Category: Business

Categories
Business

The Pandemic Helped Reverse Italy’s Mind Drain. However Can It Final?

The Pandemic Helped Reverse Italy’s Brain Drain. But Can It Last?

When the engineer Elena Parisi left Italy at the age of 22 to pursue a career Five years ago, in London, she joined the numerous talented Italians who had escaped a sluggish job market and a lack of opportunities at home to find work abroad.

But last year, when the coronavirus pandemic forced employees around the world to work from home, Ms. Parisi, like many of her compatriots, took the opportunity to really return to Italy.

Between the Zoom meetings and her other work for a recycling company in London, she took long walks on the beach near her family’s home in Palermo, Sicily, talking to vendors in the local market about recipes at dawn.

“The quality of life here is a thousand, a thousand times better,” said Ms. Parisi, who is now in Rome.

As with so many things, the virus has a well-known phenomenon – this time Italy’s longstanding brain drain. How much things are changing, and how permanent those changes will be, is a source of debate in the country. But something is clearly different.

According to the European Commission, Italy is one of the European countries, along with Romania and Poland, that send the most workers abroad. And the proportion of Italians living abroad with a university degree is higher than that of the Italian population.

Given the money the country spends on education, Italy’s brain drain costs the country an estimated 14 billion euros (about $ 17 billion) each year, according to Confindustria, Italy’s largest business association.

Italian lawmakers had long tried to win back talented workers with tax breaks, but a bleak job market, high unemployment, baroque bureaucracy, and narrow career opportunities continued to draw many Italian graduates abroad.

Then the virus seemed to do what years of incentives couldn’t.

Last year, the number of Italians between the ages of 18 and 34 returning home rose 20 percent year over year, according to the Italian Foreign Ministry.

The Italian government has welcomed the return of some of the country’s best and brightest countries as a silver lining to a pandemic brutal for Italy, calling the postponement a “great opportunity”. There is also a financial advantage as Italians who spend more than six months in the country have to pay their taxes there.

Paola Pisano, Italy’s Minister for Technological Innovation, said at a conference in October that Italy would have the chance to benefit from the skills and innovation that returning Italians bring with them.

She also said Italy must do its part to keep them there. For one thing, the country needs “a strong, diffuse, powerful and secure internet connection” so that those who have moved abroad can “return to their country and continue working for the company they worked for”.

A group of Italians formed an association called Southworking to encourage remote working from the less developed south of Italy in the hope that returning professionals would devote their free time and money to improving their hometowns.

“Your ideas, your volunteer work and your creativity stay on the land where you live,” said Elena Militello, the association’s president, who returned to Sicily from Luxembourg.

To encourage remote work, the association creates a network of cities with fast internet connections, an airport or train station nearby, and at least one common work area or library with good WiFi.

To map them, the association received help from Carmelo Ignaccolo, a graduate student in urban planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who returned to Sicily after the coronavirus.

For the past few months, Mr Ignaccolo has been overseeing exams with the Mediterranean in the background of his zoom screen, teaching classes near his great-grandfather’s olive press, and escaping the heat by studying in a nearby Greek necropolis.

“I am 100 percent for an American professional life,” he said, “but I have a very Mediterranean lifestyle.”

Not only the south of Italy benefits from the return traffic.

Roberto Franzan, 26, a programmer who built a successful start-up in London before joining Google, returned to his home in Rome in March.

“You go to the bar and you can just start talking to just about anyone,” he said. “It worked great for me.” He said a number of interesting startups and tech companies had popped up in Italy and he could envision investing in the country.

“That moment has given us all along that getting back to your roots can be a good thing,” he said.

Italy’s business leaders have urged the government not to miss the opportunity.

“Coronavirus, the U-turn of the brain drain,” wrote Michel Martone, a former deputy labor minister, in the Roman newspaper Il Messaggero. He called on lawmakers to find a way to sustain the “extraordinary army of young people who have returned home in the face of the emergency”.

However, some experts say there aren’t really that many benefits to solidify.

While many Italians may have returned to the Tuscan countryside or Sicilian beaches, their thoughts still benefit American, British, Dutch, and other overseas businesses.

“Zoom isn’t going to solve Italy’s problems,” said Enrico Moretti, an economist at the University of California at Berkeley who focuses on labor and urban economics and is part of the Italian brain drain himself.

Brunello Rosa, a London economist who is another member of the diaspora, said returned Italians “produce an activity for a foreign entity – they create value abroad and income abroad.” He added that “the fact that they spend their salary in Italy doesn’t really make a difference.”

A more likely outcome, he said, is that the virus will lead to economic rubble and huge unemployment that will spark another wave of emigration once European countries lift their locks.

To really tackle the problem, Italy and others would need to undertake profound structural and cultural reforms that tighten bureaucracy and improve transparency, rather than relying on “people returning home because the food is bad abroad and the weather is bad “.

Mr. Ignaccolo, the MIT graduate student, plans to return to the US to pursue his academic career and the new company that programmer Mr. Franzan is starting will be based in Delaware.

The disadvantages of working in Italy are also of concern to Ms Parisi, who is concerned that her career advancement would be hampered in what she believes is an Italian business world with limited scope for younger workers. She admitted London’s lack of sun was dreary and British food bad for her skin, but said other things in life were important too.

“I am young, I am a woman and I am in a very high position,” she said, explaining that she would return to her job in London when her office reopened.

“It was a once in a lifetime opportunity. I could both keep the job and live in Italy, ”she said of her time there. “But I always knew it would only be temporary.”

Categories
Business

Hospital group presses Trump administration for ongoing federal assist with vaccine distribution

Hospital group presses Trump administration for ongoing federal help with vaccine distribution

Seniors 65 years and older wait in line at the Sarasota Department of Health’s COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic in Sarasota, Florida, the United States, Jan. 4, 2021.

Octavio Jones | Reuters

The American Hospital Association on Thursday urged Health Secretary Alex Azar to provide more support and coordination for the federal distribution of Covid-19 vaccines. The slow rollout has raised questions about how quickly they can vaccinate the public.

The group, which represents nearly 5,000 hospitals and health systems across the country, said the rollout “raised concerns about whether the task of vaccinating everyone who is able to take the vaccine will come as soon as it can it was suggested by the federal leaders “. According to a letter sent Thursday to Azar, the secretary of the Ministry of Health and Human Services.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 17.2 million doses of vaccine had been distributed as of Wednesday, but in fact just over 5.3 million doses had been given. This is nowhere near the targets previously set by federal officials to vaccinate 20 million people in December.

Richard Pollack, CEO of the AHA, said in the letter to Azar that the vaccine’s slow initial rollout casts doubt on whether the country will be able to vaccinate enough Americans to achieve herd immunity by the summer. In the first few weeks of the rollout, unforeseen issues arose, he added, calling on Azar to provide more leadership and coordination between states to address the issues.

Representatives from HHS have not returned CNBC’s request for comment.

According to Pollack, some hospitals have received fewer doses than requested, while others have received more than they need “with no explanation for this mismatch”. Pollack added that other differences between the state’s plans are also creating headaches for hospitals and adding to the complexity of the massive vaccination campaign.

“We hear from hospitals and health systems that serve more than one state that it is difficult to manage vaccine distribution when their patients live in jurisdictions with different rules about which patients are prioritized and who have different levels of priority,” wrote Pollack . “As this rollout is evolving rapidly, it is absolutely essential that effective situational real-time guidance is provided at the national level.”

He urged Azar and HHS to communicate more frequently and clearly with state, local, and hospital officials.

And many hospitals across the country are currently overwhelmed with treating Covid-19 patients. Pollack says hospitals cannot vaccinate the public without help. He said hospitals suffer from staff shortages and limited protective equipment such as masks and gloves. Pollack asked for more details about the government’s plan to include pharmacy chains in the wider vaccine rollout.

Pollack stressed that the aim of the vaccination campaign is to achieve herd immunity and bring the outbreak under control. By some estimates, that could be around 246 million Americans, or around 75% of the population.

“That would mean vaccinating 1.8 million people a day between January 15 and May 31, including weekends and holidays,” wrote Pollack of the attempt to vaccinate 246 million Americans by the summer. “There are currently 64 different micro-plans being developed by states, some major cities, and other jurisdictions [HHS] assess whether these plans are overall able to achieve this level of vaccination? “

Categories
Business

Trump Is Banned on Fb ‘at Least’ Till His Time period is Over

Trump Is Banned on Facebook 'at Least' Until His Term is Over

SAN FRANCISCO – Facebook announced on Thursday that it would block President Trump on its platforms at least until the end of his tenure on Jan. 20, as much of the mainstream online world has vigorously tried to curtail the president after years of inactivity.

But Twitter, which suspended Mr. Trump’s account on Wednesday for posting violating his rules, lifted the ban and allowed the president to tweet. Late Thursday, Mr Trump marked his return to social media by posting a two-minute, 41-second video on Twitter saying he would support a peaceful change of power.

Facebook and Twitter said they made their opposing decisions for different reasons. Mark Zuckerberg, the executive director of Facebook, said in a post that the social network had decided to cut Mr. Trump off because a rampage by pro-Trump supporters in the capital of the country the day before, suggested by the president, had shown that he was trying to undermine the transition to President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.

“We believe the risk that the president will continue to use our service during this time is simply too great,” wrote Zuckerberg. As a result, Facebook and its photo-sharing website Instagram would expand the blocks first set up on Wednesday for Mr Trump’s ability “until the peaceful transfer of power is complete”.

Twitter said on Wednesday that the company saw a “risk of harm” in Mr. Trump’s news, but would only suspend the president’s account permanently if he continued to break his rules. Mr Trump deleted the tweets that led to the suspension of his account, told Twitter Thursday, and started a countdown to get his access back on.

The various actions showed how social media companies are still grappling with moderating one of their most powerful and popular users. Mr Trump, who used the websites during his presidency to anger his supporters and harass his enemies, has been constantly harassing Facebook and Twitter by moving the envelope on what the world’s leaders are saying online to be ready.

Before Twitter reintroduced Mr. Trump’s account, it and other social media companies had been part of a growing revolt against Mr. Trump. Twitter began restricting online on Wednesday by temporarily suspending Mr. Trump’s account after posting tweets that violated the rules on calling for violence and discrediting voting.

Facebook followed later. Snap, the maker of Snapchat, has also blocked access to Mr. Trump’s Snapchat account. YouTube on Thursday issued a stricter electoral fraud misinformation policy to make it easier for the president to be suspended for posting false election claims. Twitch, a video streaming platform, also suspended Mr. Trump’s account on Thursday.

These actions were a remarkable change for a social media industry that has long refused to disrupt Mr Trump’s posts, which have often been filled with falsehoods and threats. Positioning themselves as defenders of free speech and public debate, Facebook and Twitter said it was in the public’s best interest to see what world leaders posted, even when critics attacked the platforms to denounce the unhindered flow of misinformation and allow toxic content.

Lawmakers and even company employees said the platforms waited too long to take serious action against Mr Trump. On Facebook, dozens of workers found the company only banned Mr. Trump from posting after the Democrats secured the presidency and control of the Senate, according to people familiar with the internal talks.

“I am pleased that social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube are taking long belated steps to combat the president’s continued abuse of their platforms to sow discord and violence. However, these isolated actions are too late and by far not enough.” said Senator Mark Warner, Democrat from Virginia.

Derrick Johnson, the president and chief executive of the NAACP, praised Facebook’s decision to suspend Mr. Trump’s account and urged Twitter to do the same.

“The president’s social media accounts are a petri dish of disinformation designed to share and fuel violence at all costs,” said Johnson.

The transition of the president

Updated

Jan. 7, 2021, 8:25 p.m. ET

A White House spokesman said no one has been more successful with digital media than Mr Trump and that it was “incredibly ironic, but not surprising, that when the president spoke to the country at a critical time, Big Tech decided to give it censor and prevent him from doing so. Big tech is out of control. “

Over the past year, Facebook and Twitter had taken some steps to flag Mr Trump’s posts as inaccurate and to point users to reliable information. But they had mostly been unwilling to delete Mr. Trump’s messages or limit his account.

On Facebook, that aversion changed on Wednesday after Mr. Trump attacked his supporters on social media and a mob stormed the Capitol. From home, Mr. Zuckerberg and other executives – including Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, Head of Politics, Monica Bickert, Vice President of Integrity, Guy Rosen, and Head of International Politics and Communications, Nicholas Clegg – made a video call, to discuss what to do, said two people who were on the phone and were not authorized to speak publicly.

After Twitter suspended Mr Trump’s account late Wednesday, Mr Zuckerberg approved the removal of two posts from the president’s Facebook page, the two people said. By that evening, Mr Zuckerberg had decided to restrict Mr Trump’s Facebook account for the remainder of his tenure – and perhaps indefinitely, they said.

“What we saw and saw in real time on television – it was cruel, a violent riot, deeply troubling,” Zuckerberg said in a conference call with Facebook employees on Thursday that heard the New York Times. “You simply cannot have a functioning democracy without a peaceful change of power.”

Mr Zuckerberg also criticized Mr Trump directly on the phone call, saying the president had “fanned the flames of his supporters as they tried to overthrow the election result”.

Ms. Bickert added that while Mr. Trump’s posts were not direct calls for violence – the standard Facebook uses to remove posts – executives felt that those posts did more to reduce the risk of ongoing violence to decrease than to decrease it.

Alex Holmes, deputy general manager of The Diana Award nonprofit, said outside councils that he was a member of the advisory board on Facebook and Twitter on trust and safety had raised concerns about President Trump’s inflammatory social media posts however ignored.

“What was sometimes lost was understanding how things can lead to offline damage,” he said. “The world is watching now.”

On Twitter, the decision to temporarily suspend Mr Trump’s account on Wednesday came after a discussion among security and policy executives, said a person familiar with the company. They pointed to a clause in Twitter’s policy that said even world leaders could face consequences if they promoted terrorism or made clear and direct calls to violence.

Jack Dorsey, the executive director of Twitter, spent Thursday morning liking and retweeting comments calling for caution over a permanent ban on Mr. Trump, suggesting he would not deviate from the plan to see Mr. Trump again to be included in the service.

A Twitter spokesman declined to comment on Mr Dorsey.

The actions of the social media companies went beyond Mr. Trump. Twitter permanently suspended Lin Wood, an attorney who used his account to promote the QAnon conspiracy theory and push the mob on Wednesday. The company also removed a post from Dan Bongino, a Conservative podcast host, on Thursday.

This helped renew right-wing criticism that conservatives were being censored by the platforms headquartered in liberal Silicon Valley. Mr Trump has accused companies of censorship in the past and signed an executive order last year aimed at removing the platforms’ legal protection.

“Speech blocking is going to get worse,” tweeted Mr Bongino before posting the post, which would be removed and result in his account being banned.

Other conservatives railed against Facebook on alternative social media sites such as Parler and Gab, two Twitter-like platforms that the far-right party has joined for its laissez-faire attitude. On Parler, the hashtag #FacebookCensorship was trending on Thursday, while Gab’s “Trending” page featured a full-screen photo of Mr. Zuckerberg headed “Facebook Bans Trump”.

Parler and Gab did not respond to requests for comment.

“The cleanup will only intensify,” wrote a Gab user with the handle @ Winst0n_Smith. “People need to migrate to alternative social media.”

Daisuke Wakabayashi and Sheera Frenkel contributed to the coverage.

Categories
Business

Boeing to pay greater than $2.5 billion to settle prison conspiracy prices over 737 Max

Boeing to pay more than $2.5 billion to settle criminal conspiracy charges over 737 Max

An employee works near a Boeing 737 Max aircraft at the Boeing 737 Max manufacturing facility in Renton, Washington, the United States, on December 16, 2019.

Lindsey Wasson | Reuters

Boeing agreed to pay more than $ 2.5 billion to settle criminal complaints with the U.S. Department of Justice that the company accused of hiding information about its 737 Max plane, which was involved in two crashes the Federal Prosecutor announced on Thursday that 346 people were killed.

Prosecutors said Boeing had “knowingly and intentionally” conspired to defraud the United States by undermining the Federal Aviation Administration’s ability to assess the aircraft’s safety.

Boeing admitted that two 737 aeronautical pilots “fooled” the FAA about the capabilities of a flight control system on the aircraft, software that was later implicated in the two crashes, the Justice Department said. The deferred law enforcement arrangement closes the DOJ’s roughly two-year investigation and drops all charges after three years if there are no additional violations.

The $ 2.51 billion fine consists of a $ 243.6 million fine, a $ 500 million fund for family members of accident victims and $ 1.77 billion for Airline customers. The company said it had incurred a large portion of these costs in previous quarters and expects fourth quarter 2020 earnings to be charged at $ 743.6 million to cover the remainder.

“The tragic crashes of Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 exposed fraudulent and misleading behavior by employees of one of the world’s leading manufacturers of commercial aircraft,” wrote Assistant Attorney General David P. Burns of the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division in a release. “Boeing employees chose the win over openness path by hiding essential information about the operation of their 737 Max aircraft from the FAA and trying to cover up their deception.”

The crashes plunged Boeing into its worst crisis ever, sparked the creation of its best-selling aircraft worldwide, conducted numerous investigations and damaged the reputation of one of the largest aircraft manufacturers in the world.

Last month, the FAA approved software and other security changes Boeing had made to the planes and gave airlines permission to fly them again.

The company admitted the wrongdoing and waived a trial under its contract with the DOJ to settle the charges. The agreement also did not include top executives, as the misconduct was neither pervasive nor senior executives.

“This is an essential solution to a very serious matter, and I firmly believe that it is the right thing for us to enter into this resolution – a move that properly recognizes that we have failed to live up to our values ​​and expectations”, said CEO Dave Calhoun in a note to Boeing employees.

Boeing shares fell about 1% after close of trading.

This is the latest news. Please try again.

Categories
Business

Twitter and Fb Lock Trump’s Accounts After Violence on Capitol Hill

Twitter and Facebook Lock Trump’s Accounts After Violence on Capitol Hill

On Twitter, on Wednesday, users asked the company’s CEO, Jack Dorsey, to close President Trump’s account. Civil rights groups said actions by social media companies against calls for political violence were “long overdue”. Even venture capitalists who had made wealth by investing in social media urged Twitter and Facebook to do more.

“For four years you have been rationalizing this terror. Inciting violent treason is not free speech, ”wrote Chris Sacca, a technology investor who invested in Twitter, to Mr. Dorsey and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. “If you work in these companies, it’s up to you too. Shut it down.”

Twitter, Facebook and others had previously refused to crack down on Mr Trump’s posts and other toxic content, stating that the posts were in the public interest. While the platforms had taken more steps against political misinformation in the months leading up to the election, the platforms refused to remove Mr Trump’s messages and instead took half-measures, such as labeling his posts.

When violence broke out in Washington on Wednesday, longtime critics said it was the day the chickens came home to settle down for the social media companies. After the onslaught of criticism began, Twitter and Facebook removed several of Mr. Trump’s posts from their websites, including one in which the president falsely stated that “a holy landslide election victory” was “unceremoniously and viciously stripped.”

The transition of the president

Updated

Jan. 7, 2021, 3:41 p.m. ET

“We know the social media companies have been laconic at best,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, director of the Anti-Defamation League, to keep extremism from growing on their platforms. “Freedom of expression is not the freedom to incite violence. This is not a protected language. “

Renee DiResta, a researcher at Stanford Internet Observatory who studies online movements, added that the violence was the result of people engaging in closed social networks who believed the allegations of electoral fraud and election of Mr. Trump were stolen.

“This is a demonstration of the very real effects of echo chambers,” she said. “This was a remarkable rejection of the idea that there is an online and an offline world and that what is said online is in some way kept online. I hope this removes the notion from people’s minds. “

Categories
Business

Walgreens (WBA) Q1 2021 earnings beat

Walgreens (WBA) Q1 2021 earnings beat

The Walgreens Boots Alliance on Thursday reported first-quarter earnings that exceeded Wall Street’s expectations, aided by stronger-than-expected pharmacy sales.

Walgreens stock was up about 7% on Thursday morning.

Walgreens reported, versus analyst expectations for the first quarter ended November 30th: based on refinitive data:

  • Earnings per share: $ 1.22, adjusted versus expected $ 1.03
  • Revenue: Expected to be $ 36.31 billion versus $ 34.95 billion

For the first quarter, Walgreens posted a net loss of $ 308 million, or 36 cents per share, compared to net income of $ 845 million, or 95 cents per share, last year.

Excluding a charge from investing in AmerisourceBergen, the company earned $ 1.22 per share, above the $ 1.03 analysts surveyed by Refinitiv expected.

Revenue rose to $ 36.31 billion from $ 34.34 billion a year ago, surpassing analysts’ $ 34.95 billion.

Walgreens said its US pharmacy sales increased as there were more prescriptions filled and flu shots. The comparable pharmacy turnover increased by 5% compared to the previous year. The higher sales came despite less pedestrian traffic, lower sales of cough, cold and flu medication, and fewer new prescriptions as people skipped the doctor’s office and socially distanced themselves during the pandemic.

In the UK, Walgreen’s like-for-like pharmacy sales increased 2.5% year over year, mainly driven by reimbursement from the national healthcare system. Boots UK’s businesses were particularly hard hit by restrictions during the pandemic. The NHS payment helped offset a drop in prescription volumes.

Walgreens reiterated its outlook for low single digit growth in adjusted earnings per share for the year. However, the company cautioned against headwinds in the second quarter as the UK is again locked and customers continue to restrict trips to the store.

“We are now much better at managing through lockdown, which is good, but it is also a cloud in the future,” said CFO James Kehoe on a profit call on Thursday. “Second, you see the large number of incidents in the US that are leading to fewer doctor visits pretty quickly.”

For the company, this means fewer prescriptions and fewer visits to the branches.

However, Kehoe said Walgreens continues to focus on long-term opportunities rather than short-term pandemic-related challenges. He said that The company has cut costs and is investing in areas of growth as the drugstore industry faces disruption and the pandemic changes shopping patterns. It adds more Health services and expansion of the digital offer. The company has unveiled a new mobile app and is now offering roadside pick-up in its US stores, which enables customers to prepare online purchases in just 30 minutes.

In July, the company announced plans to open hundreds of primary care clinics in its VillageMD-owned and operated branches. It said on Wednesday it would speed up the schedule for this and expect 600 to 700 clinics to open over the next four years.

The company also announced on Wednesday that it would divest its European drug distribution business by selling it to US drug wholesaler AmerisourceBergen for $ 6.5 billion. The sale allows Walgreens to focus on the pharmacy and retail business.

The company has almost completed its planned store closings. Kehoe said it closed 232 of the 250 Walgreens stores that are slated to close and 158 of the 200 Boots UK stores. He said it is on track to achieve more than $ 2 billion in annual cost savings by fiscal 2022.

In the past year, more than 4,000 jobs were cut in the Boots UK and Boots Opticians business units, representing a 7% reduction in the workforce in these units.

Stefano Pessina, CEO of the Walgreens Boots Alliance, is stepping down after five years in the role, but his successor has not yet been named. Its rival CVS Health is also getting a new CEO. Karen Lynch will succeed longtime CVS CEO Larry Merlo in February.

Walgreens began giving Covid vaccines to employees and residents of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities in mid-December. There are plans to offer the recordings to the public in drug stores as soon as they become available.

Walgreens shares are down 28% over the past year, taking their market value to $ 37.2 billion.

Read the company’s full press release here.

Categories
Business

Fb Extends Trump Ban ‘at Least’ By Finish of Time period: Stay Updates

President Trump at a rally in Dalton, Ga., this week.

Here’s what you need to know:

Credit…Erin Schaff/The New York Times

Facebook will block President Trump on its platforms, including Instagram, at least until the end of his term, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said in a post on Thursday.

“The shocking events of the last 24 hours clearly demonstrate that President Donald Trump intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power to his elected successor, Joe Biden,” Mr. Zuckerberg wrote.

“We believe the risks of allowing the president to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great. Therefore, we are extending the block we have placed on his Facebook and Instagram accounts indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks until the peaceful transition of power is complete.”

United States › United StatesOn Jan. 6 14-day change
New cases 255,728 +8%
New deaths 3,964 Flat
World › WorldOn Jan. 6 14-day change
New cases 785,681 +1%
New deaths 14,266 –5%

Where cases per capita are
highest

By: Ella Koeze·Source: Refinitiv

Stocks rose again on Thursday, after having maintained gains on Wednesday even as chaos erupted in Washington as a pro-Trump mob overran the Capitol building, as investors kept their focus on the prospects for increased federal spending by the incoming government.

The S&P 500 rose more than 1 percent in early trading, after a 0.6 percent gain on Wednesday. Shares in Europe and Asia were also mostly higher, oil prices and government bond yields edged higher.

The gains on Thursday reflect Wall Street’s eagerness to look past violence in Washington and to the impact of a government unified under Democratic leadership, analysts said. The rally began on Tuesday after it became apparent that Democrats would effectively control the Senate, after winning a pair of runoff votes in Georgia, and be able to more forcefully push forward with President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s plans to bolster the economy with government spending.

“As disturbing as these events were, markets were largely unfazed, which, we hope, points to this being an aberration,” equity analysts at J.P. Morgan wrote to clients on Thursday. “The longer-term cue for markets and policy comes from the result of the two Georgia senate runoffs, which both went to Democrats and thus enlivened the ‘blue wave.’”

After the order in the Capitol was restored, the Senate and House of Representatives voted early Thursday to certify Mr. Biden as winner of the 2020 presidential election.

Investors are also banking on the rollout of coronavirus vaccines to eventually energize business activity that has been dormant during the pandemic, and, as they have for months, also looked past fresh evidence of the economic catastrophe unfolding. On Thursday, the Labor Department reported that 922,000 workers filed new state claims for unemployment benefits last week, while another 161,000 new claims were filed under a federal program.

Treasury bond yields continued to rise, lifted by expectations that additional fiscal spending in Washington will generate more bond issues, reaching as high as 1.06 percent on 10-year notes. The yield climbed above 1 percent this week for the first time since March.

Economists at Goldman Sachs said they expected Democrats to pass $750 billion in fiscal stimulus in the first quarter of the year. The U.S. investment bank also raised its forecast for economic growth this year to 6.4 percent from 5.9 percent.

Oil was holding on to an 11-month high, after Saudi Arabia announced on Tuesday it would cut oil production. The U.S. crude benchmark, West Texas Intermediate, hit $51.28 a barrel before slipping a bit, while Brent crude reached $54.90.

The Royal Divinity Food Bank in Birmingham, Ala., says it has been feeding hundreds more families each month since the pandemic began. The job market has improved, but millions remain unemployed.Credit…Audra Melton for The New York Times

New claims for unemployment benefits remained high last week, the government reported on Thursday, the latest evidence that the pandemic-racked economy still has a lot of lost ground to make up heading into a new year.

A total of 922,000 workers filed initial claims for state benefits during the final week of 2020, the Labor Department said, while another 161,000 new claims were filed under a federal pandemic jobless program. Neither figure is seasonally adjusted. On a seasonally adjusted basis, new state claims totaled 787,000.

The labor market has improved since the coronavirus pandemic broke out and closed down the economy. But of the more than 22 million jobs that disappeared in the spring, 10 million remain lost.

With a recently enacted $900 billion relief package that includes an extension of federal unemployment benefits, most of the unemployed can at least look forward to more financial help.

Still, “this winter is going to be very difficult,” said Kathy Bostjancic, chief U.S. financial economist at Oxford Economics. “We’re seeing overall economic momentum is slowing, and that feeds through to the labor market.”

“Employers are very cautious about rehiring at the same time they have had to increase layoffs,” Ms. Bostjancic said, “but the resurgence of the virus is really the main culprit here.”

A fuller picture of December employment will come Friday when the Labor Department releases its monthly jobs report, and most analysts are expecting minor payroll gains — or even the first net loss since April.

As for Thursday’s report, there was a sharp increase in claims for extended state benefits — payments to the long-term unemployed whose regular benefits have run out. But new claims under the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program fell, most likely reflecting the exhaustion of benefits before Congress acted.

Some fuzziness surrounding the count could be related to the difficulty of seasonally adjusting the numbers over the holidays, said Ernie Tedeschi, the head of fiscal analysis at Evercore ISI. The unadjusted number for new state claims was up by 77,000 from the previous week, while the seasonally adjusted number scarcely budged.

But longer-term trends, Mr. Tedeschi noted, are more meaningful than any week-to-week changes.

Even with the arrival of vaccines, “employers are still cautious related to their work force strategy,” said Amy Glaser of the staffing firm Adecco USA.Credit…Bryan Anselm for The New York Times

While the availability of vaccines will speed the economy’s return to normal, employers remain wary about hiring, job recruiters say.

Job postings and hiring typically fall off at the end of December, and the trend after the latest holiday season has been more pronounced than usual. “Right now, employers are still cautious related to their work force strategy,” said Amy Glaser, senior vice president at the staffing firm Adecco USA.

The rebound has been bumpy, and employers have responded in kind, retaining flexibility to increase or reduce their staffing through the use of temporary workers, Ms. Glaser said. That could mean more people are cycling through jobs.

Julia Pollak, a labor economist at the online job site ZipRecruiter, has seen the same caution.

“Employers are being apprehensive, and job seekers are not yet flocking back to the market in droves, either,” Ms. Pollak said. “The virus is still spreading, hospitalizations have hit a new record, and there is a pullback in demand for certain services. A lot of stay-at-home orders and restrictions are causing a further decline.”

Some industries have managed to thrive. A key measure of manufacturing, for instance, rose this week to its highest level since 2018. Construction spending and employment have grown along with a surge in home buying. Staffing agencies say they have seen hiring in the automotive business and financial services. The demand for warehouse and delivery workers also remains strong.

One of the biggest trends has been the increase in customer service workers and call center representatives operating from home, Ms. Glaser of Adecco said. Those jobs require greater digital literacy than in the past, she said, because individuals must be able to set up their computers and solve problems themselves.

“There is no tech person sitting down the hallway,” she said.

Farley's East in Oakland, Calif., was able to stay open with help from the Paycheck Protection Program. Small businesses are waiting for details about the next round of lending aid.Credit…Nathan Frandino/Reuters

The federal government released updated rules for lenders just before midnight on Wednesday for the next round of Paycheck Protection Program lending, but it did not set a date for when it expects to begin taking applications.

Lenders anticipate the program could restart as soon as next week. Last month’s stimulus package included $284 billion for new loans through the small-business relief program, which ended in August after distributing $523 billion to more than five million businesses. In this next round, the hardest-hit business — those whose sales have dropped at least 25 percent from before the pandemic — can qualify for a second loan. First-time borrowers will also be eligible for loans.

The Small Business Administration, which runs the program, plans to give small lenders a head start. In its first two days, the program will accept loan applications only from community lenders like Community Development Financial Institutions, which specialize in working with low-income borrowers and in areas underserved by larger lenders.

For second loans of more than $150,000, applicants will need to provide their lender with records proving their sales have declined. Lenders will need to do a “good faith review” of those documents, but will be allowed to rely on borrowers’ certifications that their claims are accurate — a win for lenders, which are concerned about being held liable for fraudulent claims.

For smaller loans, borrowers will not need to provide their sales records as part of their application, but the S.B.A. can request them later.

The S.B.A. is scrambling to release a variety of relief measures included in last month’s stimulus bill, including a $15 billion grant program for music clubs, theaters and other live-events venues. The agency has not yet released any details on that program, and it will not start until after President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. takes office.

When Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of JPMorgan Chase, issued a statement condemning the violence in Washington on Wednesday, he urged “our elected leaders” to call for an end to it. He did not directly mention President Trump.

Nor did the Charles Scharf, the chief executive of Wells Fargo (“The behavior in Washington, D.C., today is unacceptable”) or the chief executives of Goldman Sachs, Bank of America or Citigroup. Business leaders and organizations often instead referred to “leaders” or called for “the peaceful transition of power” to President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr.

Business leaders have rarely criticized Mr. Trump directly. When he announced, shortly before he was inaugurated, that Stephen K. Bannon would be his chief strategist in the White House, Democrats on the congressional committees that oversee the finance industry asked industry leaders to publicly oppose the appointment. The lawmakers called Mr. Bannon a “bigot beloved by white supremacists” and said the business leaders had “a moral obligation to speak out.”

None did.

After Mr. Trump took office, chief executives found themselves in the uncomfortable position of deciding whether to take part in so-called business advisory councils, common forums for business leaders to influence the policy of a new president, even as he was rolling out policies many saw as hateful. Several such councils disbanded after Mr. Trump declined in 2017 to condemn violence by white supremacists in Charlottesville, Va., and said there were “very fine people” and “blame” on “both sides.”

With the president’s increasing efforts to subvert the election, organizations have grown bolder. On Monday, for example, 170 business leaders signed their names to a statement, organized by the business advocacy organization Partnership for New York City, urging Congress to certify the result of the presidential election, though some prominent members were missing.

On Wednesday, as a mob stormed the Capitol, organizations not known for vocal statements seemed to no longer worry about the political ramifications of speaking up against Mr. Trump.

The research group High Frequency Economics suspended regular publication of its research notes for the first time since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and sent a note to its clients: “We at High Frequency Economics are disgusted by the role of the president of the United States in inciting this riot, and we are saddened that he cannot find the character to stand up in front of the mob he has created, quell the violence and send everyone home.”

And the Business Roundtable, a group of chief executives, including Mr. Dimon, from some of the nation’s largest companies, was direct as to the cause of the violence.

“The chaos unfolding in the nation’s capital is the result of unlawful efforts to overturn the legitimate results of a democratic election,” the group said. “The country deserves better. Business Roundtable calls on the president and all relevant officials to put an end to the chaos and to facilitate the peaceful transition of power.”

Commercial space for rent in New York City. Stay-at-home orders and other restrictions have left millions without work as businesses close.Credit…Mohamed Sadek for The New York Times

Several states say they are moving quickly to restore federal unemployment benefits that lapsed last month when President Trump delayed signing a second round of federal pandemic relief.

A handful, including New York, Texas, Maryland and California, say they have started sending out the weekly $300 supplement that was part of the legislation, while others like Ohio say they are awaiting more guidance from the U.S. Labor Department.

Michele Evermore, a senior policy analyst at the National Employment Law Project, said that “at least half of the states should have something up by next week.”

Congress approved 11 weeks of additional benefits, and the entire amount will ultimately be delivered to eligible workers even if payments are initially delayed.

“Any claims for the first week will be backdated,” said James Bernsen, deputy director of communications at the Texas Workforce Commission.

In addition to a $300-a-week supplement for those receiving unemployment benefits, the $900 billion emergency relief package renews two other jobless programs created last March as part of the CARES Act.

One, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, covers freelancers, part-time hires, seasonal workers and others who do not normally qualify for state unemployment benefits. A second, Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation, extends benefits for workers who have exhausted their state allotment.

This latest round also offers additional assistance for people who cobble together their income by combining a salaried job with freelance gigs. The new program, called Mixed Earner Unemployment Compensation, provides a $100 weekly payment to such workers in addition to their Pandemic Unemployment Assistance benefits.

President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Wednesday.Credit…Doug Mills/The New York Times

  • President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. set aside plans to deliver a speech on the economy on Wednesday afternoon, instead calling for an end to violent protests in Washington and calling on President Trump to stop what he called an “insurrection.” Mr. Biden’s speech was expected to emphasize several of his economic priorities, including reiterating calls for another round of financial aid to help people, businesses and state and local governments weather ongoing economic pain from the virus. The president-elect is still expected to deliver economic remarks in the coming days, a transition spokesman said.

  • Federal Reserve officials were warily eyeing a surge in coronavirus cases at their Dec. 15-16 meeting, but they hoped that vaccine breakthroughs might set the stage for a strong economic rebound in 2021. “With the pandemic worsening across the country, the expansion was expected to slow even further in coming months,” according to minutes from the gathering of the Federal Open Market Committee, released Wednesday. “Nevertheless, the positive vaccine news” was “viewed as favorable for the medium-term economic outlook.”

  • The Labor Department on Wednesday released the final version of a rule that could classify millions of workers in industries like construction, cleaning and the gig economy as contractors rather than employees, another step under the Trump administration toward endorsing the business practices of companies like Uber and Lyft.

Categories
Business

Starbucks CFO Pat Grismer to retire, reiterates outlook

Starbucks CFO Pat Grismer to retire, reiterates outlook

Patrick “Pat” Grismer, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Starbucks, is pictured at the Annual General Meeting on March 20, 2019 in Seattle, Washington.

Jason Redmond | AFP | Getty Images

Starbucks said Thursday that Rachel Ruggeri, senior vice president of finance for the Americas division, will take the place of CFO Pat Grismer when he retires on February 1.

The coffee chain also reiterated its outlook for the first fiscal quarter of 2021 and the forecast for the full year.

For the first quarter of the fiscal year, the company is forecasting adjusted earnings of 50 cents to 55 cents per share. For the full fiscal year, Starbucks expects sales of $ 28 to 29 billion, after adjustments, between $ 2.70 and $ 2.90 per share.

Grismer will serve as an advisor to CEO Kevin Johnson through May 2 to assist in the transition. He took on the role of Chief Financial Officer in 2018 after holding the same title at Hyatt.

Ruggeri started working for Starbucks 16 years ago as a member of the accounting team and helped launch the first Starbucks card. She has 28 years of experience.

Starbucks’ shares, valued at $ 122 billion, were unchanged in premarket trading. The stock is up 18% over the past year.

Categories
Business

Carmakers Put Their Greatest Faces Ahead

Carmakers Put Their Biggest Faces Forward

Every generation of automotive design has its Mona Lisa – and its Dogs Playing Poker.

We had tail fins (time for a comeback?) And the replica convertible tops of Landau vinyl roofs (I judge my parents cruelly – but rightly – after this difficult decision of the 1980s). Do you remember the sharp-edged rear ends of the Cadillac Seville, Lincoln Continental, and Chrysler Imperial? No? Lucky you.

We can look back on 2020 when automakers reached their peak. Of course there is this pandemic and political chaos. But more than ever there are bars inside. Grids are big. Grids are bold. Grilles are a little unnecessary on some cars, but there they are. Some might qualify for their own zip code if they weren’t on wheels.

To understand why, it is helpful to understand the difficulties automakers face in creating great designs. Cars and trucks are global products that must meet what appears to be a myriad of global government safety and fuel efficiency standards. Imagine if a new law student has to pass the American, German, Japanese, Korean, and Swedish bar exams to be able to work. I rest my case, Your Honor.

Automakers are spending billions of dollars to face the regulatory blizzard and sculpting silhouettes to cheat the wind. We only see the styling that surrounds the technology. Design is the hiss, the emotion, at least a tiebreaker when choosing a vehicle.

When Akio Toyoda took over the presidency of the company with his family name on the building in 2009, he famously declared: “No more boring cars.” Now look at the list. My God, what a big face you have, Camry.

“Years ago Lexus had no identity,” said Kevin Hunter, president of Toyota’s Calty Design Research Studio. “The attempt was made to be a brand for everyone, which neutralized our position and identity.”

This is how the spindle lattice was born. The exaggerated hourglass shape is now the distinctive face of Lexus, Toyota’s luxury brand. Originally compared to Predator or Darth Vader’s mask, it quickly shared different camps. And that’s fine with Mr. Hunter.

“We call the identity our own, very different from our competitors,” he said. “It’s very big and polarizing, that’s true, but we like the fact that we’re polarizing now. It means we’re pushing the envelope and taking more risks. Consumers are realizing it – the radiator grille connects our cars as a coherent unit. “

Since aerodynamics dictate car design, the front is the best place to add character to vehicles. People don’t buy the cars they forget. You may not like Picasso’s Cubism era, but you will know when you see it.

It might come as a surprise, but automakers aren’t necessarily trying to appeal to the broadest possible audience. Ask Domagoj Dukec, Head of BMW Design, what the brand stands for and he says: “Be stunning and make a difference.” Mission accomplished with the BMW 4 Series Coupé 2021. The current “it” car for maximum face, it takes the classic double kidney grille of the brand and turns the optics to 11. Maybe 12.

The design has drawn attention that money can’t buy – exactly what Mr. Dukec and his team were aiming for.

“Design is the emotional approach to every product experience,” he said. “It is of course very subjective. Not everyone will like it, but it has to have a personal and individual meaning to the customer. This can vary from product to product. A businessman would not want this bold face of the 4 Series in his 5 Series. “

Economy & Economy

Updated

Jan. 6, 2021, 1:10 p.m. ET

BMW is no stranger to the styling controversy. In a 10-year run that began in 1999, Chris Bangle highlighted designs that were so polarizing that there were backends commonly known as “Bangle Butts”. Now many see Mr. Bangles’ designs as groundbreaking.

Mr. Dukec understands that not everyone will like the 4’s large nostrils. But they convey the message.

“It’s very characteristic in our portfolio and clearly BMW,” he said. “Polarize, yes, but that’s very welcome because people want to show off.”

Another grill of the year contender can be found throughout the Genesis lineup. The so-called Crest Grille is an elongated version of the emblem between the wings of the brand badge. And it’s as big as Seoul.

Bold? Certainly. However, the scarcity of the brand’s new GV80 SUV suggests that the designers did something right.

“You could absolutely hate the grille,” said Jarred Pellat of Hyundai’s luxury brand, “and that’s what I love about the Genesis design. The designers aren’t afraid to make strong statements while building a brand from scratch. We don’t have the history of some of our German competitors – we can be innovative with design. The Crest Grille tells people this is a Genesis, like a second logo. “

Jeeps Wrangler’s round headlights and seven-slit grille are a real trademark of the brand (though the lights were square for a spell from the late ’80s). Jeep is defending it like a Rubicon scratching rough terrain suing General Motors’ Hummer division and most recently Indian automaker Mahindra.

Fun Fact: All Jeeps have a seven-slot grille, but “not all of them actually work,” said Mark Allen, Jeep Design Director. “It’s completely blocked on the compass, but it’s far from useless: they say this is a jeep.”

This robust American image helped the mark grow from 350,000 at the beginning of Mr. Allen’s tenure in 2009 to 1.5 million in sales. Jeep is the most successful American brand in what is known to be the closed Japanese market. It can’t hurt that the Wrangler is the most iconic vehicle in the world. Oh, and its grille is bloody big.

Andrew Smith, Executive Director of Cadillac Design, said, “Ultimately, design is about making the customer feel special so that they stand out from the crowd.” While the brand’s front signature is large vertical LED Chases are, few models, like the Escalade, have an acre face area.

“We don’t do a Russian doll design that has a small, medium, and large version of an SUV,” said Smith. “They’re all Cadillacs, but they’re different, and the grille wants to be proportional to the face of the vehicle.”

He added, “In the case of Escalade, the Giant Maw is functional. People haul it, it hauls a lot of people and cargo, so there needs to be an airflow to cool the engine. “The same goes for pickups.

Cadillac has announced it will accelerate the transition to electrification, starting with the Lyriq SUV in late 2021. Electric vehicles will challenge designers. Without a motor to cool down, the fronts still play a big role.

“Lyriq’s face will have complex lighting to make it look like a really luxurious vehicle,” said Smith. “We also have Super Cruise and new autonomous technologies with sensors that have to be in the front of the vehicle. We design surfaces that are flush and clean to place these sensors in such a way that they are invisible to the customer.

“The front will continue to give identity, like a kind of belt buckle,” he added.

BMW Mr. Dukec agrees. “Our upcoming iX electric vehicle has almost no openings in front of it,” he said. “The characteristic twin kidneys that announce that it is a BMW are closed because it is an electric vehicle. However, there are cameras and sensors in the kidneys that cannot see through color.”

And these kidneys? You guessed it, they are huge.

Categories
Business

‘Dangerous’ to delay second Covid vaccine photographs within the UK: ex-FDA director

'Risky' to delay second Covid vaccine shots in the UK: ex-FDA director

Postponing the second dose of Covid-19 vaccines is “very risky” because the efficacy data was based on a specific dosage schedule, a former FDA director told CNBC on Thursday.

His comments came after the UK’s decision to give a second shot of the coronavirus vaccine 12 weeks after the first dose, contrary to vaccine manufacturers’ recommendations. Germany is reportedly considering a similar move, while Denmark approves a six-week gap between doses.

The vaccines approved for use in the UK both require two doses.

American pharmaceutical company Pfizer and German biotechnology company BioNTech recommended giving the second dose of their vaccine 21 days after the first. British-Swedish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca said the vaccine, jointly developed with Oxford, requires two doses to be given one month apart. The UK initially said it would follow this timetable.

It’s a very risky endeavor because if it fails, you will be worse off.

Norman Baylor

Former FDA director

Any decision to change dosing schedules should be based on data, said Norman Baylor, a former director in the US Food and Drug Administration’s bureau of vaccine research and testing.

“It is very risky to try to extend [the gap between two doses] or give a dose if there is no data, “he told CNBC’s Street Signs Asia on Thursday.

“I can see some reasons for this, but again, it’s not really data-driven,” said Baylor, who is also president and chief executive officer of Biologics Consulting. “It’s a very risky endeavor because if it fails, you will be worse.”

The UK’s controversial decision came as the country continued to grapple with a new strain of the coronavirus that is spreading faster, despite no evidence that it is more severe or deadly. 62,322 cases were reported on Wednesday, and more than 2.8 million people have tested positive for the virus to date, according to government figures.

A nurse prepares the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine at Pontcae medical practice in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales on January 4, 2021.

Matthew Horwood | Getty Images News | Getty Images

Delaying the second dose of the vaccine means more people can get their first dose. However, Baylor said it was ideal to follow the dosing regimen from the vaccine’s effectiveness studies.

“If you don’t have the data, you are taking a risk there,” he said. “That is the point, the risk you are taking.”

Weigh vaccine manufacturers