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The good-news-is-bad-news theme was an overarching reason behind Friday's sharp sell-off in stocks and the sharp increase in bond yields.
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Tag: business news
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Biden signs executive order with new framework to protect data transfers between the U.S. and EU
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President Joe Biden signed an executive order to implement a new framework to protect the privacy of personal data shared between the U.S. and Europe, the White House announced Friday.
The new framework fills a significant gap in data protections across the Atlantic since a European court undid a previous version in 2020. The court found the U.S. had too great an ability to surveil European data transferred through the earlier system.
The court case, known as Schrems II, “created enormous uncertainty about the ability of companies to transfer personal data from the European Union to the United States in a manner consistent with EU law,” then-Deputy Assistant Commerce Secretary James Sullivan wrote in a public letter shortly after the decision. The outcome made it so U.S. companies would need to use different “EU-approved data transfer mechanisms” on an ad hoc basis, creating more complexity for businesses, Sullivan wrote.
The so-called Privacy Shield 2.0 seeks to address European concerns about possible surveillance by U.S. intelligence agencies. In March, after the U.S. and EU agreed in principle to the new framework, the White House said in a fact sheet that the U.S. “committed to implement new safeguards to ensure that signals intelligence activities are necessary and proportionate in the pursuit of defined national security objectives.”
The new framework will allow individuals in the EU to seek redress through an independent Data Protection Review Court made up of members outside of the U.S. government. That body “would have full authority to adjudicate claims and direct remedial measures as needed,” according to the March fact sheet.
Before a matter reaches the DPRC, the civil liberties protection officer in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence will also conduct an initial investigation of complaints. Its decisions are also binding, subject to the independent body’s assessment.
The executive order directs the U.S. intelligence community to update policies and procedures to fit the new privacy protections in the framework. It also instructs the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, an independent agency, to examine those updates and conduct an annual review of whether the intelligence community has fully adhered to binding redress decisions.
“The EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework includes robust commitment to strengthen the privacy and civil liberties safeguards for signals intelligence, which will ensure the privacy of EU personal data,” Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo told reporters Thursday.
Raimondo said she will transfer a series of documents and letters from relevant U.S. government agencies outlining the operation and enforcement of the framework to her EU counterpart, Commissioner Didier Reynders.
The EU will then conduct an “adequacy determination” of the measures, the White House said. It will assess the sufficiency of the data protection measures in order to restore the data transfer mechanism.
American tech companies and industry groups applauded the measure, with Meta‘s president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, writing on Twitter, “We welcome this update to US law which will help to preserve the open internet and keep families, businesses and communities connected, wherever they are in the world.”
Linda Moore, president and CEO of industry group TechNet, said in a statement, “We applaud the Biden Administration for taking affirmative steps to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of American and European cross-border data flows and will continue to work with the Administration and members of Congress from both parties to pass a federal privacy bill.”
But some consumer and data privacy watchdogs critiqued the extent of the data protections.
BEUC, a European consumer group, said in a release that the framework “is likely still insufficient to protect Europeans’ privacy and personal data when it crosses the Atlantic.” The group added that “there are no substantial improvements to address issues related to the commercial use of personal data, an area where the previous agreement, the EU-US Privacy Shield, fell short of GDPR requirements,” referring to Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation.
Ashley Gorski, senior staff attorney at the ACLU National Security Project, said in a statement that the order “does not go far enough. It fails to adequately protect the privacy of Americans and Europeans, and it fails to ensure that people whose privacy is violated will have their claims resolved by a wholly independent decision-maker.”
— CNBC’s Chelsey Cox contributed to this report.
WATCH: Why the U.S. government is questioning your online privacy
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September job gains affirm that the Fed has a long way to go in inflation fight
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The Go! Go! Curry restaurant has a sign in the window reading “We Are Hiring” in Cambridge, Massachusetts, July 8, 2022.
Brian Snyder | Reuters
September’s jobs report provided both assurance that the jobs market remains strong and that the Federal Reserve will have to do more to slow it down.
The 263,000 gain in nonfarm payrolls was just below analyst expectations and the slowest monthly gain in nearly a year and a half.
But a surprising drop in the unemployment rate and another boost in worker wages sent a clear message to markets that more giant interest rate hikes are on the way.
“Low unemployment used to feel so good. Everybody who seems to want a job is getting a job,” said Ron Hetrick, senior economist at labor force data provider Lightcast. “But we’ve been getting into a situation where our low unemployment rate has absolutely been a significant driver of our inflation.”
Indeed, average hourly earnings rose 5% on a year-over-year basis in September, down slightly from the 5.2% pace in August but still indicative of an economy where the cost of living is surging. Hourly earnings rose 0.3% on a monthly basis, the same as in August.
No ‘green light’ for a Fed change
Fed officials have pointed to a historically tight labor market as a byproduct of economic conditions that have pushed inflation readings to near the highest point since the early 1980s. A series of central bank rate increases has been aimed at reducing demand and thus loosening up a labor market where there are still 1.7 open jobs for every available worker.
Friday’s nonfarm payrolls report only reinforced that the conditions behind inflation are persisting.
To financial markets, that meant the near certainty that the Fed will approve a fourth consecutive 0.75 percentage point interest rate hike when it meets again in early November. This will be the last jobs report policymakers will see before the Nov. 1-2 Federal Open Market Committee meeting.
“Anyone looking for a reprieve that might give the Fed the green light to start to telegraph a pivot didn’t get it from this report,” said Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab. “Maybe the light got a little greener that they can step back from” two more 0.75 percentage point increases and only one more, Sonders said.
In a speech Thursday, Fed Governor Christopher Waller sent up a preemptive flare that Friday’s report would do little to dissuade his view on inflation.
“In my view, we haven’t yet made meaningful progress on inflation and until that progress is both meaningful and persistent, I support continued rate increases, along with ongoing reductions in the Fed’s balance sheet, to help restrain aggregate demand,” Waller said.
Markets do, however, expect that November probably will be the last three-quarter point rate hike.
Futures pricing Friday pointed to an 82% chance of a 0.75-point move in November, then a 0.5-point increase in December followed by another 0.25-point move in February that would take the fed funds rate to a range of 4.5%4.75%, according to CME Group data.
What concerns investors more than anything now is whether the Fed can do all that without dragging the economy into a deep, prolonged recession.
Pessimism on the Street
September’s payroll gains brought some hope that the labor market could be strong enough to withstand monetary tightening matched only when former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker slew inflation in the early 1980s with a fund rate that topped out just above 19% in early 1981.
“It could add to the story of that soft landing that for a while seemed fairly elusive,” said Jeffrey Roach, chief economist at LPL Financial. “That soft landing could still be in the cards if the Fed doesn’t break anything.”
Investors, though, were concerned enough over the prospects of a “break” that they sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average down more than 500 points by noon Friday.
Commentary around Wall Street centered on the uncertainty of the road ahead:
- From KPMG senior economist Ken Kim: “Typically, in most other economic cycles, we’d be very happy with such a solid report, especially coming from the labor market side. But this just speaks volumes about the upside-down world that we’re in, because the strength of the unemployment report keeps the pressure on the Fed to continue with their rate increases going forward.”
- Rick Rieder, BlackRock’s chief investment officer of global fixed income, joked about the Fed banning resume software in an effort to cool job hunters: “The Fed should throw another 75-bps rate hike into this mix at its next meeting … consequently pressing financial conditions tighter along the way … We wonder whether it will actually take banning resume software as a last-ditch effort to hit the target, but while that won’t happen, we wonder whether, and when, significant unemployment increases will happen as well.”
- David Donabedian, CIO at CIBC Private Wealth: “We expect the pressure on the Fed to remain high, with continued monetary tightening well into 2023. The Fed is not done tightening the screws on the economy, creating persistent headwinds for the equity market.”
- Ron Temple, head of U.S. equity at Lazard Asset Management: “While job growth is slowing, the US economy remains far too hot for the Fed to achieve its inflation target. The path to a soft landing keeps getting more challenging. If there are any doves left on the FOMC, today’s report might have further thinned their ranks.”
The employment data left the third-quarter economic picture looking stronger.
The Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow tracker put growth for the quarter at 2.9%, a reprieve after the economy saw consecutive negative readings in the first two quarters of the year, meeting the technical definition of recession.
However, the Atlanta Fed’s wage tracker shows worker pay growing at a 6.9% annual pace through August, even faster than the Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers. The Fed tracker uses Census rather than BLS data to inform its calculations and is generally more closely followed by central bank policymakers.
It all makes the inflation fight look ongoing, even with a slowdown in payroll growth.
“There is an interpretation of today’s data as supporting a soft landing – job openings are falling and the unemployment rate is staying low,” wrote Citigroup economist Andrew Hollenhorst, “but we continue to see the most likely outcome as persistently strong wage and price inflation that the Fed will drive the economy into at least a mild recession to bring down inflation.”
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Citadel’s billionaire CEO Ken Griffin becomes GOP $100 million midterm megadonor
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Ken Griffin, Citadel at CNBC’s Delivering Alpha, Sept. 28, 2022.
Scott Mlyn | CNBC
Citadel’s billionaire CEO, Ken Griffin, is one of Wall Street’s biggest political donors in the 2022 midterms, giving more than $100 million toward state and federal candidates across the country since April 2021, campaign finance records show.
The $50 million Griffin has donated to Republicans running in federal races alone make him the party’s single biggest individual donor from the finance industry and the third-biggest political donor to federal candidates in this election cycle, according to data tracked by campaign finance watchdog OpenSecrets.
Only Soros Fund Management founder George Soros and shipping magnate Richard Uihlein have given more to candidates running for the U.S. House or Senate. Soros has donated over $128 million to Democrats while Uihlein has given $53 million to Republicans, according to OpenSecrets.
Griffin, however, has spent another $50 million during this election cycle — which runs from Jan. 1, 2021 through the end of this year — on the failed Illinois gubernatorial campaign of Aurora, Ill., Mayor Richard Irvin, who lost in the Republican primary, according to state campaign finance records.
Citadel announced plans this summer to move its headquarters from Chicago to Miami, as the Windy City struggles to stop a rise in crime. Griffin has previously said part of his feud with Illinois Gov. J. B. Pritzker is over the Democratic leader’s record on crime. Griffin said at a DealBook conference last year that when he brought up the crime issue to Pritzker, “he took the moment to call me a liar.”
Zia Ahmed, a spokesman for Griffin, told CNBC in a statement that the Citadel CEO is aiming to “broaden the tent of the Republican Party.”
“Ken wants to elevate talented candidates and broaden the tent of the Republican Party to make it more representative of our country,” Ahmed said. “He supports leaders who will focus on education, job creation, public safety and a strong national defense so that every individual has access to the American dream.”
Democratic political operatives have taken aim at Griffin, especially as he’s tried to make an impact on elections.
The Democratic Governors Association, an outside group that backs Democrats, organized opposition research on Griffin as he was deciding who to support in the Illinois Republican primary for governor. The research, which was reviewed by CNBC, is titled “Ken Griffin Has Been Playing Kingmaker In IL Politics With No Consequences.” It’s a compilation of public documents and reporting that included a focus on Griffin’s divorces. Pritzker, who has an estimated net worth of $3.6 billion, donated $24 million to the group as Griffin moved to back Irvin, according to records filed to the IRS.
In a statement to CNBC, the Democratic governors’ group compared Griffin’s contributions to those of Charles Koch and his brother, the late David Koch. They said that Griffin deserves scrutiny due to him becoming a major donor for Republicans.
“Much like when the Koch Brothers were the Republican Party’s number one donor it was important for the public to understand how they were trying to use their money to further their own special interests,” a Democratic Governors Association spokesperson said after being asked about the opposition research. “Ken Griffin is now the largest donor in the GOP and deserves the same kind of scrutiny.”
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and other GOP leaders have privately courted Griffin as one of their most important and lucrative donors this cycle, as Republicans try to take back both the U.S. House and Senate, according to people familiar with the conversations.
Democrats control the House and Senate, but by slim margins. The Senate is split 50-50 with Democrats relying on Vice President Kamala Harris to break any ties. Cook Political Report labels Senate seats held by Sens. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., as toss-ups. In the House, Democrats have a nine-seat majority. But the Cook report projects that 30 of the chamber’s 435 seats are up for grabs.
Data from AdImpact shows the general election fight for control of the Senate has cost over $1 billion with almost 30 days left to go until Election Day. In total, federal candidates and PACs have spent in excess of $6.4 billion on the 2022 midterms, putting them on track to be the most expensive ever.
Republican leaders are turning to Griffin to take the lead after two of the GOP party’s most influential donors have died: former executive vice president of Koch Industries David Koch at 79 in August 2019 and casino magnate Sheldon Adelson at 87 in January 2021.
CEO and chairman of casino company Las Vegas Sands Sheldon Adelson (L) listens as US President Donald Trump delivers remarks at a Keep America Great rally in Las Vegas, Nevada, on February 21, 2020.
Jim Watson | AFP | Getty Images
“He likes being a player” in politics, a Koch political advisor told CNBC when asked about Griffin’s efforts to sway the midterms. Griffin said in a 2012 interview with the Chicago Tribune that he knew David Koch and his brother Charles for “a number of years” and regularly went to the Koch network seminars, where business leaders would huddle with the group’s donors.
The Koch’s policy network has spent hundreds of millions of dollars over the past decade on campaigns.
David Koch
Carlo Allegri | Reuters
Griffin, 53, has “youth on his side and probably $35 billion,” the Koch advisor said. “He could step up but those are big shoes to fill.” Forbes estimates Griffin has a net worth of $30.5 billion.
Among Wall Street executives, the next biggest GOP donors include Blackstone CEO Steve Schwarzman with $20 million in contributions and Paul Singer, the founder of Elliott Management, who’s donated $14 million during this election cycle. Jeffrey Yass, the co-founder of Philadelphia based trading firm Susquehanna International Group, has contributed over $30 million.
McConnell and party officials this summer were expecting Griffin to cut a multimillion-dollar check to the Senate Leadership Fund, according to those familiar with McConnell’s thinking. Though McConnell doesn’t run the super PAC, which is dedicated to helping Republicans get elected to the Senate, it’s closely aligned with the senator and run by his former chief of staff, Steven Law.
Griffin donated $10 million to the PAC in two evenly split checks sent in December and March, Federal Election Commission filings show. Griffin cut another check to the PAC in the third quarter, according to a person close to the billionaire, but they wouldn’t say how much and the PAC doesn’t need to disclose its most recent fundraising records to the FEC until Oct. 15.
Griffin also recently donated to the Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC backing House Republican candidates, that person said, declining to say how much. FEC records show Griffin donated over $18 million to that group from Jan. 1, 2021 through June.
A representative for McConnell did not return a request for comment.
Griffin gave $5 million last year to a separate political action committee backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ 2022 reelection bid and an additional $5 million to the Republican Party of Florida in August, according to state campaign finance records.
During CNBC’s Delivering Alpha Conference, Griffin indicated that he’s become so close to DeSantis that his team told the governor that Griffin didn’t agree with DeSantis’ decision to fly two planes of Central and South American migrants to Martha’s Vineyard.
“I don’t agree with what he did,” Griffin said when asked at the conference about DeSantis shipping migrants to Florida. “I’m certain that my team’s communicated that to him,” he added. He also said he was open to becoming Treasury secretary if the country was experiencing an economic crisis. DeSantis hasn’t ruled out running for president in the upcoming 2024 election.
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$570 million worth of Binance’s BNB token stolen in another major crypto hack
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Binance is the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume.
Jakub Porzycki | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Cryptocurrency exchange Binance temporarily suspended its blockchain network late Thursday after hackers made off with around $570 million worth of its BNB token.
Binance said a cross-chain bridge linking with its BNB Chain was targeted, enabling hackers to move BNB tokens off the network. So-called cross-chain bridges are tools that allow the transfer of tokens from one blockchain to another.
The company said it had worked with transaction validators to pause creation of new blocks on BSC, suspending all transaction processing while a team of developers investigates the breach.
Binance is the world’s largest crypto exchange by trading volume.
“An exploit on a cross-chain bridge, BSC Token Hub, resulted in extra BNB. We have asked all validators to temporarily suspend BSC,” Changpeng Zhao, Binance’s CEO, said in a tweet Thursday evening.
“The issue is contained now. Your funds are safe. We apologize for the inconvenience and will provide further updates accordingly.”
BNB Chain has since resumed operations.
In total, hackers drained 2 million BNB tokens — about $570 million at current prices — from the network, Binance’s BNB Chain said in a blog post on Friday.
The exploit was enabled “through a sophisticated forging of the low level proof into one common library,” BNB Chain said.
An earlier estimate from the company placed the total amount withdrawn in a range of $100 million to $110 million.
The company said it managed to freeze $7 million of funds with the help of its security partners..
The value of BNB sank more than 3% Friday morning to $285.36 a coin, according to CoinMarketCap data.
BNB Chain, originally known as Binance Chain, was first developed by Binance in 2019. Like other blockchains, it features a native token, called BNB, that can be traded or used in games and other applications.
It is the latest in a series of major hacks targeting cross-chain bridges, with instances of sloppy engineering making them a prime target for cybercriminals.
A total of around $1.4 billion has been lost to breaches on cross-chain bridges since the start of 2022, according to data from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis.
The crypto industry has had a rough year, with roughly $2 trillion in value being erased since the peak of a blistering rally from 2020 to 2021. The implosion of $60 billion blockchain venture Terra and a worsening macroeconomic environment have severely impacted market sentiment.
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U.N. body rejects debate on China’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims in blow to West
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Uyghurs and UK Muslim organizations gathering opposite the Chinese embassy in London to protest against the Chinese government’s involvement in ongoing human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities on 31 July 2022.
Thomas Krych | Lightrocket | Getty Images
The U.N. rights council on Thursday voted down a Western-led motion to hold a debate about alleged human rights abuses by China against Uyghurs and other Muslims in Xinjiang in a victory for Beijing as it seeks to avoid further scrutiny.
The defeat — 19 against, 17 for, 11 abstentions — is only the second time in the council’s 16-year history that a motion has been rejected and is seen by observers as a setback to both accountability efforts, the West’s moral authority on human rights and the credibility of the United Nations itself.
The United States, Canada and Britain were among the countries that brought the motion.
“This is a disaster. This is really disappointing,” said Dolkun Isa, president of the World Uyghur Congress, whose mother died in a camp and whose two brothers are missing.
“We will never give up but we are really disappointed by the reaction of Muslim countries,” he added.
Qatar, Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates and Pakistan rejected the motion, with the latter citing the risk of alienating China. Phil Lynch, director of the International Service for Human Rights, called the voting record “shameful” on Twitter.“Xinjiang-related issues are not human rights issues at all, but issues of counter-terrorism, de-radicalization and anti-separatism,” said China’s foreign ministry late on Thursday.
The motion was an attempt by the United States and some Western countries to “use the UN human rights body to interfere in China’s internal affairs,” said the foreign ministry in a post on its official website.
New targets ‘tomorrow’
China’s envoy had warned before the vote that the motion would create a precedent for examining other countries’ human rights records.
“Today China is targeted. Tomorrow any other developing country will be targeted,” said Chen Xu, adding that a debate would lead to “new confrontations.”
The U.N. rights office on Aug. 31 released a long-delayed report that found serious human rights violations in Xinjiang that may constitute crimes against humanity, ramping up pressure on China.
Rights groups accuse Beijing of abuses against Uyghurs, a mainly Muslim ethnic minority that numbers around 10 million in the western region of Xinjiang, including the mass use of forced labor in internment camps. The United States has accused China of genocide. Beijing vigorously denies any abuses.
‘Enormous pressure’
The motion is the first time that the rights record of China, a powerful permanent Security Council member, has been on the council’s agenda. The item has stoked divisions and a diplomat said states were under “enormous pressure” from Beijing to back China.
Countries like Britain, the United States and Germany, vowed to continue to work towards accountability despite Thursday’s outcome.
But activists said the defeat of such a limited motion, which stopped short of seeking an investigation, would make it difficult to put it back on the agenda.
Universal Rights Group’s Marc Limon said it was a “serious miscalculation,” citing the timing which coincides with a Western-led motion for action on Russia.
“It’s a serious blow for the credibility of the council and a clear victory for China,” he said. “Many developing countries will see it as an adjustment away from Western predominance in the U.N. human rights system.”
The event raised political dilemmas for many poor countries in the 47-member council who are loath to publicly defy China for fear of jeopardizing investment.
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Afraid of heights, he climbed Mount Everest — now he’s helping others conquer their fears too
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Vivian James Rigney is no casual traveler.
The executive coach and speaker has visited more than 80 countries and lived on three continents.
He’s also climbed the highest mountains on all seven continents, the so-called Seven Summits.
It’s a feat that took him 14 years — one, he estimates, that fewer than 1,000 people have completed.
And he did it despite being “terrified of heights,” he said.
In an interview with CNBC Travel, Rigney talked about what he learned — and how much it cost him — to reach some of the highest points on earth.
The cost to climb
Rigney estimates he’s paid between $170,000 and $180,000 to climb the Seven Summits, he said.
“Everest is, by far, the most expensive,” he said, adding that he paid about $80,000 when he climbed it in 2010.
“You have to save and build a plan,” he said. “That’s why it took me years. I started, then I went to business school, all my money was gone into that, then I started again, got a new job … Piece by piece, I gradually got through it.”
But there’s another cost — the time away from work, said Rigney. Luckily, he said his employers supported his goals.
“If you have a good employer … they can see [personal goals] as something which can help lift the spirits of the company,” he said.
From ‘easy’ to ‘excruciatingly painful’
In addition to costs, the Seven Summits vary considerably in terms of climbing difficulty, said Rigney.
He said Africa’s Mount Kilimanjaro is “easy,” calling it “technically not challenging at all.”
But it is high enough to feel altitude sickness, he said, which stops some climbers from reaching the top.
Kilimanjaro can be climbed in a week, he said. Antarctica’s Vinson Massif can take two weeks — “if you’re lucky” — and North America’s Denali three to four weeks.
But Mount Everest is a “massive logistical operation” that takes about two months, he said. It’s by far the most difficult and dangerous climb, he said, calling the experience “excruciatingly painful.”
“Every cell in your body is saying you shouldn’t be here,” he said. “Your intuition is going nuts.”
Rigney climbed Mount Everest for about four to five hours a day. The rest of the time “you’re recovering in your tent alone … no devices, no internet … nothing.”
Courtesy of Inside Us LLC
He said he arrived “bulked up and super fit.” Despite consuming 7,000 to 8,000 calories a day — mainly potatoes, pasta and dry food — he said he lost 20 pounds during the Everest climb.
Staying warm takes a tremendous amount of energy, he said. Everything freezes, he said, including LCD camera screens.
“We have what we call a pee bag. You pee in this bag, and you seal it and you put that into the sleeper bag with you because it’s warm.”
There are only about three to five days in the climbing season that climbers can reach Everest’s summit. If they do, it’s a quick victory, said Rigney.
“People don’t hang around the summit for hours,” he said. “You get the heck off the mountain as quick as you can.”
From climbing to coaching
Rigney is now an executive coach and speaker, teaching corporate executives lessons he learned from pushing himself, mentally and physically, to the limit.
He’s also the author of “Naked at the Knife’s Edge,” a book about how he’s used some of the most harrowing moments from his Everest climb for professional success.
Climbers don’t stay long once they reach Mount Everest’s peak, said Rigney. “You get the heck off the mountain as quick as you can.”
Courtesy of Inside Us LLC
He said he helps “overachievers… [with] tons on their mind” achieve balance and break habits “which pull us along … as though we’re on a conveyor belt.”
For example, fear — whether it’s of public speaking or his own fear of heights — can be overcome using tricks of the mind, he said.
And leaders must learn to accept things that are out of their control, be it an injury or a pandemic, he said.
He said he still laughs when he thinks about arriving at a small airplane hangar in Kathmandu one hour before he was scheduled to fly to the foothills of the Himalayas.
After climbing the “Seven Summits,” Rigney said he is deliberately choosing travel experiences that are less risky. He said several years ago, he found a hobby that is both challenging and fun: scuba diving.
Courtesy of Inside Us LLC
“I remember going up to this gentleman … and I said ‘Hey… what time do you think we’ll be leaving?’” said Rigney. “He said: ‘Maybe today, hopefully by tomorrow, likely by the end of the week.’”
Ten minutes later, another climber, who got the same answer, exploded with anger, he said.
“Eventually this guy looks over, red with steam coming out his ears, and we are just howling. I think it finally clicked — like this is where you are. This is about weather in the Himalayas!”
It’s just one of a long list of “things we can control and things we cannot,” said Rigney.
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Cannabis company Canopy applauds Biden’s marijuana pardons as stock surges
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Canopy Growth operations in Smiths Falls, Ontario.
Tom Franck | CNBC
Canopy Growth applauded President Joe Biden’s announcement Thursday that he will pardon thousands of people convicted of marijuana possession.
“Today represents action from the Administration that we have been waiting for – an acknowledgement that cannabis prohibition has failed and that too many lives have been significantly impacted as a result,” David Culver, vice president of government relations Canopy, said in a statement.
Shares of the Canadian-based cannabis company, the world’s largest, jumped 22% after the news, closing at $3.75. Shares of fellow cannabis firm Tilray Brands gained over 30%. Tilray couldn’t be reached for comment by CNBC.
“President Biden, in keeping with his campaign commitments, has set into motion the actions needed to heal the harms of the past and chart a course for responsible, legal cannabis markets in the future,” Culver said.
The move could be a step toward a broad loosening of the federal classification of the drug. More than 6,500 individuals with prior convictions for simple marijuana possession were impacted by the pardons, according to the White House. This includes thousands more through pardons under D.C. law.
“There are thousands of people who have prior federal convictions for marijuana possession, who may be denied employment, housing, or educational opportunities as a result. My action will help relieve the collateral consequences arising from these convictions,” Biden said in a statement announcing the pardons.
Biden urged governors to issue similar pardons for cases regarding state offenses of civil possession of marijuana.
In an earnings report Thursday morning, Constellation Brands, which owns 36% of Canopy’s outstanding shares, said it took a $1 billion writedown related to its stake in the cannabis company.
Canopy’s stock has fallen more than 70% in the last 12 months amid slowing sales across the cannabis industry. The stock is more than 90% off its all-time high of $56.89.
–CNBC’s Christina Wilkie contributed to this report.
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U.S. will screen people arriving from Uganda for Ebola as East African nation battles outbreak
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The U.S. will rout and screen passengers for Ebola at five designated airports if they have traveled in Uganda within three weeks prior to their arrival, federal officials said on Thursday.
Uganda, a nation in East Africa, is battling a deadly outbreak of Ebola with 63 confirmed and probable cases and 29 deaths, according to the World Health Organization. No cases of Ebola have been reported in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC is working closely with Uganda’s health ministry and the WHO to respond to the outbreak.
The U.S. Embassy in Uganda, in a health alert Thursday, said passengers who have been in the East African nation within 21 days of their arrival in the U.S. will be routed to one of five airports: New York JFK, Newark, Atlanta, Chicago O’Hare or Washington Dulles.
Passengers arriving from Uganda at those airports will undergo temperature checks and verification of their contact data, a federal health official said. Airlines will send passenger information to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention so the agency can conduct health follow ups, the official said. Contact information will also be sent to state health departments so they can conduct follow ups locally.
Uganda is battling an outbreak caused by a strain of Ebola called Sudan ebolavirus. The virus spreads through direct contact with body fluids of a person who has fallen ill with the virus or died from it, as well as infected animals and contaminated objects, according to CDC. Ebola does not spread through airborne transmission, the health agency said.
People infected with ebolavirus are not contagious until symptoms appear, which can take anywhere from two to 21 days after contact with the virus, according to CDC. On average, it takes about 8 to 10 days for symptoms to appear.
Symptoms include unexplained hemorrhaging, bleeding or bruising; fever; severe headache and muscle and joint pain; stomach pain, diarrhea and vomiting. Other symptoms include red eyes, skin rash and hiccups.
There is no vaccine licensed by the Food and Drug Administration to protect against the Sudan ebolavirus strain. The FDA approved a vaccine to combat Zaire ebolavirus based on animal studies, but it’s not expected to protect against the Sudan strain, according to CDC. There is also no FDA approved treatment for Sudan ebolavirus.
The CDC, in a health alert Thursday, said health-care providers should be on the alert for any patients suspected of having Ebola. Physicians and other clinicians should obtain a detailed travel history for any patients suspected of having the disease, particularly for people who have been to the regions in Uganda where there is an outbreak.
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
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What Cramer is watching Thursday — OPEC+ surprise, Corona beer maker beat, Costco’s sales
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OPEC+'s 2 million barrels-per-day oil production cut to boost prices. U.S. delivers an angry rebuke.
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Sweden says investigation into Russian pipeline leaks strengthens suspicion of ‘gross sabotage’
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Climate scientists described the shocking images of gas spewing to the surface of the Baltic Sea as a “reckless release” of greenhouse gas emissions that, if deliberate, “amounts to an environmental crime.”
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Sweden’s national security service on Thursday said a crime scene investigation into the gas leaks from two underwater pipelines connecting Russia to Germany “strengthened the suspicions of gross sabotage.”
Sweden’s Security Police said the investigation found there had been detonations at the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in the Swedish exclusive economic zone, which caused “extensive damage” to the pipelines.
It added that “certain seizures have been made,” without offering further details, and that these would now be reviewed and analyzed.
“The continued preliminary investigation must show whether someone can be served with suspicion and later prosecuted,” Sweden’s Security Police said in a statement.
In a separate statement, Sweden’s Prosecutors’ Office said the area was no longer cordoned off.
Seismologists on Sept. 26 reported explosions in the vicinity of the unusual Nord Stream gas leaks, which are situated in international waters but inside Denmark’s and Sweden’s exclusive economic zones.
Denmark’s armed forces said at the time that video footage showed the largest gas leak created a surface disturbance of roughly 1 kilometer (0.62 miles) in diameter, while the smallest leak caused a circle of approximately 200 meters. The cause of the gas leaks is not yet known.
The European Union suspects sabotage, particularly as the incident comes amid a bitter energy standoff between Brussels and Moscow.
Russia has denied that it was behind the suspected attack, calling such accusations “stupid.”
‘Reckless release’ of emissions
Late last month, Swedish and Danish authorities said at least two detonations occurred underwater, damaging the pipelines and causing major leaks of gas into the Baltic Sea.
The magnitude of these explosions was measured at 2.3 and 2.1 on the Richter scale, respectively, they said, and likely corresponded to an explosive load of “several hundred kilos.”
Two of the leaks occurred in Denmark’s exclusive economic zone and two in Sweden’s exclusive economic zone.
Climate scientists have described the shocking images of gas spewing to the surface of the Baltic Sea as a “reckless release” of greenhouse gas emissions that, if deliberate, “amounts to an environmental crime.”
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More than 30 killed in childcare center attack, Thai police say
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More than 30 people, primarily children, were killed Thursday when a gunman opened fire in a childcare center in northeastern Thailand, authorities said.
Police Maj. Gen. Achayon Kraithong said the shooting occurred early in the afternoon in the center in the town of Nongbua Lamphu.
He said the attacker killed 30 people before taking his own life. He had no more details.
A spokesperson for a regional public affairs office said 26 deaths have been confirmed so far — 23 children, two teachers and one police officer.
According to Thai media reports, the gunman also used knives in the attack and then fled the building.
Photographs showed at least two bodies on the floor of the center covered in white sheets.
Several media outlets identified the assailant as a former police lieutenant colonel from the region but there was no immediate official confirmation.
The Daily News newspaper reported that after fleeing the scene of the attack the assailant returned to his home and killed himself along with his wife and child.
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Lettuce at $8? Inflation in Australia is hurting everyone from restaurant owners to diners
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The restaurant scene such as the one in Chinatown should brace for change amid rising inflation.
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SYDNEY — In Sydney’s food mecca, Chinatown, menu prices at long-time restaurant Mother Chu’s have risen between 20% and 30% since the start of the pandemic.
Alan Chu, owner of the Taiwanese eatery, said price increases in lettuce and most vegetables, as well as other food ingredients in Australia, have driven up prices at his restaurant — known for serving affordable meals for roughly under $30 Australian dollars, or about $20, a dish.
“There’s been a very large increase in the price of vegetables, for example even a small cabbage or lettuce can go up to A$10 to A$12 dollars which is unheard of,” Chu said.
“One of the most difficult things many businesses are facing as a result of inflation is also the cost of wages. This is also in part due to Covid and as businesses have to balance this, as well as the rise of ingredients, it’s really difficult for them to keep on going.”
Food prices soar
People are hesitant to spend more, everyone’s tightening their belts, being more selective with the things that they buy.
Prices of dumplings and other tasty Shanghainese fare at well-known Australian restaurant, Taste of Shanghai, have also gone up between 6% and 8% since the start of the year.
Owner Jennifer Du said she had to balance staying ahead of inflation and not raising prices too quickly for fear of alienating customers.
The east coast floods this year exacerbated price increases pushing up the price of a head of lettuce to A$12 a head.
Pool | Getty Images News | Getty Images
“I don’t want to reduce food sizes and plates for example .. sure, we need to raise prices, but we need to raise it slowly,” she said.
For Du, the rise in prices of vegetables and raw ingredients — including those that are imported — has been particularly sharp this year.
“Prices shot up at the end of lockdowns and coupled with the floods, goods like vegetables and fresh foods have become very expensive,” Du said.
Spending habits change
Businessman Chris Lam, who runs a grocery store in Chinatown agreed that the price spike in food was particularly acute this year, and said it had started to rise quickly after Easter.
Lam said prices have been rising since the start of the pandemic as pressures from disruptions in supply chains and high freight costs built up. The rise in energy and fuel — largely exacerbated by the war in Ukraine — also contributed to the cost of transporting food, he said.
The biggest price hikes were in rice and cooking oil, which were imported, Lam said. He said many Australian consumers are now cutting back.
“We see it every day, you know, with our customers. Shopping habits have been impacted,” Lam told CNBC.
“People are hesitant to spend more, everyone’s tightening their belts, being more selective with the things that they buy.”
Inflation vs. wage growth
Australian personal finance comparison platform Finder, which has been tracking prices of consumer goods, said increased prices have outstripped wages growth across Australia since the pandemic started.
In that time, aside from vegetables, prices of beef and veal also rose sharply by 33% while staples like milk, cheese and eggs also jumped by nearly 12%, according to Finder’s Consumer Sentiment Tracker.
Petrol prices have risen over 30% since 2019.
“It’s something we’ve all experienced. I ordered a pot of tea in the Sydney [central business district] last week and I was shocked when I saw the price: A$6.70!” said money expert at Finder, Sarah Megginson.
“These figures confirm that, overall, the cost of living has increased significantly for Australians.”
Household stress over grocery bills has also increased in the past year, Finder said.
The expenses stressing out Australians are rent and mortgage repayments, groceries, petrol and energy, according to its Consumer Sentiment Tracker for September.
The tracker also shows 56% of Australians are “somewhat stressed” about their current financial situation, and almost 1 in 5 are extremely stressed. But a quarter of Australians are not stressed at all.
End in sight?
Many restaurants are not able to pass on increased costs to consumers which will result in lower profits.
Jack Zhang
accountant, Accentor Associates
Most, however, say Australia can tolerate up to the top end of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s 2% to 3% target band, or just above it.
Beyond interest rate raises, many cited winding back government spending as a means to cool inflation. About a third polled said the government should impose a super-profits tax on fossil fuel producers, with the proceeds used to reduce cost of services.
In the interim, restaurant owners should brace for change, Jack Zhang, an accountant with Accentor Associates told CNBC.
Zhang said he has been helping many restaurants restructure their businesses since the government withdrew financial support after the lockdowns ended.
Some have gone into voluntary administration. Others have had to cut shifts for staff, while food wastage is becoming a challenge, Zhang added.
“Many restaurants are not able to pass on increased costs to consumers which will result in lower profits,” the accountant said.
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Ukraine joins Spain and Portugal’s joint bid to host 2030 World Cup
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Soccer Football – Carabao Cup Final – Chelsea v Liverpool – Wembley Stadium, London, Britain – February 27, 2022 Liverpool fan with the big screen in the background in support of Ukraine before the match Action Images via Reuters/John Sibley TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
John Sibley Reuters
Ukraine has joined Spain and Portugal in their bid to host the 2030 World Cup.
The partnership between the three countries was confirmed by leaders of the countries’ three soccer federations at UEFA headquarters Wednesday.
“This is the dream of millions of Ukrainian fans. The dream of people who survived the horrors of war or are still in the occupied territories, over which the Ukrainian flag will surely fly soon,” said Andriy Pavelko, president of Ukraine’s soccer federation, at a news conference Wednesday.
He said the move was sanctioned by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Ukraine has been under full-scale invasion by Russia since February.
Details were not given on how many games would be held in Ukraine, or in which cities, but the Olympic Stadium in Kyiv hosted the finals of the 2012 European Championship and the 2018 Champions League.
“Now it’s not the Iberian bid, it’s the European bid,” Spain’s soccer federation president, Luis Rubiales, said at the news conference, according to the Associated Press. “Together we represent the power of transformation football has in society.”
Spain and Portugal previously announced their joint bid in June 2021. The new bid faces competition from a collaboration between Egypt, Greece and Saudi Arabia, and a South American bid between Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay and Chile.
FIFA will vote to choose the host in 2024.
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Virgin Atlantic ceases operations in Hong Kong, cites Russian airspace closure ‘complexities’
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Virgin Atlantic has not operated any passenger flights to Hong Kong since December 2021, after the city-state suspended all flights from the U.K. due to a resurgence in Covid-19 cases.
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British airline Virgin Atlantic announced Wednesday that it was permanently ceasing operations in Hong Kong due to issues related to the closure of Russian airspace.
The decision marks the end of the carrier’s London Heathrow to Hong Kong flight route and the closure of its Hong Kong office. It also calls time on the airline’s 30-year presence in the Asian financial hub.
Virgin Atlantic said in a statement that the closure of Russian airspace following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in late February was one of several “complexities” contributing to the decision.
It said that on the basis of the airspace remaining closed, Heathrow to London flight times would be around one hour longer than in 2019, while Hong Kong to Heathrow flights would be 1 hour 50 minutes longer.
It added that the 2019 termination of Virgin Australia’s Hong Kong to Melbourne and Hong Kong to Sydney services had already reduced the airline’s presence in the city-state.
“After careful consideration we’ve taken the difficult decision to suspend our London Heathrow – Hong Kong services and close our Hong Kong office, after almost 30 years of proudly serving this Asian hub city,” a spokesperson for the airline said.
“Significant operational complexities due to the ongoing Russian airspace closure have contributed to the commercial decision not to resume flights in March 2023 as planned, which have already been paused since December 2021,” it added.
Virgin Atlantic has not operated any passenger flights to Hong Kong since Dec. 2021, after the city-state suspended all flights from the U.K. due to a resurgence in Covid-19 cases.
The airline was previously due to resume Hong Kong services from March 2023. However, with Wednesday’s announcement, it said it would be able to increase services in other key markets from next summer.
Around 46 Virgin Atlantic jobs, including those of office staff and cabin crew, are set to be impacted by the decision, according to Bloomberg.
The airline said it would offer refunds or vouchers for alternate Virgin Atlantic services to the “limited number” of customers due to travel from March next year.
Virgin’s exit from Hong Kong is the first by a major airline since American Airlines left the city in late 2021.
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Elon Musk’s plans for Twitter may take inspiration from Chinese super apps
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Elon Musk’s revived $44 billion deal to buy Twitter sparked fresh debate over what the billionaire will do with the service if he eventually owns it.
On Tuesday, Musk tweeted that buying Twitter is an “accelerant to creating X, the everything app.” He did not provide further details.
Musk may be hinting toward so-called “super apps” which are popular in China and other parts of Asia and pioneered by the likes of Chinese technology giant Tencent.
Super apps is a term to describe an app that often acts as a one-stop shop for all your mobile needs. For example, you might order a taxi or food via the app and at the same time do payments and messaging. This eliminates the need to have multiple apps for different functions.
Chinese app WeChat, run by Tencent, is the biggest super app in the world, with over a billion users.
In WeChat, users can message people, do mobile banking, pay for things online or in store by scanning a barcode, play games, post videos, do online shopping, hail a car and many other things.
When Musk talks about “the everything app,” he could be thinking about WeChat.
The Tesla CEO has previously expressed admiration for WeChat calling the app “great” during a town hall with Twitter employees in June. Musk said there is no WeChat equivalent outside of China.
“And I think that there’s a real opportunity to create that,” Musk told employees. “You basically live on WeChat in China because it’s so useful and so helpful to your daily life. And I think if we could achieve that, or even close to that with Twitter, it would be an immense success.”
Musk said that he wants at least a billion people using Twitter, up from 237.8 million at the end of the second quarter.
Tencent runs the ubiquitous Chinese messaging app WeChat. The company has a short form video feature with in the app and has began to monetize that through video ads in the feed. Tencent said such ads could become a “substantial” source of revenue in the future.
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One of WeChat’s biggest features is WeChat Pay. This is a feature where users can scan a barcode in a store to pay via their mobile or they can send money to friends via the chat function. WeChat Pay can also be used for purchases online.
Musk said during the town hall that he thinks that payments within Twitter would be an “interesting thing to do.”
However, super apps like WeChat haven’t really taken off in a big way in Europe, the U.S. and other western markets.
WeChat meanwhile is heavily censored in China, something Musk is unlikely to do with Twitter, given his past criticisms of the platform’s content moderation strategy which the billionaire feels has stifled free speech.
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Global CEOs expect impending recession to be ‘short and sharp,’ poll shows
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In Singapore, nearly 90% of Singapore CEOs have embarked on or are planning a hiring freeze over the next six months, KPMG says.
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Global CEOs are anticipating a recession in the next 12 months, according to a new survey by professional services firm KPMG, which said more than half of the business leaders polled expect the slowdown to be “mild and short.”
A majority of the 1,300 chief executives polled by KPMG between July and August warned, however, that increased disruptions — such as a recession — could make it difficult for their businesses to rebound from the pandemic.
That said, the CEOs expressed more optimistim compared to the start of the year, and said there would be growth prospects in the next three years.
“CEOs worldwide are displaying greater confidence, grit and tenacity in riding out the short-term economic impacts to their businesses as seen in their rising confidence in the global economy and their optimism over a three-year horizon,” said KPMG Singapore managing partner, Ong Pang Thye.
“We are also seeing many positioning for long-term growth, such as in Singapore where about 80% of CEOs have indicated that their corporate purpose will have the greatest impact in building customer relationships over the next three years.”
Globally, CEOs are also viewing mergers, acquisitions and innovation favorably, but many are concerned that dealmakers are “taking a much sharper pencil to the numbers and focus on value creation to unlock and track deal value,” the KPMG report said.
Across the globe, aside from recessions and the economic impact of rising interest rates, CEOs are also worried about pandemic fatigue, KPMG said.
On top of immediate challenges such as a recession, business leaders say they remain under pressure to meet their broader social responsibilities in the face of public scrutiny on their corporate purpose and environmental, social and governance (ESG) accountabilities.
Asia business leaders’ outlook
In Asia-Pacific, fewer CEOs are expecting a recession. Of those surveyed, 63% saw a recession happening in the next year compared with 86% globally.
But they are also less optimistic about growth in the next three years compared with their global peers.
Globally and in Asia-Pacific, about 20% say they will not expand hiring in the next three years and will keep their headcount or reduce it further.
In Singapore, nearly 90% of the CEOs surveyed either embarked on a hiring freeze, or were planning to do so over the next six months, KPMG said.
Almost all of them were taking or planning diversifications in their supply chains.
But over the next three years, almost all Singapore CEOs surveyed said they would increase their headcount by up to 10%.
“Nearly a third of Singapore CEOs say their top operational priority over the next three years will be to strengthen their employee value proposition to attract and retain the necessary talent,” the survey showed.
Changes in global corporate tax rules are at the front of mind for Singapore’s business leaders. Many have developed a better grasp of the new global tax rules even though those have been delayed to 2024, KPMG says.
Singapore is part of a global framework for the reform of international tax rules which backs a global minimum effective corporate tax of 15%. The new agreement is aimed at stopping companies from shifting profits to low-tax havens.
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