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World News

Friday’s jobs report is a wild card, with economists’ estimates all around the map

A worker works on a screed tower connection at the Calder Brothers facility in Taylors, South Carolina, USA on July 19, 2021.

Brandon Granger | Calder Brothers Corporation | Reuters

According to the Dow Jones consensus estimate, the economy is projected to add around 845,000 workers in July as the American workforce gradually recovers from its heavy pandemic job losses.

But the uncertainty of Covid – which is spreading again at a rapid pace – has become a wild card for the job market, as well as for the entire economy. The number of new infections in the US is increasing to 100,000 per day, faster than last summer, when there were no generally available vaccines.

Wall Street’s predictions for the July Employment Report, due to be released Friday at 8:30 a.m. ET, are sweeping. The Wilmington Trust economists, for example, expect only 350,000 payrolls, while the Jefferies economists forecast 1.2 million new jobs.

“The range is from 1.2 million to 350,000. That just says these numbers have very little confidence,” said Michael Schumacher, director of interest rate strategy at Wells Fargo.

Employment growth has not lived up to earlier expectations of economists, some of whom forecast several months of growth in excess of a million this spring and summer. Instead, employers are struggling with vacancies and the situation is not expected to improve significantly until schools reopen and extended unemployment benefits expire in September.

The fast-spreading delta variant of Covid may not have affected the July report. However, economists say that if individuals are afraid to move back into the economy, new restrictions are put in place, or schools should be closed again, it could slow the rate of economic growth and affect employment.

The employment data is also critical to the Fed’s decision on when to slow its bond purchases, the first step in rolling back its loose policy and a precursor to rate hikes. Fed chairman Jerome Powell said last week he would like some strong employment reports before the Fed begins slashing its $ 120 billion monthly government bond and mortgage purchases.

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“We won’t know much about the balance in the labor market until the job report comes out in October,” said Schumacher.

According to the Dow Jones, the unemployment rate is said to have fallen from 5.9% in June to 5.7%. Average hourly wages are expected to have increased 0.3% month-over-month or 3.9% year-over-year. 850,000 jobs were added in June.

“The reason I have such a high forecast for July is because we’ve lost additional unemployment benefits in 25 states and claims have fallen sharply in those states,” said Jefferies finance economist Aneta Markowska. She added that there is usually a large seasonal decline in July that may not show up this year.

More than 22.3 million Americans were laid off in March and April 2020 when the economy abruptly shut down. In June total employment was 7.13 million below the level of February 2020.

“I was looking for a pretty healthy number, around 850,000 to 900,000, and a drop in the unemployment rate to around 5.7%,” said Kathy Jones, chief fixed income strategist for Charles Schwab. “The main reason we expect a pretty large number is that we expect some of the education jobs to come back. July is a little early, but we’ll see some of those numbers. That could add about 400,000. The seasonal adjustment is likely to make that worse too. “

Jones said she expected the mindset to be strong for the next couple of months.

“We expected the July, August and September period between reopening, schools reopening … job restoration to be quite strong as a result of the American bailout. All of that should make for a pretty strong July, August, September series of numbers, “she said.” Of course the Delta variant is the wild card.

According to Johns Hopkins University, the US reports a seven-day average of nearly 94,000 new cases on Aug. 4, a 48% increase from a week.

Wilmington Trust chief economist Luke Tilley said his low forecast was based on signs of slower growth he is seeing in high-frequency data. “We believe the execution rate is around 500,000 right now. The last month seems a bit over cooked, ”said Tilley.

Other recently released data show a mixed picture for employment.

BMO bond strategist Ben Jeffery said the half-dozen actions he watches tend to be a strong number and the others suggest otherwise. For example, ADP’s monthly payroll report for June was weak with 330,000 jobs versus an expected 683,000. But employment in the ISM service sector rebounded from 49.3 to 53.8. Anything over 50 indicates expansion.

“That [nonfarm payrolls] was always one of the hardest numbers to predict before the pandemic, and you add up all the nuances of the current hiring landscape. That makes it even more difficult, “he said.

Jeffery said the government poll week for the July report, which covers July 12, may not reflect the impact of the Delta variant concerns. “Whatever the number, it is greatly constrained by the fact that concerns about the Delta option weren’t as high during survey week as they are now or during the August survey period,” he said.

Because of this, he doesn’t expect big moves in the bond market unless the report is closer to one end of the forecast range or the other.

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Health

Covid Vaccine Card: What You Have to Know

“Customers began seeking out ways to protect their Covid-19 vaccine record cards, knowing they will likely be important to have on hand in the future,” Craig Grayson, vice president of print and marketing services for Staples, said in an email. “Leveraging our existing capabilities in store felt like a natural way to provide a free solution.”

People can also get their completed vaccine cards laminated for free at Office Depot and OfficeMax stores nationwide using the code 52516714 through July 25.

Dr. Ikediobi also recommends keeping the card in a safe place, as you would your passport, rather than carrying it around. “It does not necessarily need to be on your person at all times,” she said.

In some cases, yes. Border entry requirements are set by governments, not by airlines or by the International Air Transport Association, the trade association for the world’s airlines. Some destinations and cruise lines have started requiring that travelers be fully vaccinated before they travel. As of March 26, fully vaccinated Americans who can present proof of vaccination can visit Iceland, for example, and avoid border measures such as testing and quarantining, the country’s government said.

The cruise line Royal Caribbean is requiring passengers and crew members 16 or older to be vaccinated in order to board its ships. Virgin Voyages, Crystal Cruises and others are requiring guests to be vaccinated as well. These companies will restart cruise operations this spring and summer.

For the moment, airlines are not requiring vaccinations for travel, but some international destinations are requiring vaccination for entry. The idea has been much talked about in the industry. In an interview with NBC Nightly News, Ed Bastian, the chief executive officer of Delta Air Lines, said that proof of vaccination will likely eventually be required on international flights, but whether that is paper proof or a digital vaccine passport, is unclear.

Perry Flint, a spokesman for the I.A.T.A., said that the agency does not support a mandatory vaccine requirement for air travel because it “risks discriminating against those markets where vaccines may take longer to become widely available” or against those “who are not able to get vaccinated for medical reasons, or who are unwilling to do so owing to ethical or other concerns.”

Categories
Entertainment

Did the Music Trade Change? A Race ‘Report Card’ Is on the Manner.

Last summer, as the protests over the death of George Floyd raged, the music industry began to look closely at itself in terms of race – how it treats black artists, how black workers at music companies fare, how fair money across the board Company flows.

Major record companies, streaming services, and broadcasters have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars in donations, convened task forces, and promised to take concrete steps to diversify their ranks and correct inequalities. Artists like Weeknd and BTS donated money to support social justice, and Erykah Badu and Kelis signaled their support for economic reform in the music industry.

Everything seemed to be on the table. Even the term “urban” in radio formats and marketing – a racist euphemism for some, a sign of pride and sophistication for others – has been scrutinized. However, there was still great skepticism about whether the company was really determined to make significant changes, or whether its donations and lofty statements were more a matter of crisis PR

The Black Music Action Coalition, a group of artist managers, lawyers, and others, was formed last summer with the aim of holding the industry accountable. A “Testimony” is due to be released in June showing how well the various music companies have kept their promises and commitments to progress.

The report details the steps companies have taken towards race parity and tracks whether and where promised donations have been made. It also examines the number of black executives in leading music companies and the power they hold, as well as the number of black people sitting on their boards. Future reports will delve deeper into issues like industry equality itself, said Binta Niambi Brown and Willie Stiggers, aka Prophet, the coalition co-chairs in an interview this week.

“Our struggle is way bigger than just whether or not you wrote a check,” said Prophet, an artist manager who works with Asian Doll, Layton Greene, and other acts. “But the fact that you said you would write a check, we want to make sure that money was actually given and that it went to a place that actually hit the veins of the black community.”

The report, written by Naima Cochrane, a journalist and former label manager, is based on the annual media studies by advocacy group GLAAD, which track the depiction of LGBTQ characters in film and television and assign ratings to the various companies behind them. It is scheduled to be released June 19 through June 19, the annual public holiday marking the end of slavery in the United States.

The coalition’s public statements have made it clear that it sees itself as a stern and unwavering judge of the music industry, which has a dark history of exploiting black artists, despite the fact that black music has long been and remains its most important product. Last summer, an online campaign called #BlackoutTuesday produced painful comments that many black executives still feel are marginalized to this day, depending on white supervisors who are more empowered and make more money.

Brown, a label manager and artist manager, said the goal of the report was not punishment, but encouragement.

“We want to do it in a way that is more carrots than whip so we can continue to incentivize good behavior,” she said. “We want to hold people accountable, not cancel.”

Most major music companies have hired diversity officers and promoted some top black executives to positions equivalent to their white counterparts, although there are still only a handful of blacks at the top of the board.

A number of outside studies were also commissioned to examine diversity within the industry, including one from the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative at the University of Southern California and another from the Recording Academy, Berklee College of Music, and Arizona State University about Women in Music.

However, there has been relatively little public debate about how to look at artist contracts, including those from past decades, and how to cure unfair terms.

One company, BMG, examined thousands of contracts and found that out of 15 catalogs it owns that contain rosters of both black and non-black artists, 11 showed no evidence of racial discrimination. Among the four companies, the company found a “statistically significant negative correlation between being black and lower registered license fees” of 1.1 to 3.4 percentage points. BMG has promised to take action to correct this inequality.

These deeper issues of fairness in the music industry could be addressed in future coalition reports. They currently limit their scope to whether promises have been kept.

“Racism is a 400 year old problem,” said the Prophet. “We didn’t think it would be resolved in 12 months.”

Categories
Health

Covid-19 Vaccine Card Information: Maintaining it Protected, Journey, Data, Passport and Advantages

“Customers were looking for ways to protect their Covid-19 vaccine cards knowing they were likely to be important in the future,” said Craig Grayson, vice president of printing and marketing services at Staples, in an email on Wednesday. “Leveraging our existing in-store functionality seemed like a natural way to provide a free solution.”

Until July 25th, customers can have their finished vaccination cards laminated free of charge in Office Depot and OfficeMax branches across the country under the code 52516714.

Dr. Ikediobi also recommends keeping the card in a safe place like your passport instead of carrying it around with you. “It doesn’t always have to be with you,” she said.

In some cases, yes. Some destinations and cruise lines require travelers to be fully vaccinated prior to travel. Starting March 26, Americans who are fully vaccinated and able to show proof of vaccination will be able to visit Iceland and avoid border measures such as testing and quarantine, according to the country’s government.

The Royal Caribbean cruise line requires passengers and crew 18+ to be vaccinated to board their ships, as do Virgin Voyages, Crystal Cruises, and others. These companies will resume cruise operations in the spring and summer. Neither company has been operating cruises in United States ports to date, as the CDC has not yet given them the guidelines to follow.

Currently, airlines do not require vaccinations to travel. But the idea has been talked about a lot in the industry. In an interview with NBC Nightly News, Ed Bastian, Delta Air Lines’ chief executive officer, said that proof of vaccination will likely be required on international flights. However, it is unclear whether this is a paper certificate or a digital vaccination record.

Governor Andrew Cuomo last week announced the launch of Excelsior Pass, a free app that companies can use to scan a code to confirm whether someone has been vaccinated or tested negative for the coronavirus. To enroll, New York residents should visit the Excelsior Pass website, where they will be asked to enter their name, date of birth, and zip code. A passport – a QR code that companies can scan – is automatically generated using data from government vaccination records or test laboratory data.

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Business

Affirm’s new debit card is basically the ‘anti-credit card,’ says CEO

Max Levchin, CEO of Affirm, touted the company’s new physical debt card offering on Friday, telling CNBC that it would offer customers similar benefits as a credit card, but with greater clarity upfront.

“It certainly shouldn’t be called a credit card, not even because it’s some kind of anti-credit card. I don’t want to be provocative,” Levchin told Closing Bell, criticizing what he sees as a lack of transparency regarding credit card interest payments and late fees.

“Literally every one of these things is the exact opposite of Affirm’s card,” added Levchin. “You know exactly what you’re going to pay. You know exactly what the payment schedule is, and there will be no late fees under any circumstances. I think it’s the opposite in many ways. It serves the same purpose.” Purpose: You can pay for things now or over time. “

Affirm announced its debit card offering on Thursday, and the company expects to make the card generally available later in 2021. Affirm, which Levchin founded in 2012, offers so-called “buy now, pay later” services. It works with a number of merchants such as Peloton and offers customers point-of-sale loans that can be repaid in fixed monthly installments. The interest rates on the loans can vary between 0% and 30%, but Affirm does not charge compound interest.

Affirm has usually been associated with online purchases. Levchin told CNBC that the company’s debit card offering is a recognition of various customer preferences and the role offline purchases continue to play.

“I know our users, mostly Millennials and Gen Zers, love their debit cards. They love trading them offline, and the purpose of this product was to provide the ‘buy now, pay later’ functionality that they do really loved online – and also with us really offline, but never had in a map – to where they are. “

“The debit card form factor is a metaphor for everyday expenses. This is where we are trying to arrive,” added Levchin, co-founder of PayPal and former CEO of Yelp.

According to a press release, Affirm Card users can pay for a purchase in full from their bank account. The press release said they can choose to pay in installments using what the company calls a “unique after-purchase feature”. Affirm says on its website that users can manage the purchases through its mobile app.

Affirm went public in mid-January, gaining 98% on the first day to close at $ 97.24. The stock ended Friday’s session at $ 93.06 below that level, giving the company a market cap of approximately $ 24 billion. The shares traded up to $ 146.90 apiece in early February.

Prior to Affirm’s first deal in January, Levchin told CNBC that his “goal is to be a viable alternative to credit cards.”

Affirm, which ranked 23rd on CNBC Disruptor 50’s 2020 list, has been a beneficiary of the stay-at-home economy as more people shopped online and turned to their services. Levchin said Affirm’s debit card is well positioned to capitalize on as the economic reopening expands and shoppers spend money in different ways.

“There will be a lot of interesting challenges when the country reopens, but the dominant thread it will reopen will create a lot more opportunities for this product, which we have proven to be what our customers want and need,” Levchin said .

Categories
Health

Is Your Vaccine Card Selfie a Reward for Scammers? Perhaps

So you finally got a Covid-19 vaccine. It’s easy to take a photo of your vaccination card with your name and date of birth and the vaccine you had and post it on social media.

However, some experts warn that the information in the festive photo could expose you to identity theft or fraud.

“Unfortunately, your card has your full name and birthday and information about where you got your vaccine from,” the Better Business Bureau said last week. “If your social media privacy settings are not set high, you may be sharing valuable information that anyone can use.”

On Friday, the Federal Trade Commission followed suit: “You post a photo of your vaccination card on social media. Please – don’t do that! “it bluntly warned.” You could invite identity theft. “

Fraudsters can sometimes find out most of the digits of your Social Security number by knowing your date and place of birth. You can open new accounts on your behalf, claim your tax refund for yourself, and get involved in other identity thefts, said Maneesha Mithal, assistant director of the Federal Trade Commission’s privacy and identity protection division.

“Identity theft is like a puzzle made up of personal information,” said Ms. Mithal. “You don’t want to give identity thieves the parts they need to complete the picture. One of these pieces is your date of birth. “

But even if experts warn against giving your card away, chances are the information you are giving up has already been made available in other ways if you recorded your birthday elsewhere online – which most people likely have.

Avivah Litan, a senior analyst at research firm Gartner, said many Americans are vulnerable to multiple data breaches.

“Basically, the criminals already have pretty much every last name, first name and date of birth,” said Ms. Litan. “There have been so many hacks in the last 10 years. If you’re just looking for my name and birthday, you have it. “

Scammers and identity thieves often gradually collect information and clean up social media posts to create a file on a person’s life, including education, employment, and vacation spots. Publishing a date of birth will give you one of your most important personal tidbits.

While a name and date of birth aren’t all an identity thief would need in most cases to steal your identity, it makes it easier to reveal those details.

“Scammers are looking for personal identification information they can get from you – any kind of information to create a profile,” said Curtis W. Dukes, executive vice president of the Center for Internet Security.

A scammer could take advantage of fear of vaccine shortages or a slow distribution process by disguising himself as a government official claiming to need a credit card number to reserve a different dose or booster, Dukes said.

In such a “charged” atmosphere of bottlenecks, people could “fall for it and give up their credit cards or other information,” he said.

Ms. Litan said, “At least it will give bad actors a go-ahead to know who has been vaccinated. So you can use it for fraud purposes, to socially construct me and pay them for a booster shot that I will never get, or for valid commercial purposes that bypass normal US regulatory structures. “

Luscious teenagers post pictures of their driver’s licenses or study permits. Vacationers publish photos of their trips.

The vaccination cards are now another way to “share these milestones in our lives,” said Nita A. Farahany, professor of law and philosophy at Duke University School of Law.

However, she said one concern is that if vaccination status acts as a commodity that gives people access to workplaces, restaurants or events, the cards could be forged or replicated.

Someone who has not yet been vaccinated or does not wish to be vaccinated might “be tempted to forge a copy of these photos,” she said. “Or why wouldn’t a corporate scammer use the photos to create fakes to be sold to whoever they want?”

The Better Business Bureau in its warning cited newspaper reports in the UK that counterfeit vaccination cards were bought on eBay for about $ 6.

When asked about the reports, eBay said in a statement sent via email that it blocked and removed items that made false health claims.

A published vaccination card could also be the springboard for sophisticated social engineering or phishing ideas. Such programs were common during the pandemic.

Stacey Wood, a professor of psychology at Scripps College who has counseled older adults who are victims of fraud, cited what is known as grandparent fraud, in which a person posing as a law enforcement officer contacted an older adult and pretended to give them details about their grandchildren and to say they were in trouble and needed financial help.

“The typical consumer wouldn’t believe that scammers curated information about my life and used it to target me,” she said. “There’s so much going on in my practice right now and it’s just going to be a new thing.”

Cassie Christensen, a consultant at SecZetta who works with organizations to manage identity risk, said people who had their vaccination card issued could open themselves to a scammer posing as an officer trying to verify their identity to get them across inform medical concerns example, suspected new side effects.

The scam could include requests for more information to help them gain access to someone’s accounts, such as a mother’s maiden name or an address.

“You can also go to LinkedIn and find out where you work,” she said. “You can call these organizations and do a legitimate password reset.”

The pandemic and its fears would have created the perfect environment for it.

“It’s all very emotional stuff,” she said. “This is what hackers and phishers are looking for.”

With the distribution of vaccines unevenly, the maps have become a boastful point. Some use it on their dating profiles. Others are just excited to post good news after such a bad year.

“Some post it to say, ‘Look, I got it,” said Duke’s Dr. Farahany.

But what if there was another way of saying that? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believe it is. As part of his campaign to build confidence in the vaccines, sticker templates were created and many states, including Wisconsin, Georgia, Texas, Louisiana, New York, and Maryland, are distributing versions of them.

Public health officials are betting on the widespread use of stickers to impact people who may be afraid, indifferent to, or simply against vaccines. The stickers could contribute to so-called “social cascades” of behavior, similar to the way the “I voted” stickers promote voting, experts say.

“It helps encourage similar behavior in other people who may be watching,” said Dr. Tara Kirk Sell, a senior scientist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “It’s really about telling others, ‘This is completely normal and that’s what people do.'”

The same behavior occurs when masks are used frequently, making more people feel less out of place wearing one. “We call this ‘social proof,'” said Dr. Wood. “Like, ‘I’ve done my patriotic duty, I’ve done my civic duty.'”

Stickers also don’t reveal personal information, another reason officials promote their use.

In Georgia, Attorney General Chris Carr this week urged people to show vaccination stickers and said he could “not stop them enough from posting their vaccination cards on social media” due to the risk of identity theft.

Also, “the stickers are really cool,” the FTC said on Friday.

Categories
World News

Is Your Vaccine Card Selfie a Reward for Scammers? Possibly.

So you finally got a Covid-19 vaccine. It’s easy to take a photo of your vaccination card with your name and date of birth and the vaccine you had and post it on social media.

However, some experts warn that the information in the festive photo could expose you to identity theft or fraud.

“Unfortunately, your card has your full name and birthday and information about where you got your vaccine from,” the Better Business Bureau said last week. “If your social media privacy settings are not set high, you may be sharing valuable information that anyone can use.”

On Friday, the Federal Trade Commission followed suit: “You post a photo of your vaccination card on social media. Please – don’t do that! “it bluntly warned.” You could invite identity theft. “

Fraudsters can sometimes find out most of the digits of your Social Security number by knowing your date and place of birth. You can open new accounts on your behalf, claim your tax refund for yourself, and get involved in other identity thefts, said Maneesha Mithal, assistant director of the Federal Trade Commission’s privacy and identity protection division.

“Identity theft is like a puzzle made up of personal information,” said Ms. Mithal. “You don’t want to give identity thieves the parts they need to complete the picture. One of these pieces is your date of birth. “

Categories
Business

Walgreens appears to bank card, monetary companies to spice up income

People wearing masks walk on a zebra crossing near a walgreens on September 30, 2020 in New York City.

Alexi Rosenfeld | Getty Images

Walgreens announced Wednesday that it will offer a growing list of financial products to customers – including a co-branded credit card and a prepaid debit card – as it seeks to get more of their wallets and help them manage expensive medical expenses to help.

The credit cards will be introduced in the second half of this year. They will be part of the Mastercard network and will be issued by Synchrony. They will be linked to Walgreens’ new loyalty program, which the company relaunched in November with a new name, perks, and Covid-pandemic-inspired features such as roadside pickup and delivery via DoorDash and Postmates.

Walgreens and his drugstore counterparts are adapting to rapidly changing consumer behavior that accelerated during the pandemic. Walgreens has been looking for new business opportunities including a deal with VillageMD to open hundreds of primary care clinics in its branches.

John Standley, president of Walgreens, said the company also sees financial services as one of those growth drivers. “As we continue to focus on generating new revenue streams, we look forward to researching and rolling out even more health and wellness payment initiatives in the near future,” he said in a press release.

It is the second major retailer this week to announce plans to expand into financial services. Walmart said Monday that a fintech start-up is doing it with Ribbit Capital, one of the venture capital firms that support Robinhood. The separate company will be majority owned by the big box retailer.

The pandemic and recession have put pressure on many families to try to stretch their money as they pay the bills and cope with reduced hours or unemployment. During the holidays, for example, a growing number of consumers looked for other ways to finance their purchases. Use of “buy now, pay later” for online orders increased 109% during the Christmas shopping season, November 1 through December 31, with the largest ramp-up occurring in the last week before Christmas, according to a recent report from Salesforce.

Affirm Holdings, a provider of consumer credit to online shoppers, began trading on the Nasdaq on Wednesday.

Categories
Business

JPMorgan is buying a significant bank card rewards enterprise in a guess on journey

JPMorgan Chase has agreed to buy one of the largest third-party credit card loyalty providers to bet that pleasure travel will rebound strongly after the coronavirus pandemic subsides, CNBC has learned.

The bank agreed on Monday to acquire the technology platforms, travel agent, gift card and points business from cxLoyalty Group, a privately held company based in Stamford, Connecticut, according to a person with direct knowledge of the business.

JPMorgan is adding approximately half of the company’s 3,100 employees to the deal and will be building a new business within its retail division, reporting to Marianne Lake, director of consumer credit for the bank. The transaction will close this week, but the person declined to say how much the bank paid.

“People around the world want to vacation and travel again, and hopefully this will become a reality for many in the near future,” Lake said in a statement. “By taking over the travel and rewards business from cxLoyalty, our millions of Chase customers will be able to improve their experience once they are ready, comfortable and confident.”

JPMorgan had partnered with cxLoyalty for its popular credit card rewards program until the bank switched to Expedia in 2018. Now, finally, the bank will again be using cxLoyalty as the technology platform for their travel program, with an emphasis on personalized recommendations based on users’ travel history.

A major reason JPMorgan had to buy the business was that by acquiring cxLoyalty’s technology it will have both ends of a two-way platform. With millions of credit card users and direct relationships with hotel and airline companies, the bank can ultimately receive unique offers from these partners.

The reward company serves many of the largest US card companies, including Citigroup, Capital One, US Bancorp, and Mastercard. According to its own statements, the cxLoyalty Group has a total of 3,000 customers and marketing partners who serve 70 million consumers.

The deal will make Todd Siegel, CEO of cxLoyalty Group Holdings since 2013, head of the new JPMorgan business, according to a separate statement. JPMorgan is not buying the company’s other main business, but rather the Global Customer Engagement Division.