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World News

U.S. inventory futures rise as Wall Avenue set to enter final week of 2020

U.S. stock futures rise as Wall Street set to enter last week of 2020

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

NYSE

The stock futures rose slightly in night trading on the Sunday before the last trading week of 2020.

The futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 149 points. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures were also trading in slightly positive territory.

President Donald Trump signed a $ 900 billion law on Covid-19 that prevented the government from closing and expanded unemployment benefits to millions of Americans. The signing came days after Trump proposed vetoing the legislation and calling for $ 2,000 in direct payments to Americans instead of $ 600.

“I’m signing this bill to restore unemployment benefits, stop evictions, provide rental support, add money for PPP, get our airline employees back to work, add significantly more money to distribute vaccines, and much more,” Trump said in a statement on Sunday evening.

Wall Street has had a quiet week of holidays with major averages posting flat returns. The S&P 500 fell 0.2% last week as some investors took off year-end chips. The 30-share Dow gained 0.1% over the same period.

Profit taking could rise in the last week of the year, which has seen surprisingly high returns so far. The S&P 500 is up 14.6% year-to-date, while the Dow is up 5.8%. The Nasdaq is up 42.7% this year as investors preferred high-growth technology names amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

Dr. Anthony Fauci warned on Sunday that the country could see a surge in new Covid-19 infections after Christmas and New Years. Two vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna started the distribution process this month. To date, over a million people have been vaccinated in the United States.

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Categories
Politics

Jobless Advantages Are Set to Expire as Trump Resists Signing Aid Invoice

Jobless Benefits Are Set to Expire as Trump Resists Signing Relief Bill

Hicham Oumlil, a freelance fashion designer based in Brooklyn, said he and his wife, an interior designer on vacation, will both lose nearly $ 600 a week leaving the couple and their 7-year-old son with no source of income. After paying less than half of his monthly rent for the past three months, Mr Oumlil, 48, feared he would get deeper into debt if the Aid Act did not become law.

The second stimulus

Answers to your questions about the stimulus calculation

Updated December 23, 2020

Legislators agreed to a plan to provide $ 600 stimulus payments and distribute $ 300 federal unemployment benefits for 11 weeks. Here you can find out more about the bill and what’s in it for you.

    • Do I get another incentive payment? Individual adults with adjusted gross income on their 2019 tax returns of up to $ 75,000 per year would receive a payment of $ 600, and heads of household up to $ 112,500 and a couple (or someone whose spouse died in 2020) would receive up to to earn $ 150,000 per year Get double the amount. If they have dependent children, they will also receive $ 600 for each child. People with incomes just above this level would receive a partial payment that decreases by $ 5 for every $ 100 of income.
    • When could my payment arrive? Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC that he expected the first payments to be made before the end of the year. However, it will take a while for everyone to receive their money.
    • Does the agreement concern unemployment insurance? Legislators agreed to extend the length of time people can receive unemployment benefits and restart an additional federal benefit that is on top of the usual state benefits. But instead of $ 600 a week it would be $ 300. That would take until March 14th.
    • I am behind on my rent or expect to be soon. Do I get relief? The deal would provide $ 25 billion to be distributed through state and local governments to help backward tenants. In order to receive support, households would have to meet various conditions: the household income (for 2020) must not exceed 80 percent of the regional median income; At least one household member must be at risk of homelessness or residential instability. and individuals must be eligible for unemployment benefits or face direct or indirect financial difficulties due to the pandemic. The agreement states that priority will be given to support for lower-income families who have been unemployed for three months or more.

“Our livelihoods are shaken,” he said. “The government shows no leadership. I am impressed with what is currently going on in Congress. “

After House Republicans blocked Democratic efforts to unilaterally increase direct payments from $ 600 to $ 2,000 per adult, top Democrats are planning a roll-call vote on the Monday, when the entire House of Representatives is present Measure to hold. Legislators could also potentially approve an emergency funding bill to keep the government going.

“As the economy continues to stall, people are hanging by a thread and desperately need government relief so they can afford essentials like food, medicine, diapers, phone bills and housing,” said Massachusetts representative Richard E. Neal. the chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. “It is sneaky and cruel for the president to refuse to sign the law now and possibly end this brutal year by causing even more pain and suffering to families in need.”

The president’s implicit threat to reject the spending package enraged Republicans on Capitol Hill, who said Mr. Trump’s reprimand of the legislation took them by surprise after overwhelming support for the bill. (In fact, many of Mr. Trump’s complaints concerned measures in state funding laws that were in line with White House budget requests.)

The direct payments were kept at half the original $ 1,200, approved in March under the $ 2.2 trillion stimulus bill, in part to reflect Republican reluctance, more than 1 trillion US dollars, and there is little evidence that a majority of Republicans would support such an increase.

“I hope the president will look back at this and conclude that it is best to sign the bill,” Republican Senator Roy Blunt told reporters this week. “I think it would be to the president’s advantage if we talked about his performance rather than questioning decisions made late in the administration, but again, Congress has very little control over what the president can say.”

Categories
Politics

Unemployment Help Set to Lapse Saturday as Trump’s Plans for Aid Invoice Stay Unclear

Unemployment Aid Set to Lapse Saturday as Trump’s Plans for Relief Bill Remain Unclear

“Why shouldn’t politicians want to give people $ 2,000, just $ 600?” he said on Twitter, possibly referring to his own party’s move on Thursday to block a House Democratic bill that would have increased the amount of direct payments to $ 2,000. “It wasn’t their fault, it was China. Give the money to our people! “

Updated

Apr. 25, 2020, 7:16 am ET

Mr Trump was largely uninvolved in the legislative negotiations, but Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is believed to have negotiated on behalf of the President.

The aid bill also includes billions of dollars to help states distribute coronavirus vaccines, a replenished small business loan program, and airline aid. It was passed along with a spending measure to keep government funding going for the remainder of the fiscal year. The cost of the combined package is $ 2.3 trillion.

Treasury officials had expected the president to sign the bill this week and planned to overhaul the Christmas break to restart the small business paycheck protection program and push payments through direct deposit through early next week. However, all of this is now suspended.

The second stimulus

Answers to your questions about the stimulus calculation

Updated December 23, 2020

Legislators agreed to a plan to provide $ 600 stimulus payments and distribute $ 300 federal unemployment benefits for 11 weeks. Here you can find out more about the bill and what’s in it for you.

    • Do I get another incentive payment? Individual adults with adjusted gross income on their 2019 tax returns of up to $ 75,000 per year would receive a payment of $ 600, and heads of household up to $ 112,500 and a couple (or someone whose spouse died in 2020) would receive up to to earn $ 150,000 per year Get double the amount. If they have dependent children, they will also receive $ 600 for each child. People with incomes just above this level would receive a partial payment that decreases by $ 5 for every $ 100 of income.
    • When could my payment arrive? Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC that he expected the first payments to be made before the end of the year. However, it will take a while for everyone to receive their money.
    • Does the agreement concern unemployment insurance? Legislators agreed to extend the length of time people can receive unemployment benefits and restart an additional federal benefit that is on top of the usual state benefits. But instead of $ 600 a week it would be $ 300. That would take until March 14th.
    • I am behind on my rent or expect to be soon. Do I get relief? The deal would provide $ 25 billion to be distributed through state and local governments to help backward tenants. In order to receive support, households would have to meet various conditions: the household income (for 2020) must not exceed 80 percent of the regional median income; At least one household member must be at risk of homelessness or residential instability. and individuals must be eligible for unemployment benefits or face direct or indirect financial difficulties due to the pandemic. The agreement states that priority will be given to support for lower-income families who have been unemployed for three months or more.

Lawmakers in Congress and White House officials have indicated that they are unsure whether Mr. Trump will give in and sign the legislation, formally veto it, or simply not sign it. While Congress could potentially override Mr Trump’s veto, the next Congress would have to reintroduce the legislation early next year and vote on it when it sits on the bill – a so-called pocket veto.

California Democrat spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi said she would hold a roll-call vote Monday on direct payments legislation that would meet Mr. Trump’s $ 2,000 direct payment request and put pressure on Republicans who oppose such high payments. Congress could also be forced to pass another emergency measure to avoid a shutdown.

Official figures released this week showed continued stress on the economy as personal incomes fell and unemployment claims remained high. Another 398,000 people applied for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, one of two federal programs to expand unemployment benefits that will be phased out.

Categories
Business

Shock Medical Payments Price Individuals Hundreds of thousands. Congress Is Lastly Set to Ban Most of Them.

Surprise Medical Bills Cost Americans Millions. Congress Is Finally Set to Ban Most of Them.

Hospitals and doctors, who tend to benefit from the current system, struggled to defeat solutions that would lower their pay. Insurance companies and large insurance groups, on the other hand, wanted a stronger way to negotiate lower payments to the types of medical providers that can currently send surprise bills to patients.

The legislation nearly passed last December but was sunk in the eleventh hour after healthcare providers aggressively opposed the deal. Private equity firms, which own many of the medical providers that deliver surprise invoices, have put tens of millions in advertisements opposed to the plan. The committee chairs argued over jurisdictional issues and postponed the matter.

This year, many of the same lawmakers who were behind last year’s failed efforts tried again, mitigating several provisions most uncomfortable for influential lobbies of doctors and hospitals. The current version is unlikely to do as much in reducing healthcare spending as the previous version, but will still protect patients.

After years of defeat, consumer interest groups welcomed the new legislation.

“This was a real win over money for Americans,” said Frederick Isasi, executive director of Families USA. “The real point here was for Congress to recognize in a bipartisan way the profanity of families who paid insurance and were still firing financial bombs.”

The final compromise would require insurers and medical providers unable to agree on a payment rate to use an outside arbitrator to make a decision. The arbitrator would determine a reasonable amount, depending in part on what other doctors and hospitals typically pay for similar services. Patients could be charged for the type of co-payment they would pay for in-network services, but no more.

This type of policy is generally seen as more beneficial to healthcare providers than the other proposal considered by Congress, which would have minimized the role of arbitrators and instead set benchmark reimbursement rates. Several states have established their own arbitration procedures and have found that most price disputes are negotiated before an arbitrator is involved.

“If this bill forces them to come to the table and negotiate a solution, it will be a clear win for everyone,” said Christopher Garmon, assistant professor of health administration at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, who outlines the scope of the problem.

Categories
Business

Ladies’s soccer set viewership data in 2020, paves approach for growth

Women's soccer set viewership records in 2020, paves way for expansion

Orlando Pride midfielder Bridget Callahan (22) shoots the ball during the NWSL soccer game between the Orlando Pride and the Washington Spirit on October 5, 2019 at Explorer Stadium in Orlando, FL.

Andrew Bershaw | Icon Sportswire | Getty Images

Women’s football had a great 2020 even in the middle of a pandemic, thanks to broadcast and streaming deals that brought the sport to more viewers than ever before.

Finding viewers outside of a dedicated core fan base and delivering games on a handful of consistent platforms will be key to further growth in 2021. Women’s sport is a feel-good story, but the next phase is about hitting the hard numbers, attracting new broadcast partners and corporate sponsors.

In the summer of 2020, the National Women’s Soccer League was the first U.S. professional sports league to return to activity, breaking its attendance records by nearly 300%. The first and last games of the Challenge Cup, which were the only ones to be shown on CBS and not on the subscription service CBS All Access, drew 572,000 and 653,000 viewers, respectively, on par with an English Premier League game that week and Major League Baseball Game on TBS broadcast in the same time slot. Last year’s NWSL final, which aired on ESPN, only drew 166,000 viewers.

Company sponsors also got on board. The NWSL signed contracts with Verizon, Google and Procter & Gamble before the Challenge Cup.

“The league has done strangely well,” said Lindsay Barenz, VP of Business Development for the NWSL, during the pandemic.

Multi-year partnerships with CBS Sports and Amazon Twitch were “game changers,” added Barenz. For regular playing time, CBS showed some games on its main network, 14 on the CBS Sports Network and the majority on CBS All Access. Twitch would stream all of the games internationally and a handful of free games domestically.

Even as more sports leagues returned to competition in the fall, the NWSL averaged 383,000 viewers for its fall series games, which aired on CBS. According to the league, the games, which were also streamed globally on Twitch, averaged just over 732,000 live views, and the most watched hit hit 1,000,000.

These deals came after the U.S. women’s national team won the 2019 Women’s World Cup and sparked new interest in the sport. In previous seasons, most games could only be streamed online, be it on Google’s YouTube, on teams’ websites or on Verizon’s go90. TV coverage for a handful of major games jumped between Fox Sports’ secondary channels and Disney subsidiary ESPN in various years. And NWSL’s multi-year contract with A&E Networks to broadcast games for life failed when A&E left in 2019, one season earlier. The NWSL only reached another TV deal after the World Cup when ESPN recorded 14 remaining games between ESPNews and ESPN2.

The NWSL was difficult to follow for avid fans and difficult to stumble upon for potential fans. The new rights contracts should ensure consistency and high quality production for the coming seasons.

Then the pandemic hit.

It was far from clear that women’s football could save the year, but it probably helped to be the first to come back with little athletic competition. The NWSL’s month-long Challenge Cup, played in a “bubble” in Utah, began June 27, two weeks before the men’s Major League Soccer returned and a month before the National Basketball Association launched its bubble at Disney World.

When it comes to growth, there is a tradeoff between maximizing sales and reaching the widest possible audience. Under the current contract, most NWSL games are only available through CBS Sports Network or CBS All Access, which are paid subscription services.

But the choice was “part of maturing as a league,” said Barenz. “Part of the maturity of our fans is that there is an economic exchange of values ​​to get access to our games.”

In order to get access to all games in other leagues like the Women’s National Basketball Association and male colleagues, a paid subscription is also required, Barenz emphasized. The NWSL, the longest running professional women’s soccer league in the United States, is now entering its ninth season (as the WNBA will hit its big 25).

Alyssa Naeher # 1 of Chicago Red Stars hits a loose ball during an NWSL soccer game between the Chicago Red Stars and the Orlando Pride at Orlando City Stadium on September 11, 2019 in Orlando, Florida.

Alex Menendez | Getty Images Sports | Getty Images

Go international

A new business model could help increase more broadcasters’ interest in women’s football. This is where the startup Atalanta Media comes in.

Atalanta acquires media rights for smaller women’s sports leagues and offers them to broadcasters free of charge, along with fully produced games. In return, the company retains sponsorship opportunities so that it can also make money. This fall, Atalanta partnered with NBC Sports to bring the FA Women’s Super League, England’s premier women’s league, to a US audience for the first time.

Atalanta aims to break the frustrating stalemate between skeptical investors and leagues in dire need of more investment.

Broadcasters want “more evidence” before buying the rights themselves, said Esmeralda Negron, co-founder of the company and former professional footballer. “But there is no proof of that [women’s soccer has] has never been available week after week on premium channels. “

“If we don’t do that,” Negron said of buying the rights to leagues like WSL, “it wouldn’t be available.”

With the Atalanta partnership, NBC Sports will broadcast 50 WSL season games from September 2020 through Spring 2021, either on the NBC Sports Network channel, the NBC Sports app, or the NBC Sports website.

The first eight WSL games on NBC Sports Network had an average of 63,000 viewers, and the most viewed game reached 100,000 viewers, according to the network. A network manager told CNBC how important it is to tie women’s football to Premier League coverage in order to raise awareness. Given that the US games usually air weekend mornings (given the time difference) and are in an unknown league, this is a good place to start.

NWSL match ball during the 2020 NWSL College Draft at the Baltimore Convention Center on January 16, 2020 in Baltimore, Maryland.

Jose Argueta | Getty Images Sports | Getty Images

Next year

2021 will bring new tests and possibilities. As more sporting leagues prepare to return for the full season and people get more outdoors to do, women’s sports can become more difficult to interest. However, if the Tokyo Olympics go as planned, a strong performance from the U.S. women’s team could also raise awareness of football at the club level.

Next year the NWSL plans to host the Challenge Cup again, followed by a full season. What was originally conceived as a means of saving the year has become valuable property.

The league is also adding teams, including a Louisville club that will play in 2021 and a Los Angeles team that will join the following year. LA club Angel City FC will be majority-owned by women and will be supported by all-star investors like Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and actress Natalie Portman.

There are also growth opportunities in existing deals. The goal of women’s football is likely to be to show more games on flagship networks like CBS and NBC, not just their sports networks or apps.

“Premium broadcasting plays an important role in enhancing the visibility and profile of leagues and players at the club level,” said Negron. “That never really happened on the women’s side.”

Women’s football needs to benefit from its increased visibility this year or else it risks losing its hard-won momentum. As Negron said, “Audience is what drives everything in this sport.”