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Biden and High Financial Officers Stress Urgency of Extra Pandemic Help

Biden and Top Economic Officials Stress Urgency of More Pandemic Aid

WASHINGTON – President Biden and his top economic aids on Friday put aside Republican criticism of the government’s $ 1.9 trillion stimulus package and vowed to move the proposal forward. The bill is crucial for a weak economic recovery and is overwhelmingly popular with voters.

The comments came as Mr. Biden was briefed by aides of the need for more fiscal aid and the state of the economy, and when the Brookings Institution’s new analysis suggested that the Biden proposal, if it did go into effect, would put the economy above its prepandemic The second half of this year would bring way out.

A team of senior business figures, including Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen, met with Mr. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in the Oval Office on Friday to highlight the challenges facing an economy that experienced slowing growth late last year. They were joined by Brian Deese, director of the National Economic Council, and Jared Bernstein and Heather Boushey of the Council of Economic Advisers.

“The price of doing nothing is much higher than the price of doing something and doing something big,” Ms. Yellen said before the briefing. “We have to act now. The benefits of acting now and trading big will far outweigh the costs in the long run. “

Mr Biden, who spent the first days of his presidency calling for more economic aid, said pandemic legislation was his top priority. “People will be seriously injured if we fail this package,” he said.

Even as states began vaccinating vulnerable populations, the economic recovery from the pandemic is showing signs of slowing, fueling concern among White House officials that time is running out to adopt a robust package before some emergency services are in place March expire. These officials are increasingly saying that Congress must act swiftly to approve a package of a similar scope as Mr Biden is proposing, although they privately recognize that the process of congressional negotiation could produce a bill at a lower price than the President has asked for.

In order to gain support, especially among Republicans, these aides claim that Mr Biden’s proposal is highly cross-party.

“A fair question you could ask our GOP or Republican colleagues is why they oppose proposals that are backed by 74 percent of the American public,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Friday. She cited a recent Monmouth University poll in which 71 percent of respondents said it was important for Republicans to find ways to work with Mr Biden.

Democrats in Congress say they are continuing to work with Republicans on a potentially bipartisan bill, but they are also preparing a parliamentary maneuver known as budget balancing that would allow them to pass a bill by simple majority, as Republicans do Her 2017 tax cut did law and her failed attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

“I’m not going to let Republican senators stand for the sole purpose of stalling,” Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, the new Democratic chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, told a conference call Thursday hosted by the Invest for America advocacy group.

Despite pressure from the White House, Republicans have been complaining in recent days that using the reconciliation process would undermine Mr Biden’s demand for unity.

On Friday afternoon when he left the White House to visit the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Mr Biden said he still hoped the Republicans would support an aid bill, but he signaled that the Democrats would move forward on their own if they had to.

“I support the passage of the Covid relief with Republican support if we get it, but the Covid relief must exist,” he said.

New analysis this week suggests that if Mr Biden’s plans go into effect, they could give a significant boost to an economy that has only partially recovered from its rapid fall into recession last spring.

Two Brookings Institution researchers, Wendy Edelberg and Louise Sheiner, wrote this week that Mr Biden’s plans would increase economic activity by 4 percent this year and 2 percent in 2022. This surge would accelerate the return of the economy to the previous path the pandemic hit.

Without another bailout, the economy would likely remain smaller through the end of 2023 than without the recession. But if the package is passed, they would predict the economy would be bigger by fall than it was on their prepandemic path. They warn that these forecasts are fraught with great uncertainty.

“Without additional federal funding to contain the pandemic resurgence and distribute vaccines, the economy will face significant headwinds,” wrote Ms. Edelberg and Ms. Sheiner. “In a broader sense, millions of households will suffer from dwindling tax support for the unemployed and households and businesses that suffer financially.”

The International Monetary Fund this week forecast small but still positive impacts from the Biden plan. It was estimated that Mr. Biden’s proposal would increase American economic performance by 5 percent over three years. The fund estimated the plan would increase production by 1.25 percent this year.

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Politics

U.S. Airstrike Kills High ISIS Chief in Iraq

U.S. Airstrike Kills Top ISIS Leader in Iraq

BAGDAD – American air strikes on a joint mission with Iraqi forces killed the leading Islamic head of state in Iraq. This attack aimed to contain the group’s resurgence and seek retaliation for a deadly suicide attack in Baghdad last week.

ISIS commander Jabbar Salman Ali Farhan al-Issawi, known as Abu Yasser, was killed on Wednesday near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, the American-led military coalition and Iraqi officials said on Friday.

The Islamic State no longer owns any territory in Iraq, but has continued to carry out deadly attacks. The question of what kind of violence is required to keep the group at bay has been at the center of the US and Iraqi negotiations to reduce the number of US troops in Iraq, and shows America’s role in the raid this week that Iraq continues to rely on the US US military.

A coalition spokesman, Colonel Wayne Marotto, described the death of Mr. al-Issawi as “a severe blow” to the efforts of the Islamic State to regroup.

Mr al-Issawi coordinated the group’s operations in Iraq, anti-terrorism experts said. Colonel Marotto said he was responsible for developing and disseminating guidance to ISIS fighters and for expanding ISIS presence in Iraq.

He said nine other ISIS fighters were killed in the operation.

Colonel Marotto said Iraqi counter-terrorism forces were leading the operation with the support of the coalition’s air, intelligence and surveillance coalition.

The American-led coalition has a policy not to comment on which countries are carrying out certain air strikes. But senior Iraqi security officials, who asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to post the information, said US planes carried out the strikes.

Iraqi officials said the attack on an underground hideout avenged the deaths of 32 Iraqis killed in the ISIS attack on a market in Baghdad last week. More than 100 others were injured in the attack, the deadliest in Baghdad in four years.

ISIS took responsibility for the bombing, saying it was targeting Shiite Muslims and Iraqi security forces.

“We have promised and fulfilled,” Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi tweeted about the operation in which Mr al-Issawi was killed. “I gave my word to persecute Daesh terrorists. We gave them a thundering answer,” he said, using an Arabic acronym for ISIS.

Mr. al-Kadhimi, a former intelligence chief, also replaced several heads of intelligence and security operations following the ISIS attack, saying it was partly to blame for lax security and intelligence errors.

Mr. al-Kadhimi took office last year and pledged to strengthen security, fight corruption and implement government reforms.

Iraqi and American officials said the operation that killed Mr. al-Issawi lasted months as they approached lower-level ISIS leaders in mountain hideouts near Kirkuk and received information on what appears to be a new center of ISIS operations collected there.

Mr. al-Issawi, originally from the Iraqi city of Fallujah, returned to Iraq six months ago across the porous border to the Kurdish-controlled sector of eastern Syria.

In addition to the air strikes, the operation also included raids by Iraqi counter-terrorism forces in ISIS guest houses, according to an Iraqi military statement.

Although the last major ISIS attack in Baghdad took place two years ago, the group conducts regular operations in provinces further north.

“The information showed that this man was an active coordinator of Islamic state operations,” said Michael Knights, Jill and Jay Bernstein Fellow of Security and Military Affairs at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “Iraq is probably still the largest operating environment for ISIS, which effectively means he is the country manager of the largest subsidiary.”

At its height, ISIS controlled almost a third of Iraqi territory and all of Syria province after declaring a caliphate with Mosul as its capital in 2014. American-backed, Kurdish-led troops drove the group out of the last territory they owned two years ago, near the city of Baghuz in Syria.

The assassination of Mr. al-Issawi “shows the Iraqi people that the government is capable of effective action,” said Mr. Knights.

Crucial American aid in the raid came amid increasing political pressure from pro-Iranian groups in Iraq to evict US troops from the country.

After the recent cuts by the Trump administration, the United States still has about 2,500 soldiers on three Iraqi military bases. While Iraqi capabilities in the fight against ISIS have improved, the country still relies on intelligence, surveillance equipment and air support from the US-led coalition.

“From an operational standpoint, it is important that ISIS is disrupted as much as possible, but it obviously needs a lot of follow-up,” said Sajad Jiyad, an Iraq-based employee with the Century Foundation. “ISIS has shown that it is quite resilient and can show up in small cells, especially in rural areas and difficult terrain, and also targets areas that are very difficult for Iraqi forces to monitor.”

Mr Jiyad said he believed that helping US forces with operations against ISIS would gain goodwill. But he said the US drone attack that killed a senior Iraqi security officer along with Iranian commander General Qassim Suleimani in Baghdad last year had more weight in strengthening opposition to American forces in Iraq.

Following the drone attack, the Iraqi parliament passed a resolution calling on the government to evict American forces from Iraq. This step was not implemented.

“The presence of US forces is part of a larger problem unrelated to Daesh,” Jiyad said. “These kinds of things can’t just be washed away. The US has been helpful against ISIS.”

Eric Schmitt contributed to coverage from Washington.

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Business

Washington Publish, Reuters and Los Angeles Occasions Seek for New Prime Editors

Washington Post, Reuters and Los Angeles Times Search for New Top Editors

Vox, the flagship of Vox Media, has two high-profile vacancies: Editor-in-Chief and Senior Vice President. Both jobs will be filled by Lauren B. Williams, one of the relatively few black women to have run a large general interest media company. In November, she announced that she was heading to a startup, Capital B, a website targeting black communities nationwide. Vox Media has limited its search for the next Vox editor to three finalists, said two people with knowledge of the matter who were not empowered to publicly discuss it.

HuffPost will likely not name its next editor until after it completes its sale to BuzzFeed, a deal that was announced in November. Jonah Peretti, who will be the managing director of the combined companies, is leading the search with Mark Schoofs, editor-in-chief of BuzzFeed News.

HuffPost hasn’t had an editor-in-chief since Lydia Polgreen, a former New York Times deputy editor-in-chief who ran the site for three years, left Spotify in March for podcasting company Gimlet Media. A BuzzFeed spokesperson said the search involved “a strong pool of diverse candidates.”

A number of other outlets are on the alert. Since December Wired, Condé Nast’s tech-oriented magazine, has been looking for a replacement for its editor-in-chief Nicholas Thompson, who is leaving as the Atlantic’s chief executive. Leading candidates for the wired job include Nilay Patel, 40, editor-in-chief of The Verge, a Vox Media website, and Megan Greenwell, 37, editor of Wired.com, according to three people with search skills.

Anna Wintour, Condé Nast’s Chief Content Officer, has the final say on the election. A Condé Nast spokesman declined to comment on the details of the search.

As members of the emerging generation of journalism refine their résumés, watch a possible change at the New York Times as its editor-in-chief Dean Baquet approaches the newspaper’s usual 66-year retirement age for editors and top executives. Mr Baquet turned 64 in September and there have been numerous promotions among the newspaper’s editors lately.

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Business

New York Occasions Names Cliff Levy to a Prime Modifying Position

New York Times Names Cliff Levy to a Top Editing Role

The New York Times announced on Wednesday a return to its leadership team in the newsroom with the appointment of its Subway editor, Clifford J. Levy.

Levy, 53, a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, has been running the subway counter since 2018. Previously, he was deputy editor-in-chief of the Times’ online platforms and worked as head of the Moscow office and investigative reporter.

In a message to the newsroom on Wednesday, Dean Baquet, the editor-in-chief, and Joseph Kahn, the editor-in-chief said Mr. Levy would temporarily advise the audio division, home of the podcast “The Daily,” before moving on to a broader role. The audio division is overseen by Sam Dolnick, a deputy editor-in-chief and member of the Sulzberger family who control The Times, and Lisa Tobin.

Mr. Levy’s promotion comes a month after The Times released a correction for “Caliphate,” a 12-part audio series designed to shed light on the Islamic State. In an editor’s note, The Times said the podcast had too much faith in the misrepresentation or exaggeration of one of its main topics, Shehroze Chaudhry, a Canadian who claimed to have participated in atrocities by the Islamic State. On the day the note was published, Mr. Baquet described the problems with “Caliphate” as “institutional failure” and said his mistakes should not be blamed on “a reporter”.

“I or someone else should have done the same type of test because it was a big, ambitious piece of journalism,” Baquet said in a December interview with Michael Barbaro, the host of “The Daily”. “And I did not do this type of test, nor did my senior officers have extensive experience reviewing investigative reports.”

In their note on Wednesday, Mr. Baquet and Mr. Kahn said, “Cliff will spend the coming weeks learning the rhythms of ‘The Daily’ and the wider audio team, then helping Sam, Lisa and the Masthead better integrate with the daily Operation of the audio department in the wider newsroom. “

Business & Economy

Updated

Jan. 27, 2021, 11:46 ET

“One of his priorities is the development of new procedures for checking ambitious audio series,” the communication continues.

“The Daily” has become a central part of The Times, with four million listeners every weekday.

Times editors who hold the title of assistant editor-in-chief or assistant editor-in-chief are at the top of the editorial board, referred to by the editorial staff as senior masthead editors because their names appear along with the publisher at the top of page A2 of the print edition. AG Sulzberger and Mr. Baquet.

The number of names on Page 2 has increased in the last few months as 64-year-old Baquet approaches retirement age. Traditionally, Top Times editors have made high-profile posts before they are 66.

Carolyn Ryan, who heads the newsroom’s recruiting, strategy and high-profile journalism, became deputy editor-in-chief in October. The promotion followed her stations in charge of the newspaper’s political coverage, the subway division, and the Washington office.

With the return of Mr Levy to the crew, the newspaper has five assistant senior editors. The others are Rebecca Blumenstein, Steve Duenes and Matthew Purdy.

Mr. Kahn, the managing editor, ranks second after Mr. Baquet in the Times imprint. In December, national editor Marc Lacey was promoted to deputy editor-in-chief and one of seven journalists to hold the title. In the new role, Mr. Lacey is responsible for the live reporting.

While Mr. Levy was in charge of subway coverage, The Times won a Pulitzer Prize for a series by Brian M. Rosenthal that exposed predatory loans and other problems in the New York taxi industry. Mr Baquet and Mr Kahn said in their note on Wednesday that the search for a new subway editor was underway.

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Business

Starbucks (SBUX) Q1 2021 earnings prime estimates

Starbucks (SBUX) Q1 2021 earnings top estimates

Starbucks reported Tuesday that U.S. sales fell 5% in the first quarter of fiscal year after a surge in new Covid-19 cases led to tighter food restrictions.

The company also announced that COO Roz Brewer will be leaving Starbucks in late February. Those familiar with the matter told CNBC later Tuesday that she would become the executive director of Walgreens. Your responsibilities will be shared among other members of the existing Starbucks executive team.

In extended trading, stocks fell around 1%.

The company reported for the quarter ended December 27, versus Wall Street expectations, based on an analyst survey conducted by Refinitiv:

  • Earnings per share: 61 cents, adjusted compared to 55 cents expected
  • Revenue: $ 6.75 billion versus $ 6.93 billion expected

The company reported net income of $ 622.2 million, or 53 cents per share, for the first quarter, compared to $ 885.7 million, or 74 cents per share, a year earlier.

Without articles, the coffee giant earned 61 cents per share, exceeding the analysts surveyed by Refinitiv, 55 cents per share.

Net sales were down 5% to $ 6.75 billion, below expectations of $ 6.93 billion. Worldwide sales in the same store decreased by 5%. The company saw 19% fewer transactions in the quarter, but the average ticket increased 17%.

In the US, sales in the same store were down 5%. The company’s recovery in its home market was hampered by a further surge in Covid-19 cases as temperatures turned colder. Sales in the same store only decreased 3% in October but declined to 8% by December.

On the positive side, the number of Starbucks Rewards members who have been active in the past 90 days has increased 15% to 21.8 million people. Mobile orders accounted for a quarter of transactions, down from 17% before the crisis.

CEO Kevin Johnson said the company was having a “very strong” holiday season. The activation of Starbucks gift cards exceeded the company’s forecasts. He called the Irish Cream Cold Brew a “new vacation favorite”. Launched in 2019, the drink follows the success of Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew, which overtook Pumpkin Spice Latte as a bestseller on the autumn menu.

In China, Starbucks’ second largest market, sales in the same store turned positive for the first time since the health crisis began. Revenue in the same store increased 5%, although transactions were still down from the same period last year.

The company opened 278 new Netto cafes in the quarter and now has nearly 33,000 locations.

For the next quarter, Starbucks predicts US sales growth of 5% to 10%. According to information from executives, sales in the same store should develop positively in January after the downward trend in December. In China, sales in the same business are expected to nearly double. The company expects earnings of 36 to 41 cents per share. Adjusted earnings per share of 45 to 50 cents are forecast.

The company also raised its outlook for FY 2021 results. Earnings per share are now expected to be between $ 2.42 and $ 2.62, compared to its previous forecast of $ 2.34 to $ 2.54.

CFO Pat Grismer said Starbucks will release a major update to its fiscal year outlook when it releases its next quarter results. He cited the volatility caused by the pandemic.

Read the full results report here.

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Business

China Overtakes U.S. as Prime Vacation spot for Overseas Funding: Dwell Updates

Michael S. Barr, center, was a trusted deputy to former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and is the leading contender for currency control.

Here’s what you need to know:

Recognition…Bill O’Leary / The Washington Post, via Getty Images

Michael S. Barr, a law professor and former Obama administration official, is President Biden’s leading choice to control the currency, a powerful body that regulates banks.

As Vice Secretary of the Treasury under President Barack Obama, Mr. Barr helped shape the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Bill, a comprehensive regulatory bill that puts financial firms under stricter government oversight, a résumé that appears to certify him as a reformer.

Progressives are less in love, however, writes Emily Flitter in the New York Times. Some have pointed to Mr Barr’s efforts to relax some of Dodd-Frank’s restrictions, such as the Volcker Rule, which prohibits banks from using customer funds to make their own bets in the markets, as evidence that it may be more business-friendly.

His recent connections in the financial world, including advising a trading group trying to sway lawmakers on behalf of fintech companies, were also examined.

Several progressive groups have expressed support for another candidate: Mehrsa Baradaran, a law professor who has studied the inequality of treatment black and poor people often receive from banks. A supporter of Ms. Baradaran even threatened a hunger strike if Mr. Barr wins the nomination.

The explosion in cryptocurrency and online banking has increased the stake in the regulatory role. Fintech firms are advocating bank charter, and the wider adoption of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin will result in more government scrutiny.

The trade restrictions between China and the United States under the Trump administration, coupled with the coronavirus pandemic, have given China a surprising advantage.

China has surpassed the US for the first time as the leader in FDI, an important measure of a country’s economic health.

Foreign investment in the United States fell by almost half, or 49 percent, to $ 134 billion in 2020, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development announced on Sunday.

The decline in the United States is mostly focused on total trade, financial services, and mergers and acquisitions, according to the study.

China, where the coronavirus outbreak was first detected, saw a modest 4 percent increase to $ 163 billion, led by investments in the country’s growing high-tech sector and in mergers and acquisitions. China, the most populous nation in the world, imposed strict lockdown and masking requirements, rules that appear to have helped contain the spread of the virus within its borders.

Foreign direct investment fell for most countries as they struggled to contain the virus. Investment in Europe was wiped out and global foreign investment fell by 42 percent overall.

Developed nations like the United States tend to be attractive targets for such investments because of their skilled workforce, open markets, and rigorously enforced regulations.

China’s manufacturing expertise and growing consumer base have attracted overseas companies like Apple for years, but its strict policies regarding foreign ownership of its businesses and sometimes unclear enforcement rules made such investments difficult.

However, the growing clout of consumers has been difficult for multinational companies to ignore. When foreign investors opened a business, Chinese citizens bought and created enormous wealth. The country is making a stuttering path from an economy driven by exports to one driven by its own consumers.

The United Nations group expects foreign direct investment to remain weak globally through 2021.

Recognition…To watch

The tax changes approved by Congress late in the year are now forcing the IRS to postpone the start of the tax return season, New York Times’ Ann Carrns reports.

Even so, according to the IRS, most taxpayers who receive a 2020 tax refund will get it within three weeks if they file electronically and have the money deposited directly into their bank account. The average refund over the past few years has been more than $ 2,500. Many families use refunds to pay bills or to use them as a kind of forced savings plan.

Typically, the Internal Revenue Service begins accepting and processing individual income tax returns in late January. However, the agency has postponed the start of filing tax returns for the 2020 tax year to February 12th.

The IRS Free File program is now ready for use if you want to prepare your own tax return. Free File, a partnership between the IRS and tax software company, is available to individuals with an adjusted gross income of $ 72,000 or less. The program offers free online preparation and filing of federal declarations. However, some vendors charge government returns fees. You can now complete your return and it will be submitted to the IRS starting February 12th.

This is going to be another challenging tax season for the Internal Revenue Service, which in recent years has struggled with reduced budgets that have forced it to get by with fewer workers and outdated computer systems. During the pandemic, it also had the extra work of distributing stimulus checks.

Debenhams, a long-time department store chain in the UK, began closing sales last month.Recognition…Oli Scarff / Agence France-Presse – Getty Images

British online fast fashion retailer Boohoo announced Monday that it would buy the Debenhams brand name and website for £ 55 million, or $ 75 million, a few weeks after the 242-year-old department store chain ceased operations after opening had administration in April.

The deal is the latest reflection of the seismic reorganization in the global retail hierarchy caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Strong companies with agile supply chains and e-commerce activities grow faster, while weaker – often older – competitors with large stationary footprints and more traditional models gradually fall away.

Asos, another online fast fashion retailer, confirmed Monday that it was in exclusive talks with administrators at Philip Green retail group Arcadia to buy the portfolio of their fashion brands, which include Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge and HIIT . Arcadia filed for bankruptcy protection late last year.

A final sale in 124 Debenhams stores began in December as administrators continued to search for offers for all or part of the company. Now, Boohoo, best known for his $ 5 bikinis and connections to reality TV stars, is going to buy the Debenhams intellectual property rights for cash – though none of his stores or inventory will be included. The company took the same approach when it acquired several other UK brands that were on the brink of bankruptcy, including Oasis and Karen Millen.

Debenhams was expected to restart on Boohoo’s web platform in early 2022.

“Our acquisition of the Debenhams brand is strategic as it is a huge step in accelerating our drive to lead not only in fashion e-commerce but also in new categories such as beauty, sports and homeware,” said Boohoos Chairman of the Board, Mahmud Kamani. “Our aim is to create the largest UK market.”

Neither Asos nor Boohoo are looking to buy stores, so the remaining 118 Debenhams department stores and more than 400 Arcadia-branded stores are likely to close permanently, putting tens of thousands of jobs at risk.

Boohoo, co-founded by Mr Kamani in Manchester in 2006, was subject to public scrutiny last year after investigations into working conditions at Leicester textile mills found that many workers were paid less than the minimum wage.

  • The S&P 500 futures fluctuated but indicated that the main Wall Street index would open slightly higher on Monday after positive sentiment in Asian markets stalled in European trading as new data saw a drop in business confidence showed.

  • Most of the European indices were lower. The Stoxx Europe 600 fell 0.2 percent, led by losses in financial and energy companies. The CAC 40 in France fell 0.5 percent, the DAX in Germany and the FTSE 100 in Great Britain by 0.3 percent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 2.4 percent to its highest level in two and a half years. Gains were driven by an 11 percent rise in Tencent shares after a company he supported announced an IPO

  • In Europe there is growing concern about the pace of vaccination. Drug manufacturers said the European Union would face a significant delay in delivery in the first few months of the year, and officials replied they would take legal action to fulfill their contracts.

  • In Germany, Europe’s largest economy, the most recent surveys showed a sharp decline in expectations of the economy. The Ifo survey on business sentiment fell to its lowest level in six months.

  • “With the current lockdown measures until mid-February and without any significant easing immediately afterwards, the short-term prospects for the German economy are anything but rosy,” wrote Carsten Brzeski, an economist at the Dutch bank ING, in a note.

  • The UK has seen a shake in retail and newer online brands have cleaned up the old guard: shares of Boohoo, the fast fashion online retailer, rose as much as 5.7 percent after it announced the Brand to buy from Debenhams, a two hundred year old department store chain that went bankrupt last year. Shops are likely to be closed.

  • Shares of ASOS, another online retailer, even surged 6.4 percent after it was confirmed that after the downtown collapse there was some talk of buying some of Arcadia’s most popular brands, including Topshop.

  • In other financial markets, the US dollar and the gold price have barely changed. Oil futures rose and West Texas Intermediate prices rose 0.8 percent to $ 52.66 a barrel.

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Health

U.S. Virus Circumstances Prime 25 Million

U.S. Virus Cases Top 25 Million

Epidemiologists say the actual number of infections is likely much higher than the official numbers. Even with testing more widespread than during the first few months of the pandemic, many people who have never had symptoms may not have been tested or counted.

Ira Longini, professor of biostatistics at the University of Florida, estimates that around 20 percent of Americans had the virus – more than twice as many as reported. Statistical modeling he recently did for Florida suggests that a third of the state’s population will be infected at some point, quadrupling the reported percentage.

It would need a coordinated nationwide Study to go beyond modeling estimates and have a solid understanding of how many people actually had the virus, he said. The CDC does some serological testing, he said, but not enough to give a complete picture.

“The end result is we don’t know, but we can guess from the modeling,” said Dr. Longini.

The proportion can vary greatly from place to place. Almost one in four residents tested positive in Dewey County, SD, compared to one in 200 in San Juan County, Washington.

Many of the American metropolitan areas with the highest number of cases reported relative to their population are in the south or southwest, where the virus has spread rapidly lately, but some are in areas like the Great Plains, which got worse in the fall. The top 5 are Yuma, Ariz .; Gallup, NM; Bismarck, ND; and Lubbock and Eagle Pass, Texas.

The metropolitan areas with the most new cases per capita in the past two weeks reflect the same trend, and also highlight the virulence of the California outbreak. These areas are Laredo and Eagle Pass, Texas; Inland Empire, California; Jefferson, Ga .; and Oxnard, Calif.

More than a million people are known to have tested positive in Los Angeles County, one of the country’s hot spots in recent months. And George Rutherford, professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California at San Francisco, estimated that the actual number of infections there is twice as high as one in five Angelenos.

“It’s not enough for herd immunity, but it’s enough to blunt the curve,” he said.

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Business

Procter & Gamble (PG) Q2 2021 earnings high expectations

Procter & Gamble (PG) Q2 2021 earnings top expectations

Procter & Gamble raised its outlook for the second quarter in a row on Wednesday.

Revenue increased 8% in the second quarter, driven by higher demand for cleaning products and shaving and styling products as the pandemic continues to affect consumer behavior.

The company, whose brands include Tide, Pampers and Bounty, expects sales to grow 5% to 6% in fiscal 2021, after previously forecasting growth of 3% to 4%. Adjusted earnings are also projected to increase 8% to 10% from the previous target of 5% to 8%.

The company’s shares fell 1% in the early trading day.

The company reported for the quarter ended December 31st, versus Wall Street’s expectations, based on an analyst survey conducted by Refinitiv:

  • Earnings per share: $ 1.64, adjusted versus expected $ 1.51
  • Revenue: $ 19.75 billion versus $ 19.27 billion expected

P&G reported net income of $ 3.85 billion, or $ 1.47 per share, for the second quarter, compared to $ 3.72 billion or $ 1.41 per share last year.

Excluding items, the company earned $ 1.64 per share, beating the analysts surveyed by Refinitiv at $ 1.51 per share.

Net sales rose 8% to $ 19.75 billion, beating expectations of $ 19.27 billion. Organic sales, which exclude the effects of acquisitions, divestments, and foreign currencies, also increased 8%. New products helped increase sales for the quarter.

“It’s a combination of planned products and a quick response to real, emerging needs,” said CFO and COO Jon Moeller in CNBC’s Squawk Box.

For example, Microban 24-hour disinfectant spray was launched in February just before U.S. consumers started buying up every cleaning product they could find due to the pandemic.

In P & G’s Fabric & Household Care segment, organic sales increased 12% for the quarter. This is the company’s largest increase by business area. Home care, which includes Comet cleaning products, saw 30% organic sales growth as more consumers cleaned surfaces and dishes.

The Healthcare segment, which includes Oral B and Vicks products, posted organic sales growth of 9%. Price increases combined with consumer demand for high-end products boosted sales. However, the company said demand for respiratory products was lower this year as fewer people caught cold or flu.

In the nursing and baby, gynecological and family care segments, organic sales increased 6% in the quarter. Organic P&G Grooming Equipment sales increased 20% as consumers search for styling and shaving products for the home.

P & G’s beauty segment, which includes Olay and SK-II, posted organic sales growth of 5%.

The distribution of vaccines has raised questions about whether consumer giants like P&G or Conagra Brands will be able to maintain the same pace of growth once their customers return to their previous routines. At a press conference, Moeller announced that demand for some of its products, which have seen significant sales increases, is likely to be lower. However, other products that have been weakened by recent trends may bounce back. The company also predicts the disappearance of “some very strong headwinds” such as supply chain challenges.

For fiscal 2021, P&G predicts foreign currency headwinds that will cost about $ 100 million after tax, as well as higher freight costs that will also cost $ 100 million after tax.

The company expects to buy back up to $ 10 billion of its own shares over the course of the fiscal year, from a previous estimate of $ 7 billion to $ 9 billion.

Read the full results report here.

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Politics

N.S.A. Installs Trump Loyalist as Prime Lawyer Days Earlier than Biden Takes Workplace

N.S.A. Installs Trump Loyalist as Top Lawyer Days Before Biden Takes Office

At the Pentagon, Mr. Miller was upset that agency leadership had slowed Mr. Ellis’ installment payments for months despite having gone through the standard hiring process and been selected for the position, a senior US official said. So, Mr. Miller ordered the agency to swear in Mr. Ellis, a move the Washington Post reported on Saturday.

In a statement, the Pentagon defended Mr. Ellis’ hiring, saying he had been duly selected by the Department of Defense General Counsel. “To be clear, the interest of Congress or the media in any particular recruitment measure is not a justification under the merit system policies and procedures to delay the placement of a selected qualified individual in a position,” the statement said.

Mr. Ellis is seen as a shrewd lawyer. But the urge to get him into a permanent government job puzzled some. According to former officials, he will likely enter the General Counsel’s office under high suspicion and have an uphill battle to win General Nakasone’s trust.

Mr. Ellis will serve on the Senior Executive Service, a public service job that offers strong protection against layoffs. However, officers can easily be transferred to the Department of Defense so that he can get a legal position elsewhere in the sprawling department – for example, overseeing environmental compliance on a remote military base.

While on the Intelligence Committee, Mr. Ellis was a trusted advisor to Rep Devin Nunes, Republican of California. Mr. Ellis served in various roles in the Trump administration, including serving as an attorney for the National Security Council and then as White House executive director for intelligence.

At the White House, Mr. Ellis overturned a career official’s decision to put Mr. Bolton’s book open for publication despite having no formal training in the classification of national security information. The Justice Department, under pressure from President Trump, sued Mr Bolton to recover his profits from the book.

A judge overseeing the case issued a ruling Thursday making it very likely that Mr. Bolton’s attorney Charles J. Cooper could question White House officials like Mr. Ellis about whether the classification decisions were made in bad faith were. Should Mr. Ellis serve as General Counsel at least temporarily, he may be able to withhold this testimony.

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Walmart prospects do not count on a speedy financial restoration, prime exec says

Walmart customers don't expect a speedy economic recovery, top exec says

Shoppers wear masks while shopping at a Walmart store in Bradford, Pennsylvania on July 20, 2020.

Brendan McDermid | Reuters

Janey Whiteside, Walmart’s chief customer officer, said Tuesday that many of its shoppers don’t expect the economy to recover quickly from the coronavirus pandemic.

Nearly half of customers surveyed in November said Walmart were concerned about the current health of the economy, she said at the National Retail Federation’s virtual conference. She said 40% said they did not expect a “quick recovery”.

“Our main Walmart customer is absolutely not immune to the economic slowdown, and may even be disproportionately affected,” she said, noting that the pandemic has divided society as it has not hit some industries such as hospitality and others.

Walmart’s sales and earnings have increased during the pandemic as customers turned to its 4,700+ U.S. stores and website for groceries, hair colors, puzzles, and more. Revenue from the same store rose 6.4% and US ecommerce sales rose 79% year over year for the third quarter ended October 31. The company has yet to report its fourth quarter results, including Christmas shopping, of the season.

However, according to Whiteside, the company finds that customers are feeling financially troubled trying to put groceries on the table and juggle other expenses such as school supplies for their children. She said, “Taking care of this group of customers who need us more than ever is the fuel that keeps Walmart going.”

“We know they continue to look for ways to save money on basic items. Whether you’re moving from a national brand to a private brand, look for small pack sizes and cherry picking deals when they’re available.” said she said. “We also know that they continue to make sure they don’t have to forego experiences for their families, so take a look at where to balance the wallet.”

On Monday, Walmart announced that it had created a fintech start-up with the venture capital firm Ribbit Capital. It didn’t say what services it could launch, but said they’ll be affordable. Walmart already offers some financial products like prepaid debit cards for customers with bad credit or no relationship with a bank.

Walmart’s plan to open health clinics is also geared towards affordability. The clinics offer lower prices that are listed in advance and can be paid out of pocket, e.g. E.g. $ 30 for an annual examination or $ 45 for a consultation session.

“In these times when everyone has so much on their minds, we also know that saving time and relieving the cognitive burden on people is also important,” said Whiteside.