Author: Gloria Cote

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Politics

Trump Allies Eye Lengthy-Shot Election Reversal in Congress

Trump Allies Eye Long-Shot Election Reversal in Congress

Mr. Brooks tried to get support. He met with about half a dozen senators, including Utah’s Mike Lee, and separately with the conservative House Freedom Caucus last week.

“My # 1 goal is to fix a badly flawed American electoral system that is too easy to fraud and steal,” said Brooks. “A possible bonus for achieving this goal is that if you only count legitimate votes from legitimate American citizens and exclude all illegal votes, Donald Trump would officially win the electoral college, as I believe he actually did.”

It remains unclear how broad a coalition could be. More than 60 percent of Republicans in the House of Representatives, including the two top party leaders, joined a legal letter backing the unsuccessful Texas lawsuit and asking the Supreme Court to overturn the election results. But it is one thing to sign a legal mandate and another to officially challenge the outcome on the floor of the house.

Some Republicans, including Representative Scott Perry from Pennsylvania and Representative Matt Gaetz from Florida, have also signaled that they could support an appeal. Mr. Brooks said he had spoken to other interested parties. But prominent allies of the president who have plunged headlong into previous fights, such as representative Jim Jordan from Ohio or even the minority leader of the House of Representatives, representative Kevin McCarthy from California, have so far been publicly noncommittal.

“All eyes are on January 6,” Gaetz said Friday night on Fox News after the Supreme Court dismissed the Texas lawsuit. “I suspect there will be some debate and discourse in Congress as we go through the voter certification process. We still believe there is evidence that needs to be considered. “

Kentucky Republican Mr Paul said he would “wait and see how all legal cases play out” before deciding what to do.

Mr Johnson plans to hold a hearing this week “investigating the irregularities in the 2020 election,” and Ken Starr, the former independent attorney who is a right-wing favorite, and at least two attorneys who stand up for Mr Trump have pronounced introduces. Whether he will question the results on Jan. 6, he told reporters last week, “depends on what we find out.”

Maggie Haberman contributed to the coverage.

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Business

Virgin Galactic SPCE inventory drops after aborted spaceflight take a look at

Virgin Galactic SPCE stock drops after aborted spaceflight test

SpaceShipTwo “Unity” on the runway after an abandoned space test on December 12, 2020.

Virgo Galactic

Virgin Galactic shares fell in trading Monday after the space tourism company canceled its final space flight test mid-launch on Saturday because of an engine ignition problem.

“The flight did not reach space as planned. After being released from its mothership, the spacecraft’s on-board computer monitoring the rocket motor lost connection. As planned, this triggered a fail-safe scenario that deliberately stopped the rocket motor from igniting.” Incident, our pilots flew back to Spaceport America and landed gracefully as usual, “said Michael Colglazier, CEO of Virgin Galactic, in a statement.

The company expects to repeat the space flight attempt from its operational base at Spaceport America in New Mexico. Colglazier said Virgin Galactic is evaluating the data from the test and not saying when it is expected to be ready to go again. The company said it had several rocket engines “ready” on site and would “check the vehicle and get back on flight” soon. “

Virgin Galactic shares fell 15% in trading from the previous close of $ 32.04.

“Although the test flight this weekend wasn’t a success, that’s the silver lining [Virgin Galactic] was able to prove that the built-in fail-safe scenarios worked properly [SpaceShipTwo] slide safely back to earth without endangering the safety of people on board. Successfully triggering a resilient scenario should help allay some investor concerns about the risk of a catastrophic event [Virgin Galactic] begins commercial operations, “wrote Credit Suisse analyst Robert Spingarn in a statement to investors on Monday.

Credit Suisse has an outperform rating for the share with a price target of USD 26.

Saturday’s flight was the first of three remaining space tests the company plans to conduct to complete development of its spacecraft system. The third will wear founder Sir Richard Branson. The impact of the canceled test on Virgin Galactic’s flight schedule remains to be determined. The Branson flight was previously scheduled for the first quarter of 2021.

Additionally, Virgin Galactic’s Saturday spaceflight attempt was the company’s first in nearly 22 months, with its previous spaceflight in February 2019 from the Mojave Air and Spaceport in California. In the meantime, the company has moved from its manufacturing and development facilities in Mojave to Spaceport America.

– CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.

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Health

Pfizer negotiating with U.S. to supply a further 100 million doses, CEO says

Pfizer negotiating with U.S. to provide an additional 100 million doses, CEO says

Vials in cartons containing the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine are being prepared for shipment on December 13, 2020 at Pfizer Global Supply’s Kalamazoo manufacturing facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Morry Gash | AFP | Getty Images

Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer, said the company is negotiating with the federal government to provide an additional 100 million Covid-19 vaccine doses next year, as Americans will receive some of the first shots on Monday.

Pfizer and the US are working out timing details, Bourla said Monday morning in an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box”. The company could provide many of these cans in the third quarter of 2021, but the U.S. government is pushing for them in the second quarter, he said.

“We are working very cooperatively to find a solution and allocate that 100 million [doses] in the second quarter if possible or in many of them, “Bourla said, adding the company has not yet signed an agreement with the US.

The comment came after the Food and Drug Administration approved Pfizer and BioNTech’s emergency coronavirus vaccine late Friday. The vaccine has been approved for people aged 16 and over.

The first doses of a Pfizer vaccine with BioNTech were shipped to the US over the weekend. Trucks carrying boxes of vaccine doses left Pfizer’s Kalamazoo, Michigan manufacturing facility on Sunday and should arrive on Monday, according to Pfizer. The company said 189 boxes for a total of 184,275 cans will be shipped to locations in all 50 states and 4 boxes will be shipped to US territories. The vaccine consists of two doses, with the doses given three weeks apart.

Initial doses of the Pfizer vaccine will be limited as production begins. Officials predict it will be months before everyone in the US who wants to be vaccinated is vaccinated. The vaccine is expected to be distributed in phases where the most critical U.S. workers and vulnerable people receive it first. The CDC has given states an outline recommending that priority be given to health workers and nursing homes first. However, states may distribute the vaccine at their own discretion.

General Gustave Perna, who oversees logistics for Operation Warp Speed, said Wednesday the government would distribute 2.9 million doses of the vaccine within 24 hours of FDA approval, followed by another 2 , 9 million doses 21 days later for patients to get their second shot. Pfizer’s vaccine takes two doses three weeks apart.

Pfizer has already signed a contract with the U.S. government to supply 100 million doses of the vaccine under the Trump administration’s Operation Warp Speed ​​vaccine program, enough to vaccinate 50 million people. Under the agreement, the Americans will receive the vaccine for free.

The previous Monday, Pfizer board member Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC that the US government turned down an offer to receive additional doses of the Pfizer vaccine in November.

The vaccine couldn’t come at a more crucial time. Hospitals in the U.S. already have higher numbers of Covid patients than ever before, and the country’s outbreak is poised to break even grimmer records. The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Robert Redfield, warned earlier this month that the next few months of the pandemic would be “some of the most difficult in the history of this country’s public health.”

President Donald Trump previously said he would invoke the Defense Production Act if necessary to ensure Americans can get a vaccine.

Bourla said Monday it was “very positive,” he said. “I hope they will do that very soon as we are facing critical delivery restrictions on some components in particular. But I think they will, so it won’t be a problem.”

– CNBC’s Spencer Kimball contributed to this report.

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Business

Specialists Debate Biden’s Local weather Coverage Guarantees

Experts Debate Biden's Climate Policy Promises

The Biden government is faced with the daunting task of rebuilding international alliances that have frayed in recent years. Expect renewed global climate cooperation to happen quickly, both in prominent settings like the Paris Agreement and in quieter diplomatic efforts, said Rajiv Shah, president of the Rockefeller Foundation and former head of the U.S. Agency for International Development.

These diplomatic moves, “coupled with the running of large corporations and large financial institutions,” would be “a tremendous asset,” he said.

Economy & Economy

Updated

Apr. 11, 2020, 6:16 pm ET

In terms of the private sector, the financial industry could help realign government policy, said Ariel Meyerstein of Citi. “There’s an entirely different infrastructure out there in the financial sector that we’ve been reviewing for a couple of years,” he said. The government could help set standards for investors who pursue environment, society and governance (ESG) goals, he added. When it comes to corporate climate risk disclosure, it would have a bigger impact, he said:

“As we know, there is a dizzying range of standards in ESG and sustainability reporting. We could use alignment there. There are a lot of things that you can call Track II diplomacy or just regulatory engagement that happens in a very robust way in normal times and doesn’t require legislative or administrative action or executive orders or pronouncements. It’s just about coordinating with our colleagues around the world. I think all of this is pretty important. “

The mandatory disclosure of climate risks by publicly traded companies appears to be a “high priority” for the Biden administration, said Rostin Behnam, commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. “That’s probably the first thing people think of when they think of climate change and the financial markets.” A new report from the CFTC clearly outlined the risk of climate change to financial stability and explained how the next government could use its findings:

“One of the strongest and most frequently quoted statements at the beginning of the report – which can be viewed or used as a starting point for Day 1 in a new administration – is that climate change is a major risk to the stability of the US Financial system. And I think that in itself will change the way financial regulators think about climate change. “

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Health

Enhancing Your Stability to Stop Falls

Improving Your Balance to Prevent Falls

The 70-year-old Locker explained, “Posture retraining exercises use the body’s own weight to move the postural muscles to balance the body.” The exercises are isometric; There is no movement. Rather, the postural muscles are tensed and the tension is maintained for as long as possible, building strength in both the muscles and bones.

While I am usually very skeptical of such advice from a non-specialist with no degree in physiotherapy, kinesiology, rehabilitation medicine, or exercise training, one paragraph in Mr. Locker’s book convinced me:

“Walking on a flat surface is not stressful,” at least not as Mr. Locker defines it, because it does not train postural muscles. “The knee tends to lock when the foot hits the ground, and the foot doesn’t stay on the ground for more than a moment. Hence, walking, while wonderful and healthy, does not improve balance. Walking a rocky Adirondack trail with both legs constantly bent for balance is stressful. “

I immediately referred to this description. I spent most of last summer in the lower Catskills, hiking my dog ​​over rocks and roots on uneven trails for an hour or more every other morning. In the first two weeks of July, I felt very insecure and fell twice. But with every trip I got safer and by the end of summer my balance and stability had improved noticeably. Even when I was jostled by a dog on a rocky surface, I easily remained stable and upright.

While many people are unable to train their postural muscles by hiking in the woods, Mr. Locker describes exercises that people can safely perform at home using their own bodies as equipment. No gym or equipment is needed, not even an exercise band. Basically, the feet learn to be more firmly attached to the ground as the body weight moves within a support base.

“In tai chi,” noted Locker, “we don’t move to achieve balance. First we balance, then we move. “Balance is not subject to conscious control, but it can be improved with use and decreased with non-use, he explained. “The key to balance and stability in humans is the ability to create a downward force that goes beyond body weight. Thus, neither a statue nor a surfer who is stiff as a statue can stay upright on a surfboard. “

A Sample Lesson: You’ve probably heard advice on improving balance by standing on one leg while brushing your teeth. A far better plan is to flex the knee and ankle of the leg you are standing on to activate the postural muscles. At the same time, the pelvic muscles remain relaxed. If extra assistance is needed, use the fingertips of one hand on the sink or wall. Note, however, that the goal is to stand without support and only use the wall as a counterbalance.

Another simple exercise is to stand straight with your hamstrings and glutes relaxed, and then bend your knees and ankles as if you were sitting in a high chair. Keep your spine straight and your pelvis relaxed. Hold this position for as long as possible, gradually increasing the time as your postural muscles get stronger, up to 15 minutes.

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Politics

Senate seems to be to go funding invoice

Senate looks to pass funding bill

Update: The Senate passed the government’s one-week funding law on Friday afternoon. An earlier version of this story is below.

The Senate had only hours to prevent the government from closing on Friday as lawmakers threatened to halt the swift passage of a spending bill.

Funding goes off if the Chamber does not approve a mediocre measure and President Donald Trump does not sign it before midnight. The House has already approved a week-long extension of government spending until December 18.

Legislators hope the bill will give them more time to finalize elusive year-round funding and coronavirus relief deals. However, it got more complicated to turn the lights on for another week on Friday.

In order to survive the shutdown, the measure requires unanimous approval. This means any senator can delay their approval, and several lawmakers have suggested doing so.

Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., And Josh Hawley, R-Mo., Urged a vote on a proposal to send direct payments of up to $ 1,200 per person and $ 500 per child. They criticized Congress ‘failure to put more money into Americans’ pockets for months during health and economic crises.

“In the midst of so much economic despair, Congress cannot pause without providing this $ 1,200 emergency aid to the American people in their distress,” Sanders said in a statement Thursday evening as he introduced the amendment he and Hawley proposed to the Senate hope is attached to the financing measure.

Meanwhile, NBC News reported that Florida Republican Sens. Rick Scott and Indiana Mike Braun want to tie a bill to end government closings to the week-long funding.

It is now unclear whether any of the lawmakers will actually delay the passage of the spending bill and let the funding forfeit.

The Senate cleared a potential hurdle when Senator Rand Paul, R-Ky., Told reporters he was not going to hold up the household bill. He delayed the passage of the annual National Defense Approval Act for a day amid concerns about the $ 740 billion cost and a provision that would restrict the president’s authority to withdraw troops from overseas.

A previous protest from Paul resulted in a brief shutdown in 2018.

The passage of the spending measure would keep the government going for just a week. The appropriators have failed to reach a final agreement on a plan to fund the government by September 30, 2021, but Congress leaders said they hope they can do so before next week.

Previously, Republicans and Democrats had agreed on a total price of 1.4 trillion US dollars for a year-round spending package.

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World News

Dow futures rise as shares try to bounce again from shedding week

Dow futures rise as stocks attempt to bounce back from losing week

Traders work on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

NYSE

US stock futures rose early Monday as markets indicated a rebound from a lost week.

Investors are weighing updates on the introduction of the Covid-19 vaccine and the coronavirus stimulus stalemate in Washington

Dow futures indicated an opening gain of more than 180 points. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures also traded in positive territory.

Last week, stocks saw their first week of downturn in several months as lawmakers continued a stalemate over a Covid-19 bailout package.

The S&P 500 fell nearly 1% in its first negative week in three years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.57% for its first negative week in three and the Nasdaq Composite lost nearly 0.7% for its first negative week in four.

Next week is expected to be market-moving with the launch of the Pfizer vaccine and a Federal Reserve policy meeting. Tesla is also joining the S&P 500 on Friday.

Following the Food and Drug Administration’s emergency approval for Pfizer’s vaccine, Center for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield signed the drug so that vaccinations could officially continue for those aged 16 and over.

The US has started shipping the cans from a Pfizer facility in Michigan to hundreds of distribution centers around the country. The FDA is expected to publish its assessment of Moderna’s vaccine this week.

The Covid-19 vaccine launches on some of the darkest days of the pandemic in the United States. More than 2,300 coronavirus-related deaths were recorded on Saturday, after over 3,300 deaths on Friday. New infections keep exploding. More than 219,000 cases were reported on Saturday.

The surge in cases coincides with months of debates in Washington over another round of Covid relief. A non-partisan group has proposed a $ 908 billion limit. Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has opposed the proposal, instead calling for an agreement that eliminates corporate liability and funding provisions from state and local governments. These two issues are major sources of disagreement between Republicans and Democrats.

“Politically, the debate continues on more tax legislation that is badly needed for much of the population, but will also create an even bigger ‘wall of money’ for consumers when the economies are fully reopened,” said Raymond James’ Tavis McCourt towards customers on Sunday.

“It is very clear that the economy is slowing as the local stalemate persists, but the impact on the stock market has so far been limited. Whether this will continue through Q1 is unclear, but we expect withdrawals to be limited unless the vaccine changes significantly. ” History, “he added.

The Fed begins its two-day meeting on Tuesday, the last central bank meeting in 2020. Economists have speculated that the Fed might make changes to its bond program. The Fed is currently buying at least $ 80 billion a month from Treasuries, and Fed officials at their last meeting discussed what they could do to change that program.

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Business

Aid Therapeutics shares have soared 38,000% in 2020

Relief Therapeutics shares have soared 38,000% in 2020

Medical staff examine a patient in the Covid-19 intensive care unit at the United Memorial Medical Center in Houston on November 16, 2020.

Go Nakamura | Getty Images

LONDON – Swiss biotech company Relief Therapeutics saw its share price jump 38,000% this year as it develops a drug that focuses on respiratory failure due to severe Covid-19.

Last week, the company, together with US partner NeuroRx, achieved the target agreed with the US Food and Drug Administration of 165 patients in the ongoing Phase 2b / 3 study with RLF-100, a patented version of Aviptadil.

Aviptadil is a synthetic formulation of a naturally occurring peptide called Vasoactive Intestinal Polypeptide (VIP), which is primarily concentrated in the lungs and resets the immune system’s response, acts as a vasodilator, and promotes the production of surfactant in the lungs allowing the transfer of blood oxygen.

RLF-100 has been around since 2000, when it was developed to treat acute respiratory distress and other lung diseases and was subsequently acquired by Biogen. Earlier this year, Relief scientists discovered that it could protect the cell attacked by the Covid-19 virus.

Ram Selvaraju, chairman of Relief Therapeutics, spoke to CNBC from New York by phone that the ongoing study is expected to provide topline data in the first half of January, and attributed the company’s stock price surge in part to evidence of effectiveness in ” otherwise untreatable patients. “

“Where other people have mainly focused on lightly infected or moderately infected people, we have tried carefully to see if our drug can benefit the seriously ill and the terminally ill,” he said.

Early results of extended access use of RLF-100 in patients with critical Covid-19 and severe comorbidities showed that 72% of patients admitted to the ICU survived.

Relief Therapeutics had a market cap of less than 100 million Swiss Francs ($ 113 million) in late July and surpassed the first 21 patients treated with RLF-100 under the FDA Expanded Access Protocol on August 10 after promising results 1.6 billion Swiss people. Since then, it has flattened to just under CHF 1 billion.

The 38,000% increase largely corresponds to the low level of the original share price, which was just under 0.40 Swiss francs per share on Friday afternoon. Shares in the multinational Roche, on the other hand, are worth 306 francs.

Other therapeutics that have been tested on patients with more moderate symptoms have been purchased by government agencies to help fight the pandemic. The US government’s Operation Warp Speed ​​ordered Gileads Remdesivir and Eli Lillys Bamlanivimab.

Selvaraju announced that Relief Therapeutics and NeuroRx were in contact with Operation Warp Speed, and said that if the drug successfully proves its effectiveness in critically ill patients after phase three randomized tests, the company expects to see stock orders on a scale similar to that Gilead and Eli Lilly. A US Department of Health spokesman was not immediately available for comment when contacted CNBC.

Covid the “tip of the iceberg”

In June, the FDA granted RLF-100 fast-track designation and also received orphan drug designation for the treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).

Since the drug is not an antiviral drug specifically designed to fight the coronavirus, Relief Therapeutics hopes the current pandemic is “a chance for this drug to shine” if it turns out to be a therapeutic one clinical benefit in the treatment of respiratory disease due to Covid- hat. 19th

“Covid-19 is really the tip of the iceberg, the head of the spear. If we can prove this drug works for Covid-19-related respiratory distress, we will assume that we can use these results to further develop the drug testing.” in other forms of acute respiratory distress syndrome unrelated to Covid-19, “Selvaraju said, adding that this puts Relief Therapeutics in a” pretty unique position “.

“While many other experimental therapeutics will either live or die due to the development of the pandemic, on the contrary, we believe that once we have established the therapeutic benefits of this drug in the context of Covid-19, hopefully we should have our long-term vision for this drug too a kind of workhorse for emergency rooms and intensive care units as well as hospitals and hospital systems everywhere. “

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Health

Recipes for Chocolate Truffles – The New York Occasions

Recipes for Chocolate Truffles - The New York Times

Slightly uneven little balls dusted with cocoa to simulate the bottom of a freshly dug mushroom – the black tuber melanosporum – define a chocolate truffle in its most basic form. Inside there is a firm but velvety center, a confection called ganache. Truffles are never cheap, but before taking the credit card out, consider the homemade variety. They couldn’t be easier to manufacture and don’t require special equipment. Under supervision, an 8-year-old can sculpt and dive truffles for a nice afternoon activity.

In addition to the classic version with a cocoa coating, chocolate truffles are often wrapped in a chocolate shell, which is sometimes decorated with nuts, frosting, and even gold leaf. Their taste can also be varied depending on whether you go for dark, milky, or white chocolate, adding ingredients like raspberry puree, nuts and coffee, or spirits like port, brandy and even champagne. Size also plays a role. Chocolate truffles should be just one bite and no more than an inch in diameter – three-quarters of an inch is ideal.

Time: 4 hours including chilling

Yield: approx. 40

6 ounces high quality semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, 70 percent cocoa

½ cup of heavy cream

3 tablespoons of ruby ​​port or grape juice

½ cup of unsweetened cocoa using the Dutch method

1. Cut the chocolate into small pieces, place in a small, heavy saucepan and add the cream. Place on low heat, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate has melted. Remove from heat, stir in port wine or juice; put in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate until mixture is firm, about 2 hours.

2. Spread a sheet of waxed paper or parchment paper on a baking sheet. Have a bowl of ice water ready. Use a spoon or spoon or melon baller to scoop up mounds of mixture about 3/4 inch in diameter. Roll lightly between the palms of your hands to form beautiful balls and place them on the paper. Occasionally moisten the spoon and your hands with ice water to keep the chocolate from sticking. Chill until firm, about 2 hours or overnight.

3. Spread the cocoa on a chilled plate. Take the truffles out of the refrigerator, roll them each in cocoa and place them back on the baking sheet. Cool to firm. Truffles can be frozen for up to a week.

Time: 6 hours including chilling

Yield: approx. 40

6 ounces high quality semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, 70 percent cocoa

½ cup of heavy cream

3 tablespoons of prosecco

½ pound high quality white chocolate to coat

1. Break the dark chocolate into small pieces, transfer them to a small, heavy saucepan and add the cream. Place on low heat, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate has melted. Remove from heat, stir in the prosecco and place in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate until mixture is firm, about 2 hours.

2. Spread a sheet of waxed paper or parchment paper on a baking sheet. Have a bowl of ice water ready. Use a spoon or spoon, or a melon baller, to scoop up mounds about 3/4 of an inch in diameter. Roll lightly between your palms to make beautiful balls and put them on paper. Occasionally moisten the spoon and your hands with ice water to keep the chocolate from sticking. Chill until firm, about 2 hours or overnight.

3. Break white chocolate into pieces and melt on top of a double boiler or place in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave at 50 percent power for 1 minute, stirring every 15 seconds. Let the chocolate cool to about 90 degrees at room temperature and stir it from time to time. Drop chilled truffles one at a time into melted chocolate and quickly lift them out with a small fork or professional wire dip loop to allow excess water to drain off. Place on a baking sheet and store in the refrigerator for about 2 hours.

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Business

Disney to Reveal Plans to Turbocharge Streaming Choices

Disney to Reveal Plans to Turbocharge Streaming Offerings

LOS ANGELES – A major expansion of the Star Wars universe. Tom Hanks as Geppetto in a live action “Pinocchio” and Yara Shahidi as Tinker Bell in a live action “Peter Pan & Wendy”. Recordings of new Marvel projects. A star-studded prequel to “The Lion King”.

On Thursday, the Walt Disney Company will discuss a lot of upcoming Death Star-sized content in a four-hour investor presentation focused on streaming – all that and more, said three people with knowledge of the matter, who spoke on condition of anonymity Discussion of private planning.

Some big budget Disney films will continue to show exclusively in theaters. (The “Lion King” project directed by Barry Jenkins, which focuses on Mufasa’s backstory, is a great choice.) Others will debut online. (This is where Pinocchio comes in.) All of them will ultimately serve one goal, namely to empower Disney +, the company’s flagship streaming service.

At a time when streaming is becoming increasingly competitive – and some of Disney’s traditional companies are struggling – Disney hopes to use the virtual event to dazzle Wall Street: here is a 97-year-old company making the leap in creates the hyperspace from direct customers to consumers.

Last month, Bob Chapek, Disney’s CEO, announced that Disney + had reached 74 million subscribers worldwide after just 11 months of operation. (It took Netflix seven years to reach that threshold and now has 195 million customers worldwide.) Since then, Disney + has been launched in Latin America and grown rapidly in India, analysts say. Some estimate that Disney may reveal that the service is within reach of 100 million subscribers.

Disney is also expected to release growth updates to its other streaming platforms, including ESPN +, Hulu, and a new general entertainment offering, Star, which will be rolled out overseas in the coming months.

“The question everyone has now is where to go from here?” Michael Nathanson, founder of media research firm MoffettNathanson, said in a telephone interview. “We expect much more spending on content to make Disney + an always available service that increases pricing power.”

Subscriptions to Disney + are $ 7 per month. The cheapest Netflix plan is $ 9 a month, and HBO Max, a young WarnerMedia service, is $ 15.

Disney declined to comment on this article.

Investors have kissed their lips in anticipation of what Disney will reveal, including projections of subscriber growth. Disney stock is up 32 percent since Investor Day announced in August, compared with Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index, up 11 percent.

Disney was trading at around $ 155 on Wednesday, near an all-time high, although some of its theme park resorts (which are huge money generators) remain closed because of the pandemic. The company laid off 30,000 employees.

Hollywood is keen on the investor presentation as Disney executives have announced that they will be discussing an evolving approach to film distribution. The coronavirus has forced Disney and other studios to postpone the release of more than a dozen major films and redirect others to streaming services. In September, Disney debuted “Mulan” on Disney + as part of a “Premium Access” experiment and billed subscribers $ 30 for perpetual access. Pixar’s latest film, Soul, will be released on Disney + on Christmas Day at no additional cost.

Citing the pandemic, WarnerMedia switched 17 upcoming Warner Bros. films to a hybrid release model last week – arriving on HBO Max and in theaters simultaneously – although some of the films (“Dune”, “The Matrix 4”) not scheduled to come out until the fourth quarter, long after vaccines are expected to be used. The surprise move resulted in a quick and severe setback for the WarnerMedia talent, who felt betrayed by the sudden change. You also get significantly lower paydays.

John Stankey, the executive director of AT&T, which owns Warner Media, described the excitement at a conference Tuesday as “a lot of noise” and predicted that WarnerMedia’s strategy would prove to be “win-win-win”.

Economy & Economy

Updated

Apr. 11, 2020, 6:16 pm ET

In contrast, Disney’s CEO Chapek and Robert A. Iger will not be taking a single approach to movie releases in 2021, according to people who know the company’s plan.

Some titles on Disney’s cinema board will be moved to Disney + at no additional cost. Expect “Peter Pan & Wendy” like “Soul” and “Pinocchio” to debut this way.

Other films will take the “Mulan” route and arrive on Disney + as premium offers. “We have something here in terms of leading access strategy,” Chapek told analysts on a recent conference call. “With our portfolio of services there will be a strategic role.”

And some of Disney’s greatest films will continue to receive exclusive theatrical releases before being added to the company’s streaming services. For example, contrary to popular speculation, Black Widow, a highly anticipated Marvel spectacle, will stay on Disney’s theatrical calendar for May 7th, people with knowledge of the presentation said.

Movies are helpful in attracting subscribers, but TV shows stream customers who pay month after month. To this end, Disney has an abundance of series for its services along the way. These include “Turner and Hooch,” an adaptation of the 1989 film about a detective and his oversized mutt; “Willow”, an adaptation of the large-screen fantasy from 1988; and eight Marvel shows based on characters like Loki and She-Hulk.

Streaming is not yet profitable for Disney – far from it. Direct sales losses were $ 2.8 billion in fiscal 2020. Streaming-related losses are expected to peak in 2022 as rollout costs decrease and content costs normalize. Analysts expect Disney + to be profitable by 2024.

Disney has stated that some of the money for its new content flash will come from programming budgets for its traditional television networks. The company owns the Disney Channel, National Geographic, FX, Freeform and ABC, among others.

“We will be shifting the scale from linear networks to our direct customer business,” said Chapek on the recent conference call.

Analysts pushed for additional details. “Just wait until December 10th,” said Christine McCarthy, Disney’s chief financial officer, on the call. “Hopefully then we can answer all of your questions.”