoors, and manufacturers have improved the quality of these, though glass has more class. And then there’s the question of straws. Avoid plastic; look for paper in the disposable department, or some of the new, reusable stainless-steel ones. There are also silver straws, long, and often with a spoon at the end for a posh yet convenient touch.

For drinks to serve more than two (or to have refills ready and to transport outdoors), you’ll want a pitcher; some have lids or come fitted with an enclosed receptacle for ice. A long mixing spoon is a useful accessory, and a good citrus juicer is also a worthwhile investment. Frozen drinks also call for a blender to reduce the ice to slush or fruit into purée; there are compact cordless ones on the market that can even go to the beach or on a picnic. And be sure your ice maker or ice cube trays are ready for overtime.

Adapted from Rosie Schaap

Time: 15 minutes plus chilling

Yield: 6 servings

1 ½ cups mixed red and pink fruit, such as raspberries, halved strawberries and grapes, pitted cherries, cubed apple with red or pink skin, peeled pink grapefruit or blood orange segments

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

¼ cup triple sec or other orange liqueur

1 bottle (750 ml) chilled rosé wine

½ cup chilled pomegranate juice

1. Place the fruit, sugar and triple sec in a pitcher and stir to combine. Refrigerate until the fruit softens a bit (at least 4 hours and up to 8).

2. Add wine and pomegranate juice, stir. Serve over ice in wine glasses, and include some of the fruit in each serving.

Adapted from Socarrat Restaurant, in New York City

Time: 10 minutes

Yield: 1 drink

2 ½ ounces gin

8 juniper berries, lightly crushed

2 dashes Angostura bitters

2 to 3 strips lemon peel (about ½ lemon)

4 ounces good-quality tonic water, chilled

1. Half-fill a large stemmed wine glass with ice. Add gin, juniper berries and bitters; stir.

2. Twist lemon peels over the glass to release the oils and drop them in. Add tonic water, stir and serve.

Time: 15 minutes

Yield: 6 drinks

1 cup chilled peach purée, preferably white (about 2 ripe peaches or purchased purée)

1 bottle (750 ml) rosé prosecco, preferably brut

12 fresh raspberries

1. Place 2 tablespoons peach purée in each of 6 champagne flutes. Slowly add 4 to 5 ounces prosecco, stopping as it bubbles up and continuing once it settles.

2. Drop 2 raspberries into each glass and serve.

Adapted from “The Ladies’ Village Improvement Society Cookbook”

Time: 10 Minutes

Yield: 2 drinks

2 ounces simple syrup

4 ounces white rum

2 ounces lemon juice

1 ounce lime juice

1 cup crushed ice or small ice cubes

Mint sprigs for garnish

1. Combine the simple syrup, rum and citrus juices in a cocktail shaker with ice; shake.

2. Strain into a blender with crushed ice. Blend until slushy, then pour into chilled goblets or glasses. Garnish with mint and serve.

Time: 5 minutes

Yield: 2 drinks

4 ounces blanco tequila or mezcal

3 ounces lime juice

3 ounces grapefruit juice

1 ounce grapefruit liqueur

4 ounces club soda or seltzer

Pinch chile powder or cayenne

Grapefruit wedges for garnish

1. Combine the tequila, citrus juices and grapefruit liqueur with ice in a cocktail shaker; shake well. Strain into tall glasses with ice and add soda.

2. Dust chile powder on top. Garnish with grapefruit and serve.

Time: 20 minutes plus chilling (optional)

Yield: 4 drinks

2 cups cubed ripe watermelon or honeydew, chilled

2 cups ice cubes

Juice of 1 lime

1 tablespoon simple syrup or agave syrup to taste (optional)

½ teaspoon salt, or to taste

Pinch ground white pepper

Basil sprigs for garnish

1. Purée the melon with ice in a blender. Stir in lime juice, syrup to taste, salt and pepper.

2. Transfer to a pitcher, add 2 cups water, stir and chill or pour into ice-filled glasses. Garnish with basil and serve.

Time: 15 minutes plus chilling

Yield: 6 drinks

4 cups brewed lemon verbena tea, chilled, or cold water

3 tablespoons simple syrup

Juice of 3 lemons (about ¾ cup)

1 cup diced strawberries, puréed

Lemon wheels and strawberry halves for garnish

1. Place tea or water in a pitcher or other container. Stir in simple syrup, lemon juice and strawberry purée. Chill at least 1 hour.

2. Stir well, pour into tall glasses filled with ice, garnish with lemon and strawberries and serve.

Time: 10 minutes

Yield: 1 drink

1 glass (4 to 6 ounces) fruity red wine (white or rosé can be substituted)

4 ounces sparkling water

Twist of lemon peel

3 ripe Bing cherries, pitted and halved

Pour wine into a large stemmed wine glass or goblet. Add sparkling water. Drop in lemon twist and cherries and serve.

Categories
Entertainment

Chi Modu, Photographer Who Outlined 1990s Hip-Hop, Dies at 54

Chi Modu, Photographer Who Defined 1990s Hip-Hop, Dies at 54

The Notorious B.I.G., stoic and resplendent in front of the twin towers. Tupac Shakur, eyes closed and arms in the air, tendrils of smoke wafting up from his lips. Eazy-E, perched atop his lowrider, using it as a throne. Mobb Deep, huddled with friends on the rooftop of a Queensbridge housing project. Nas, reflective in his childhood bedroom. Members of the Wu-Tang Clan, gathered in a circle and staring down at the camera, sharpness in their eyes.

For the essential rap stars of the 1990s, odds are that their defining images — the ones imprinted for decades on the popular consciousness — were all taken by one person: Chi Modu.

In the early and mid-1990s, working primarily for The Source magazine, at the time the definitive digest of hip-hop’s commercial and creative ascendance, Mr. Modu was the go-to photographer. An empathetic documentarian with a talent for capturing easeful moments in often extraordinary circumstances, he helped set the visual template for dozens of hip-hop stars. The Source was minting a new generation of superheroes, and Mr. Modu was capturing them as they took flight.

Mr. Modu died on May 19 in Summit, N.J. He was 54. His wife, Sophia, said the cause was cancer.

When hip-hop was still gaining its footing in pop culture and the mainstream media hadn’t quite caught up, The Source stepped into that void. So did Mr. Modu, who was frequently the first professional photojournalist his subjects encountered.

“My focus coming up,” Mr. Modu told BBC Africa in 2018, “was to make sure someone from the hip-hop community was the one responsible for documenting hip-hop artists.”

His photos appeared on the cover of over 30 issues of the magazine. He also photographed the cover of Mobb Deep’s breakthrough 1995 album, “The Infamous…,” and “Doggystyle,” the 1993 debut album from Snoop Doggy Dogg (now Snoop Dogg), as well as Bad Boy Records’ “B.I.G. Mack” promotional campaign, which introduced the rappers the Notorious B.I.G. and Craig Mack.

“We were pretty primitive in our look at that time, and we needed someone like him,” Jonathan Shecter, one of the founders of The Source, said.

Mr. Modu’s personality, he added, was “super cool, no stress, no pressure. He’d just be a cool dude hanging out with the crew. A lot of rappers felt he was someone they could hang around with.”

Mr. Modu’s signature approach was crisp and intimate — he rendered his subjects as heroes, but with an up-close humility. As that generation of emerging stars was learning how to present themselves visually, he helped refine their images. (He had a special rapport with Tupac Shakur, which spanned several years and shoots.)

“When you bring that high level of skill to an arena that didn’t have a high level of skill, you can actually create really important work,” he told Pulse, a Nigerian publication, in 2018.

For Mobb Deep’s album cover, he scheduled time in a photo studio, which yielded the indelibly ice-cold cover portrait of the duo. “A huge part of our success was that cover — he captured a vibe that encapsulated the album,” Mobb Deep’s Havoc said. “To see a young Black brother taking photos of that nature was inspiring.”

But Mr. Modu also spent a day with the duo in Queensbridge, the neighborhood they hailed from, taking photos of them on the subway, by the Queensboro Bridge, on the roof of the housing project building Havoc lived in. “Twenty-five years later they feel almost more important,” Havoc said. “They give you a window into that time.”

In addition to being a nimble photographer — sometimes he shot his images on slide film, with its low margin for error — Mr. Modu was a deft amateur psychologist. “He could flow from New York to Los Angeles and go into every ’hood. There was never a problem, never an issue,” Mr. Shecter said. His wife remembered Mr. Modu leaving a Jamaican vacation to photograph Mike Tyson, only to arrive and learn Mr. Tyson didn’t want to shoot; by the end of the day, via charm and cajoling, Mr. Modu had his shots.

Mr. Modu was also a careful student of the dynamic balance between photographer and subject — the celebrity was the raison d’être for the shoot, but the photographer was the shaper of the image. “The reason I am able to take control is that I am here trying to help you go where you are trying to go,” Mr. Modu told Pulse. “I’m on your team. I’m the one looking at you. You may think you are cool but I have to see you as cool to press my shutter.”

Jonathan Mannion, a friend of Mr. Modu’s and a hip-hop portraitist of the following generation, said Mr. Modu played a crucial role in establishing the presence of sophisticated photography in hip-hop. “He kicked a lot of doors off their hinges for us to walk through,” Mr. Mannion said.

Christopher Chijioke Modu was born on July 7, 1966, in Arondizuogu, Nigeria, to Christopher and Clarice Modu. His father was a measurement statistician, and his mother worked in accounting and computer systems processing. His family emigrated to the United States in 1969, during the Biafran war.

His parents later returned to Nigeria, but Mr. Modu stayed behind and graduated from the Lawrenceville School in New Jersey and received a bachelor’s degree in agribusiness economics from Rutgers University’s Cook College in 1989. He began taking photographs in college — using a camera bought for him as a birthday gift by Sophia Smith, whom he began dating in 1986 and would marry in 2008 — and received a certificate in photojournalism and documentary photography from the International Center of Photography in 1992.

He shot for The Amsterdam News, the Harlem-based newspaper, and became a staff photographer at The Source in 1992 and later the magazine’s director of photography.

After leaving The Source, he consulted on diversity initiatives for advertising and marketing companies and was a founder of a photo sharing website. And he continued to take photos around the world, capturing life in Yemen, Morocco, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and elsewhere.

Is addition to his wife, Mr. Modu, who lived in Jersey City, is survived by his mother; three sisters, Ijeoma, Anaezi and Enechi; a brother, Emmanuel; and a son and daughter.

In the early 2010s, Mr. Modu began efforts to reignite interest in his 1990s hip-hop photography, initially by partnering with a New York billboard company to display his work.

“He felt there were certain gatekeepers, especially in the art world,” Ms. Modu said. “He always said the people are the ones that appreciate the art and want the art that he had. And with the billboard thing, he was taking the art to the people.”

The billboard project, called “Uncategorized,” led to exhibitions in several cities around the world. In 2014 he had a solo show at the Pori Art Museum in Finland. In 2016 he released “Tupac Shakur: Uncategorized,” a book compiling photographs from multiple shoots with the rapper.

Working in an era when the conditions of celebrity photo shoots were far less constrained than they are now, he retained the rights to his photographs. He sold posters and prints of his work, and licensed his photos for collaborations with apparel and action-sports companies. Last year, some of his photos were included in Sotheby’s first hip-hop auction.

Years after his hip-hop picture-taking heyday, Mr. Modu still left an impression on his subjects. DJ Premier of Gang Starr — a duo Mr. Modu photographed for the cover of The Source in 1994 — recalled taking part in a European tour of hip-hop veterans in 2019. During a stop in Berlin, he heard from Mr. Modu, who was in town, and arranged backstage passes for him.

When Mr. Modu arrived, he approached a room where the members of the Wu-Tang Clan were all gathered. DJ Premier recalled the rapturous reception: “As soon as he walked it in, it was almost like a cheer — ‘Chiiiiiiiiiiiiii!’”

Categories
Business

Reassessing Private Funds – The New York Instances

Reassessing Personal Finances - The New York Times

If you are thinking of changing careers, starting your own business, or making some other important life change, there may be financial costs, at least in the short term. At the very least, “you should have a spreadsheet of the bills and things you need to cover no matter how the business or sideline goes,” Timmerman said. Try to have a good idea of ​​how many months your savings will be able to cover these bills, she said, or what you will be doing to pay them instead. It could mean selling a car or moving to less expensive apartments.

Whether you are dreaming of turning your pandemic into a new career and need to decide how to pay for it, or just want to feel like you have a solid financial footing, planners say that im Generally, three major financial areas are to be assessed first.

“If someone has an emergency fund, doesn’t have high-interest debt, and is saving a decent amount for retirement, they’re in a good position to make big changes,” said Brian Walsh, senior manager of financial planning at SoFi, an online lending company. “If you haven’t checked these boxes, you should be more careful.”

BUILD AN EMERGENCY FUND In the past, planners have generally advised people to spend three to six months in an emergency fund to help them through difficult times. Some are now suggesting that the fund should keep you afloat for up to a year.

“Now the advice is even more conservative,” said Dan Herron, certified financial planner and co-founder of Elemental Wealth Advisors in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Isn’t the road getting worse? “

Your emergency fund should cover basic costs such as rent or mortgage payments, utilities, groceries, and transportation. You should also allow enough time to cover monthly health insurance and auto or homeowner (or renter) insurance, as well as credit card or other debt payments.

Whether your savings are healthy or you’re trying to sustain them, the same advice applies: set a monthly savings goal and stick to it. It is even better if you automatically withdraw the money from your bank account every month and have it deposited into your savings, retirement or brokerage account.

Categories
World News

Large success paves means for automotive entry

Massive success paves way for automotive entry

Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, speaks about CarPlay on stage during Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference on June 5, 2017 in San Jose, California.

Josh Edelson | AFP | Getty Images

In the early 2010s, automakers and their suppliers were excited about creating sophisticated auto dashboard apps that went beyond a CD player and tiny LED screen.

Automakers worked with companies like Microsoft to develop maps, music, and road assistance services that are often bundled into one upgrade package. They joined large consortia to create industry standards for connecting smartphones to cars.

Then Apple came in and changed everything.

Apple introduced CarPlay in 2014 to integrate the iPhone and the dashboard of a car. Since then, it has become ubiquitous in new cars.

Over 80% of new cars sold worldwide support CarPlay, Apple said last year. That corresponds to around 600 new models, including cars from Volkswagen, BMW and Chrysler. One of the longest-running holdouts, Toyota began recording CarPlay in 2019.

It’s also a top feature for many drivers and car buyers. 23 percent of new car buyers in the US say they “must have” CarPlay, and 56 percent are interested in having CarPlay when buying a new vehicle, according to a 2017 Strategy Analytics study. When Ford’s highly anticipated electric F-150 hits stores, it will support CarPlay.

Apple has been able to fit in between customers and car companies, making sure the user interface is what every iPhone user wants while on the move. It is an underrated triumph for one of the most successful companies in the world. CarPlay does not directly contribute to Apple’s sales or profits. But it ensures the continued loyalty of iPhone users and gives Apple a path into the auto industry if it wants to expand.

The performance of the smartphone

Control your music easily in CarPlay with iOS 13.

Most cars use an infotainment operating system based on Linux, BlackBerry QNX, or Google’s Android Automotive to run a screen embedded in the car’s dashboard. The infotainment systems often have their own music or map software and automotive companies sell wireless subscriptions and other updated features for them.

CarPlay runs on these infotainment operating systems and allows iPhone owners to access their most important apps while driving in a way that is safer than looking at their phone. Via CarPlay, users can access Apple or Google Maps, play Apple Music or Spotify, or dictate a text message to be sent home. All processing is done on the phone itself.

CarPlay and a competing Android program, Android Auto, are not auto operating systems. It really is phone software, said Mark Fitzgerald, an analyst at Strategy Analytics. Ultimately, it’s like using your car’s display as an external monitor for your phone.

“What’s in your car when you plug it in is essentially a client software client that just renders data from your phone to your infotainment system’s display,” said Fitzgerald.

Many users find this to be all they need.

When users have both CarPlay and an integrated system, they typically use CarPlay. 34% of CarPlay users surveyed by Strategy Analytics in 2018 said they only use CarPlay in the car and 33% said they mainly use CarPlay. Only 4% of the users surveyed state that they use the embedded system in favor of CarPlay.

Apple has also expanded CarPlay over the years to make it more valuable to iPhone owners.

When CarPlay first came out, a cable was required to connect your phone to your car. Apple has been supporting Bluetooth wireless connections since 2015, so users can start CarPlay by simply getting in the car and connecting their phone. While it took a few years for new cars to support this feature, it has now become widespread.

Last summer, Apple and BMW announced that users could use their iPhone to unlock car doors or even start the engine. Apple participates in a standard group to extend the function to other automakers.

Google has similar software called Android Auto that extends its Android operating system into the car’s dashboard. CarPlay and Android Auto are not mutually exclusive – a car that supports one usually supports the other. It’s popular as its Android app was downloaded 100 million times by 2020.

When automakers realized that smartphones’ computing power and software would improve much faster than they could improve their built-in infotainment systems, they tried to adapt them.

The Car Connectivity Consortium, to which most of the top car manufacturers and major suppliers belong, has developed Mirrorlink, an open standard for connecting smartphones to car systems. It was introduced in 2011 but was quickly superseded by Apple and Google.

Samsung, the biggest supporter of the standard and who also owns a major dashboard vendor, stopped supporting Mirrorlink in its phones last year. No other major Android brand supports this yet, and the consortium’s website only lists a few older devices as supported devices.

A big leap to self-driving cars

The new dashboard mode in CarPlay.

Mack Hogan | CNBC

Apple’s success with CarPlay explains the auto industry’s interest in rumors that Apple is planning to build its own car. If Apple has had so much success in adopting the dashboard, the company may be able to turn that into a competitive vehicle.

According to media reports, Apple has been researching at least the software for a self-driving electric vehicle since 2014. Earlier this year, Hyundai said in an official statement that there were talks with Apple about making its car before it went back, most likely due to Apple’s strict confidentiality requirements. Hyundai finally said it was no longer in talks with Apple.

Automotive executives showed outward confidence but respected the challenge an automotive Apple could pose. The CEO of Volkswagen said he was “not afraid” of Apple’s entry into the market. The BMW CEO said he “sleeps peacefully at night” in response to questions about Apple’s plans. Toyota’s CEO warned that making a smartphone is much different than making a car.

Apple’s final plans remain unclear. According to a Reuters report, Apple could still choose to sell software and hardware – an autonomous driving system – to automakers rather than designing its own vehicle.

However, if Apple were to enter the auto world, it would require a fundamentally different strategy than CarPlay.

CarPlay is mainly about making the iPhone more desirable. It also offers other benefits to Apple, such as: B. Increase the value of Apple Music subscriptions. Users want to play music in their car but need an easy way to control it while driving. In a March release, Citi analyst Jim Suva estimated that CarPlay could increase Apple’s annual service revenue by $ 2 billion.

But CarPlay itself is not a money maker. Right now, CarPlay is free in most new vehicles, from base models to luxury SUVs. BMW used to charge users a monthly fee to access CarPlay, but it was discontinued in 2019 after customers complained.

Apple says automakers don’t charge any fees for using the software. It’s not a licensing deal. (If it did, Apple could pool it at $ 750 per unit and sell 9 million units by 2025, which Suva estimates will generate $ 6.5 billion in revenue.)

Apple could get a foothold in the car to support more of its ambitions. It already uses its App Store sales platform to encourage software developers to optimize their apps for the car, in categories such as finding a car charger, ordering groceries, or finding a parking space. These features would be a key part of an Apple in-car experience. Apple also collects data necessary to run CarPlay, and even if that data is anonymized to ensure user privacy, Apple provides a lot of raw data on what people are doing in their cars.

However, CarPlay has not been able to power a self-driving car, which requires various chips and special hardware that are qualified for use in the car.

If Apple were to sell software to self-driving automakers, it would take a different form from CarPlay. Google’s automotive industry fragmentation is a good example: it is building Android Automotive as its car operating system, Android Auto as its CarPlay competitor, and funding the development of Waymo, a self-driving tech company and auto service that is now a sister company within Alphabet.

However, CarPlay’s success could lead to strong demand for an Apple Car – or at least ensure that consumers don’t dismiss the idea as crazy.

Apple usually presents updates to its CarPlay software at the annual WWDC developer conference, which begins on June 7th this year.

Categories
Business

Excessive costs, few reductions and low stock await automotive customers

High prices, few discounts and low inventory await car shoppers

Daniel Acker | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Car shoppers hoping to cash in on Memorial Day weekend sales events may want to rein in their expectations.

On top of reduced inventory due to a shortage of microchips — key parts needed for today’s autos to operate — and unrelenting consumer demand pushing prices higher, there are fewer incentives being offered by manufacturers and dealers.

The average incentive is $2,957, down from $4,825 in May 2020 and $3,878 in May 2019, according to a new forecast from J.D. Power and LMC Automotive.

“People will be in for a bit of a surprise,” said Ivan Drury, senior manager of insights at Edmunds.com. “There will be little to no negotiation on price.

“We’re seeing more people pay sticker price or above.”

At the start of the pandemic more than a year ago, when dealerships and manufacturing plants were shut down, chipmakers pivoted to focusing on the consumer electronics industry — i.e., computers and gaming consoles — and there are still kinks in their ability to meet the renewed demand from automakers.

Some automakers have idled manufacturing plants or cut back production of certain models, or stopped including certain high-end packages — things like navigation systems or blind-spot detectors — in vehicles that typically would have them, Drury said. 

“The shortage is really kicking the legs out from under the industry,” Drury said.

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In May, an estimated 33% of vehicles are selling within 10 days of arriving at a dealership, according to new estimates from J.D. Power and LMC Automotive. That compares to 18% selling that fast in May 2019.

Additionally, car shoppers may struggle to find the car they really want. To that point, 40% of car shoppers say they’re facing that problem, according to a recent survey from Cars.com.

“If you’re picky, this may not be the right time to buy,” Drury said. “But if you’re open-minded … you’ll be in a better position.”

Of course, it’s uncertain when the squeeze on inventory will lessen.

“By the end of year, things will start to improve,” Drury said. “But we’ll be nowhere near normal levels.”

The average price paid for a new car is close to $40,000, according to Edmunds.com. For used cars, it’s above $23,000. Some of the increase in prices are due to consumer preferences shifting over the last decade to pricier pickup trucks and SUVs and away from lower-priced sedans and small cars. Improved technology and safety features add to the price, as well.

Discounts are averaging about 7% or 8%, said Kelsey Mays, assistant managing editor for Cars.com. That compares to past years when that average was 10% to 12%.

Among the incentives being offered: The Chevrolet Silverado 1500, which starts at about $29,000, has a decent discount of around $4,000, depending on the trim level, Mays said. The Toyota Camry, with a starting price of about $25,000, may come with a $1,000 discount, depending on the specifics.

The silver lining to the higher cost for used cars is that trade-ins are worth more, as well. And while there may be little price negotiation for the car you’re buying, you may be able to get more for your trade-in to bring down the amount you have to finance.

“Potential wiggle room for consumers is going to be with their trade-in,” said Mays at Cars.com. “Consumers should leverage those elevated values and get the most they can.”

There are also other ways to bring down the cost of your purchase. Depending on your credit score, you may be able to find a 0% (or close to it) financing deal on a new car. Otherwise, the average interest rate paid on a five-year new-car loan is 4.12%, according to Bankrate. For a three-year used car loan, it’s 4.42%.

“Shop the interest rate,” Drury said. “That’s where savings can come from.”

If you’re picky, this may not be the right time to buy. But if you’re open-minded … you’ll be in a better position.

Ivan Drury

Senior manager of insights at Edmunds.com

Unless paying with cash, you should get preapproved for a loan from a bank or credit union. While there’s no obligation to use the preapproval, you’ll at least be armed with a comparison when the dealership offers its loan terms.

Be aware that the longer you stretch out your loan — say, for 72 or 84 months — in an effort to afford the monthly payments, the more you’ll pay in interest (unless it’s 0%) and the greater the chance that you’ll end up trading in your car for a new one before you’ve paid it off.

And in that scenario, if the trade-in value is less than what’s owed on the loan, consumers often end up rolling that “negative equity” into the loan for their next car.

If you want a brand-new car but can’t find exactly what you want, you may want to consider leasing instead of making a purchase.

“It’s not a long-term commitment … and might be better than financing something over six years that you don’t like,” Drury said.

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Health

Ada Well being raises money from Samsung and Bayer for A.I. physician app

Ada Health raises cash from Samsung and Bayer for A.I. doctor app

Berlin-based company Ada Health, which developed a doctor-style app that uses artificial intelligence to diagnose symptoms, was supported by the investment arms of South Korean company Samsung and German pharmaceutical giant Bayer.

Ada Health announced Thursday that it has initiated a $ 90 million round of funding with an undisclosed valuation that brings the total investment in the company to approximately $ 150 million.

Bayer led the round through its Leaps by Bayer investment arm, while Samsung invested through the Samsung Catalyst Fund, a US-based venture capital fund that Samsung Electronics uses to support companies worldwide. Young Sohn, former chief strategy officer and corporate president of Samsung Electronics, has joined the board of directors of Ada Health.

Ada Health was founded in 2011 by entrepreneurs Dr. Claire Novorol, Martin Hirsch and Daniel Nathrath and states that the app has been downloaded over 11 million times.

How it works

“The app works basically like a WhatsApp chat with your trusted family doctor, but around the clock,” CEO Nathrath told CNBC.

The patient starts typing in their symptoms and an AI chat bot asks a series of questions to help pinpoint the problem. After that, the app will show the patient the conditions that are most likely the cause and offer some suggestions on what to do next to fix the problem.

The iOS and Android apps provide general information on how to see a family doctor in the next three days. However, when patients interact with Ada Health through a healthcare system that uses the app, they can book an appointment directly and share the result of their preliminary exam with a real doctor, Nathrath said.

He said the company has signed contracts with multiple health systems, health insurers, and life science companies. Axa OneHealth, Novartis, Pfizer and SutterHealth are listed as partners on the Ada Health website.

While the app can be downloaded free of charge for patients, Ada Health charges its partners for access to the software.

The company said the new funds will be used to expand deeper into the US, which is already the largest market with 2 million users. Elsewhere, Ada Health has around 4 million users in the UK, Germany, Brazil and India with around 1 million each.

The funds will also be used to improve the company’s algorithms, expand the medical knowledge base, and go beyond 10 languages, Nathrath said.

He also wants to provide the Ada Health app with additional information beyond the symptom data provided by the patient. That could include lab data, genetic testing, and sensor data, Nathrath said.

“Smartwatches and other sensors have really made a big leap forward,” said Nathrath. “Nowadays you can measure your blood pressure, do an EKG, measure heart rate variability and blood oxygen levels.”

“Our goal is really to develop what is known as a personal operating system for health, in which you can not only carry out a symptom check, but also integrate all relevant sources of health information in such a way that Ada can ideally become this companion and notify you before the pound 100 problem is becoming a pound 100,000 problem a year. “

U-turn on tele health

Ada Health received less money than other “doctor” apps like Babylon and Kry.

Unlike Babylon and Kry, Ada Health does not allow patients to video call a family doctor.

Ada briefly ran a service called Doctor Chat, which allowed users to consult a registered GP through an on-demand chat portal. However, it was deactivated in March 2018 after having lived for about a year.

“We expected a lot more people to actually use this than they did,” said Nathrath, adding that people would prefer the automated chat experience to video calling with family doctors.

“If you look at telemedicine, you can’t scale it as well as an AI solution because you still have to hire a lot of doctors in different countries,” said Nathrath.

The investment in Ada Health comes just over two weeks after British health start-up Huma raised $ 130 million from the venture arms of Bayer, Samsung and Hitachi.

Other investors in the last round of Ada Health are Vitruvian Ventures, Inteligo Bank, F4 and Mutschler Ventures.

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Business

Foster Friess, Massive Donor to Republicans, Dies at 81

Foster Friess, Big Donor to Republicans, Dies at 81

Foster Friess, a Wyoming businessman who founded an investment firm, made a fortune and gave a lot of it away to Republican presidential candidates and charities, sometimes with flair, died on Thursday in Scottsdale, Ariz. He was 81.

His organization, Foster’s Outriders, which confirmed the death, said he had been receiving care at the Mayo Clinic there for myelodysplastic syndrome, a disorder of the blood cells and bone marrow.

On Twitter, Gov. Mark Gordon of Wyoming, who defeated Mr. Friess in the Republican gubernatorial primary in 2018, called Mr. Friess “a strong and steady voice for Republican and Christian values.”

Mr. Friess’s run for governor was his only try at major elected office. In the political arena he was primarily known for his donations, particularly to the presidential bids of Rick Santorum, the former United States senator from Pennsylvania, in the 2012 and 2016 campaigns. After Mr. Santorum left the 2016 race, Mr. Friess became one of the first Republican megadonors to embrace Donald J. Trump.

But to many, the most important support that Mr. Friess, an evangelical Christian, and his wife, Lynnette, provided was to charities. Foster’s Outriders and the Lynn and Foster Friess Family Foundation have provided scholarships, financed work for homeless people, supported water projects in Africa and much more. His organization said Mr. Friess had donated $500 million in his lifetime.

His 70th-birthday party in 2010 in Jackson Hole, Wyo., where he lived much of the year, was the stuff of legend. The website wyofile.com described it in 2011:

“In the invitations to the party, Friess, a born-again Christian, had asked the guests to identify their favorite charity that reflected the values of his favorite quote from Galatians: ‘Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.’ He vowed to give $70,000 to the most worthy nominee.”

When the time came to announce the winner, the servers at the Four Seasons Resort, where the party was being held, distributed envelopes to the guests.

“Friess asked the lucky winner to stand up and shout, and for the other guests to remain seated,” the account continued. “Then he sat back and waited for the mayhem.”

As people opened the envelopes, someone at every table stood and shouted, “I won!” He had funded every request, at a cost of $7.7 million.

Foster Stephen Friess was born on April 2, 1940, in Rice Lake, Wis. His father, Albert, was a cattle rancher, and his mother, Ethel (Foster) Friess, was a homemaker.

“I came from nothing,” he told The New York Times in 2018 during his campaign for governor when asked if he himself might be considered one of the “elites” he was railing against. “My mom dropped out of school in eighth grade to pick cotton and save the family farm. My dad had a high school education.”

He graduated from the University of Wisconsin in Madison with a degree in business administration and served in the Army as an intelligence officer for a guided-missile brigade at Fort Bliss in Texas.

After working in finance for several years, he founded the investment management firm Friess Associates in 1974 and was soon regarded as a first-rate stock picker. His flagship asset, the Brandywine Fund, swelled to more than $15 billion. He sold a controlling interest in Friess Associates to the Affiliated Managers Group in 2001.

On the political side, Mr. Friess did more than support candidates. In 2010, he was a founding investor in The Daily Caller, Tucker Carlson and Neil Patel’s conservative news and opinion website.

In 2012 Mr. Friess supported Mr. Santorum not so much because he agreed with all his policies — “I try to talk him out of them,” he told the broadcaster Lou Dobbs in February 2012 — but because he thought the Republican Party needed a new face.

“These old veteran war horses, they have a hard time making it,” he said on “Lou Dobbs Tonight.” “Dole couldn’t make it, McCain couldn’t make it. On the Democratic side, Gore couldn’t make it and Kerry couldn’t make it. So the Democrats bring these fresh faces, they bring Carter from out of nowhere, they bring Clinton from out of nowhere, they bring Obama from beyond nowhere.”

Later that month Mr. Friess made headlines when, on MSNBC, Andrea Mitchell asked him whether Mr. Santorum’s statements on “the dangers of contraception” would hurt his campaign.

“Back in my days,” Mr. Friess said, “they used Bayer aspirin for contraception. The gals put it between their knees, and it wasn’t that costly.”

Mr. Santorum’s primary campaign started strong but foundered, and Mr. Obama was elected to a second term, defeating Mitt Romney.

In the next presidential campaign, Mr. Friess also supported Mr. Santorum initially. In mid-2015, with the Republican field choked with candidates and the nastiness level increasing, he called on the candidates not to “drift off the civility reservation.”

In May 2016, with Mr. Santorum out of the race and Mr. Trump having secured the Republican nomination, Mr. Friess threw his support to the Trump cause, though acknowledging that Mr. Trump had advanced by showing the very incivility he had decried — something he expected would change to a more presidential tenor.

“Donald’s strategy seems to work,” Mr. Friess told CNN that month, “but I’m convinced he’s going to shift.”

Mr. Friess supported Mr. Trump throughout his administration, and when he ran for governor, the Trump family tried to return the favor — the president’s son Donald Jr. endorsed him in an opinion article in The Star Tribune of Casper, Wyo. President Trump himself was quieter, although he did offer a Twitter post late in the campaign endorsing Mr. Friess. Mr. Gordon’s victory was cited by some of as evidence of Mr. Trump’s vulnerability, though others saw it more as a local matter.

Three weeks ago, when Darin Smith, a lawyer and businessman who has contended that Mr. Trump “probably” won the 2020 election, announced that he would challenge Representative Liz Cheney, Republican of Wyoming, who has been critical of Mr. Trump, in the 2022 primaries, he said that Mr. Friess would be his campaign chairman.

Mr. Friess’s wife of 58 years, Lynnette Estes Friess, survives him, as do their four children, Traci, Stephen, Carrie, and Michael; a brother, Herman; and 15 grandchildren.

Categories
Politics

Pentagon asks for $715 billion in 2022 Protection finances

Pentagon asks for $715 billion in 2022 Defense budget

An F / A-18 Hornet aircraft sits on the airline line while a wall of fire behind it explodes during an air show at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., On October 3, 2010.

Lance Cpl. Jamean Berry | US Marine Corps

WASHINGTON – The Department of Defense is asking Congress for $ 715 billion in its fiscal 2022 budget, an increase of about $ 10 billion over what was allocated to the Pentagon in fiscal 2021.

The White House on Friday released the general details of President Joe Biden’s budget proposal for the fiscal year beginning October 1, which targets a whopping $ 753 billion for national defense.

The Pentagon’s $ 715 billion share of the budget will fund weapons programs and key national security priorities, while an additional $ 38 billion will be used for defense programs at the Department of Energy and other federal agencies, bringing the total to defense spending totaling $ 753 billion. Dollar.

The nearly 2% increase in defense spending is due to the Biden administration pulling the nation out of the U.S. military’s longest war and shifting focus away from the Middle East to address the emerging threats from China.

“The division in this budget has a clear view of Beijing and provides the investment to prioritize China as our pace challenge,” Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks told reporters on Friday. “The PRC has become increasingly competitive in the Indo-Pacific region and around the world. It has the economic, military and technological capabilities to challenge the international system and American interests within it,” she added.

The Pentagon is calling for $ 5.1 billion for its Pacific deterrent initiative to counter threats emanating from China.

“At the same time, we have to deal with advanced and persistent threats from Russia, Iran, North Korea and other non-state and transnational factors,” said Hicks.

The Pentagon’s proposed budget includes more than $ 500 million for Covid-19 and pandemic preparation. largest investment in research, development and technology to date, at $ 112 billion; and $ 617 million to combat, prepare and adapt to climate change.

The budget also includes a 2.7% pay increase for troops and civil defense personnel.

Here is a breakdown of some of the major weapons programs the Pentagon is looking to add to its arsenal.

plane

A Naval Airman with Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501 flies an F-35 over North Carolina during air refueling training April 14, 2015.

Cpl. Unique Roberts | US Marine Corps

The Pentagon is asking for $ 52.4 billion to invest in the military’s air domain. The Department of Defense plans to use $ 12 billion to purchase 85 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters. The F-35 is Lockheed Martin’s largest program and the most expensive weapon system in the world.

Other important investments:

  • 14 Boeing KC-46 tankers: $ 2.5 billion
  • 9 Lockheed Martin CH-53K King Stallion helicopters: $ 1.7 billion
  • 12 Boeing F-15EX fighter jets: $ 1.5 billion
  • 30 Apache Boeing AH-64E attack helicopters: $ 825 million

Ships

The aircraft carrier USS Harry Truman will cross the Arabian Sea on January 31, 2020.

Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Scott Swofford | US Navy

The Pentagon wants $ 34.6 billion to grow and modernize the Navy’s combat fleet. The Department of Defense is also calling for an unmanned surface vehicle to diversify the Navy’s capabilities.

Other important investments:

  • 1 General Dynamics Columbia-class ballistic missile submarine: $ 5 billion
  • 2 General Dynamics Virginia-class rapid attack submarines: $ 6.9 billion
  • 1 General Dynamics Arleigh Burke-class destroyer: $ 2.4 billion
  • 1 frigate FFG (X) frigate: $ 1.3 billion
  • 1 Huntington Ingalls Ford-class aircraft carrier: $ 2.9 billion
  • Unmanned surface craft: $ 203 million

vehicles

U.S. Marines with the 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force position their amphibious assault vehicles on the beach during an amphibious raid drill with Royal Thai Marines on June 10, 2013 in Hat Yao, Thailand.

Cpl. John Lamb | US Marine Corps

The Pentagon calls for $ 12.3 billion for ground combat systems. The request includes upgrades and modifications for 70 rugged M1 Abrams tanks for $ 1 billion.

Other important investments:

  • 3,799 common light tactical vehicles for a variety of missions: $ 1.1 billion
  • 92 amphibious combat vehicles for use throughout the U.S. Marine Corps: $ 613 million

Cybersecurity and IT

The Pentagon is demanding $ 10.4 billion for its cyber efforts, including protecting the Department of Defense’s networks.

Last year, software from IT company SolarWinds was breached, allowing hackers to access communications and data in multiple government agencies.

In April, Washington officially made the Russian foreign intelligence service responsible for carrying out the SolarWinds cyberattack. Microsoft President Brad Smith described the incident as “the largest and most sophisticated attack the world has ever seen”. Microsoft’s systems were also infected with malicious software.

The Russian government denies all allegations behind the SolarWinds hack.

Earlier this month, the Colonial Pipeline was the victim of a widespread cyberattack that forced the company to shut down approximately 5,500 miles of pipeline, cutting off half fuel supplies on the east coast and gasoline shortages in the southeast.

On Thursday, Microsoft warned in a blog post that the Russian hackers believed to be behind the catastrophic SolarWinds attack had launched another attack.

The hacking group known as Nobelium has targeted more than 150 organizations worldwide in the past week, including government agencies, think tanks and non-governmental organizations. The cyber attack is the latest example of criminal groups or state actors exploiting US cyber vulnerabilities.

“With solar winds and other episodes of hacking into US data networks, it makes sense to invest more in cybersecurity, but the Pentagon will not necessarily be the main player in addressing broader cyber challenges for infrastructure, power, communications, and banking systems.” said William Hartung, director of the weapons and security program at the Center for International Politics.

“Partnership with the private sector and federal rules on the path to cybersecurity could also or more importantly be to prevent cyber risks,” he added.

Missile defense

A U.S. Air Force Minuteman III unarmed ICBM launches during an operational test May 3, 2017 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

Aviator 1st class Daniel Brosam | US Air Force

The Pentagon wants $ 20.4 billion for the further development of its multi-layer missile defense system.

“The company finally seems to be moving towards a new vision of missile defense, manifested in new efforts in space sensors, hypersonic and cruise missile defense, and other next-generation technologies,” said Thomas Karako, director of the missile defense project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, when asked about the budget for missile defense.

“Hypersonic defense will be a challenging, complex form of air defense, but it is possible and that is where the threat has arrived,” added Karako.

Other important investments:

  • Sea Interceptors (SM-3 IIA and SM-3 IB): $ 647 million
  • Sea-based Ballistic Missile Defense System, or AEGIS BMD: $ 1 billion
  • Ground-Based Middle Way and Enhanced Next Generation Homeland Security / Interceptor (NGI): $ 1.7 billion
  • Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD System: $ 562 million
  • Patriot Advanced Capability Missile Segment Improvement: $ 777 million

place

The 45th Space Wing successfully launches a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket for the U.S. Navy that lifted from Space Launch Complex-41 on July 9, 2013 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

Pat Corkery | via the US Air Force

The Pentagon is calling for $ 20.6 billion to invest in the emerging security environment in space. The Department of Defense plans to spend 1.7 billion US dollars on five launchers and the Rocket System Launch Program (RSLP).

Other important investments:

  • Global Positioning System (GPS) Company: $ 1.8 billion
  • Space-based Overhead Persistent Infrared (OPIR) systems: $ 2.6 billion