GisermanGroup #BreakingNews
🚀Israel Retaliates—Strikes Iran
💻TikTok Ban Part Of Congress’ Aid To Israel Package
🚨Home Sales Sink As Fed’s Powell Sees Hi Interest Rates For Longer
👨⚖️Trump Jury Selection Continues
🛒Kroger-Albertsons Merger Good For Shoppers
🎸Ramblin’ Man Dickey Betts Dead
🚀Israel Retaliates—Strikes Iran
The Israeli military struck Iran overnight in response to Iran’s attack last weekend. The strike targeted the area around Isfahan, where Iran has nuclear facilities and a drone factory, and the activation of air-defense systems in provinces across the country after suspicious flying objects were detected.
Long-range missiles were launched from Israel aircraft targeting an Iranian air force facility at Isfahan, the Jerusalem Post reports citing unnamed sources. The newspaper adds that Israel opted to not hit Iran nuclear sites.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, says there had been “no damage” to nuclear sites in Iran but that it was closely monitoring the situation.
Initial reaction in both Israel and Iran is muted, with news media in both countries appearing to play down the attack, in what analysts said was a sign that both sides were seeking to de-escalate tensions. For nearly a week, world leaders have urged Israel and Iran to avoid sparking a broader war in the region.
Exiger CEO Brandon Daniels, a GisermanGroup client, says YOUR Wallet was Targeted in the initial Iran Attack.
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President Biden after meeting with his national security team, condemned Iran’s initial attacks and pressed for a diplomatic response in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Airspace closures through the Middle East are grounding and diverting flights.
Stocks heading toward their longest losing streak since January following the Israeli strike.
Fed chair Jerome Powell said interest rates may need to stay elevated longer than planned. Powell says that progress in reducing inflation has stalled since the start of the year. Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta report earnings next week.
Nasdaq closed down 0.65%
Dow up 20 points
S&P 500 off 0.20%
Oil & Gas prices leveling as Mideast tensions increase
Bitcoin tumbles on Iran attack
💻TikTok Ban Part Of Congress’ Aid To Israel Package
Ban TikTok.
The House intends to include legislation forcing the Chinese-owned company to either sell the Social Media app or face a U.S. ban in its vote Saturday on a bill providing aid to Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan. The Senate would then vote on the legislation.
In apparent retaliation China ordered Apple to pukl the Meta-owned apps WhatsApp and Threads from its app store in China, potentially escalating the war over technology between the U.S. and China
➡️Exiger’s Bob Kolasky, a GisermanGroup client, former Dept of Homeland Security Assistant Director for Cybersecurity tells NewsNation TikTok is dangerous
➡️Exiger’s JC Herz tells Scripps News “TikTok is spying on us”:
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👑Golden Opportunity-Prices Near High
Get out those old rings and necklaces your mom gave you, and gold coins in your collection.
Gold near record highs as Middle East tensions increase.
Gold prices notched another record close at $2,383 per ounce, and some predicting it will hit $3000.
Gold, which retains its value as a hedge against inflation, tends to perform well in periods of economic uncertainty when investors move away from the riskier assets such as stocks.
🛒Kroger-Albertsons Merger Good For Shoppers
Kroger and Albertsons have come out swinging against the Federal Trade Commission’s decision to challenge their proposed merger which would create the nation’s largest supermarket chain.
💊Concerns the proposed Kroger-Albertson’s merger will stifle costumers’ access to prescription drugs are widely exaggerated, says Retail Expert and GisermanGroup client Burt Flickinger. KXL Radio spoke with Flickinger to get the down-low:
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The government says the merger would stifle competition in the grocery industry. But retail expert Flickinger, President Strategic Resource Group says, “The FTC is wrong, Kroger and Albertsons face heavy competition from companies that fall outside the ‘traditional definition’ of a supermarket.” He says, “Walmart, Target, Costco and Amazon sell far more groceries than would the merged company.”
Flickinger says, “The Kroger-Albertsons merger would magnify the companies’ power when negotiating with food wholesalers and result in lower prices for shoppers.”
💸Guess How Many Know What A 401(K) Is
A national survey of 2,000 Americans, evenly split by generation, revealed that 43% of respondents don’t know what a 401(k) is.
And over a third (35%) don’t know what “interest” is in a financial context.
The study, commissioned by Beyond Finance for Financial Practice Week and conducted by OnePoll, revealed that despite these startling knowledge gaps, only two in five respondents (39%) consider themselves more financially literate than others.
Four in 10 Americans (39%) admit they procrastinate when implementing healthy financial habits. Gen Z are most likely to procrastinate (49%) while baby boomers are least likely to procrastinate (22%).
The top reasons respondents cited for postponing personal finance tasks include stress (25%), feeling their financial health is already poor and can’t get any worse (16%) and forgetfulness (13%).
🎸Ramblin’ Man Dickey Betts Dead
Dickey Bettswho, as a guitarist for the Allman Brothers Band, traded fiery licks with Duane Allman , who went on to write some of the band’s most remembered songs, including its biggest hit, “Ramblin’ Man,” has died.
Along with Duane and Gregg Allman, drummers Jai Johanny “Jaimoe” Johanson and Butch Trucks and bassist Berry Oakley, Betts formed the Allman Brothers Band in 1969.
After Duane and Oakley died in separate motorcycle accidents in 1971 and 1972, Betts became the band’s de facto leader and sole guitarist and stayed with them until they split up in 1976.
Betts was 80.
👨⚖️Trump Jury Selection Continues
Twelve jurors have officially been selected, as well as one alternate jurors. Five more alternates expected to be selected tomorrow with hopes the trial starts Monday.
The case involves Trump’s alleged falsification of business records to cover up a hush-money payment to adult-film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election.
Here's what Donald Trump said in the hallway before entering the courtroom.
“This is an assault on America, nothing like this has ever happened before, there’s never been anything like it. Every legal scholar said this case is nonsense, it should have never been brought, it doesn’t deserve anything like this. There is no case and I’ve said it, people that don’t necessarily follow or like Donald Trump said this is an outrage that this case was brought.”
Trump not take questions from reporters.
In a flurry of rulings before the start of jury selection, Justice Juan Merchan agreed to prevent jurors from listening to the so-called Access Hollywood tape or from hearing that Trump’s wife Melania was pregnant during the alleged affair.
Because it’s a criminal trial, the former commander-in-chief must show up at court every day that it’s in session.
🌉FBI Probes Baltimore Bridge Collapse
The FBI has opened a criminal investigation focusing on the massive container ship that brought down the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore last month — a probe that will look at least in part at whether the crew left the port knowing the vessel had serious systems problems, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the matter.
➡️GisermanGroup.com client, Exiger CEO Brandon Daniels, a supply-chain expert, tells Bloomberg the closure of the Port of Baltimore is affecting supplies and prices of everything from cars to coal to sugar:
➡️And Exiger’s Daniels on NewsNation says the ramifications from the bridge collapse will result in major changes to the way we do business:
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➡️Our friend Steve Sbraccia, the Consumer Guy, explains why the bridge collapse affects us all:
🏠Home Sales Sink As Mortgages Soar
Home sales in March posted their biggest decline in more than a year, reversing course after a positive start this year as rising mortgage rates frightened off buyers.
The average lender moved up by 0.28%, to over 7.75%, as a result mortgage demand in March fell to its lowest since 1995, according to Reventure.
➡️SitusAMC’s Tim Rood a GisermanGroup.com client tells Fox Business’ Neil Cavuto buyers are afraid of high mortgages.
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🤖AI As Transformative As Printing Press
Jamie Dimon, CEO and chairman of JPMorgan Chase, says artificial intelligence will have a profound impact on society — “possibly as transformational as some of the major technological inventions of the past several hundred years: Think the printing press, the steam engine, electricity, computing and the Internet.”
Meanwhile, Elon Musk says “My guess is that we’ll have AI that is smarter than any one human probably around the end of next year.”
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy says AI is going to “transform virtually everything we do.”
🤖The AI Boom dominated the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Exiger CEO Brandon Daniels, a GisermanGroup client, was there:
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💧CyberAttacks On Your Drinking Water
The Biden administration is warning states to be on guard for cyberattacks against water systems, citing ongoing threats from hackers linked to the governments of Iran and China.
➡️Exiger’s Bob Kolasky shared the warning with NewsNation:
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🚨DayCare Costs As High As College
The child-care system is broken. DayCare costs as much as college.
The average cost for a nanny is around $39,270 per year, and is even higher in cities like New York, Chicago, Dallas, Miami and San Francisco, where the expense can top an eye popping $56,000, according to Care.com data,
➡️Laura Tulchin, Chief Strategy Officer at Imagine Early Learning and a Giserman Group Client tells Scripps News, “The increasing cost of childcare could swing key millennial voters in the Presidential election:”
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🩻Abortion Key Election Issue As Trump Flip-Flops
The Arizona Supreme Court’s decision to bring back a 160-year-old near total ban on abortion has inflamed the politics in one of the nation’s biggest electoral battlegrounds, which is now effectively ground zero for abortion politics. With a tossup Senate race, a pair of close congressional seats and its 11 Electoral College votes on the line, the state will be one of the most closely watched in the country.
It comes as Donald Trump has changed his stance again on a nationwide abortion ban, upsetting both conservatives and liberals.
In a video shared on Truth Social, Trump said he is “proudly the person responsible” for the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, because it gave individual states the authority to decide how they approach abortion regulations.
Trump said that by overturning the landmark Supreme Court decision of 1973 — which granted women around the nation the right to an abortion — conservatives took abortion laws “out of the federal hands and brought it into the hearts, minds, and vote of the people in each state."
“My view is now that we have abortion where everyone wanted it from a legal standpoint, the states will determine by vote or legislation, or perhaps both,” he said in the clip. “And whatever they decide must be the law of the land. In this case, the law of the state.”🎢Trump Media Stock Sinks
The share price of Trump Media closed trading 20% lower, hours after the social media app company tied to Donald Trump reported a net loss of $58.2 million on revenue of just $4.1 million in 2023.
📒 Trump Selling $60 Bibles
We kid you not. Donald Trump is promoting a line of pricey Bibles in a partnership with country music star Lee Greenwood.
The “God Bless the U.S.A. Bible” costs $59.99, not including shipping and other fees, according to its website. The partnership comes as the presumptive Republican presidential nominee has seen his net worth explode by billions of dollars on paper while he appeals massive civil penalties in multiple courts.
🚨Trump Gets Bond Deal For $454M Fraud Case
“KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF TRUMP TOWER!” blared the text message from the former president on Truth Social.
Donald has reached a deal that will spare him from paying a $454 million judgment in his civil fraud case while he appeals the penalty.
It came in the form of a bond that will prevent New York’s attorney general, who brought the lawsuit that led to the judgment, from collecting the $454 million until Trump’s appeal is resolved
The $175 million came from Knight Specialty Insurance Company, a California company that handles such deals. In providing the bond, which is a legal document, not an actual transfer of money, the firm essentially promised New York’s court system that it would cover the judgment against Trump if he loses his appeal and fails to pay.
Meanwhile, Trump supporters are being asked to help pay his legal bill. The message from his committee urges them to donate in amounts ranging from $20.24 to $3,300 or more.
Trump has also invited high-dollar donors to an April 6 fundraiser. The invitation’s fine print says donations to the Trump 47 Committee will first be used to give the maximum amount allowed under federal law to Trump’s campaign. Anything left over from the donation next goes toward a maximum contribution to the Save America PAC, and then anything left from there goes to the RNC and then to state political parties
President Biden is maintaining a significant fundraising advantage over Trump, who is running out of campaign money he can tap for legal fees.
It all comes as Trump has also warned that if he isn't elected in the upcoming presidential election "it's gonna be a bloodbath" for the country.
Trump delivered the chilling messages while addressing supporters at a Buckeye Values PAC Rally in Dayton, Ohio
In other Trump legal news: The judge in Trump’s hush money trial, set to start April 15, expanded a gag order following his attacks against the judge’s daughter.
📰Free Evan!
The Wall Street Journal put this in massive blank space on its front page on Friday in honor of Evan Gershkovich, its correspondent who's been imprisoned in Russia for exactly one year.
The special front page featured a large blank space where a story about Gershkovich should be. In big bold letters above the space, the outlet declared, "HIS STORY SHOULD BE HERE." A picture of the imprisoned journalist sat to the left of the headline.
Gershkovich, the American-born son of Soviet immigrants, was detained on March 29, 2023, during a reporting trip in Yekaterinburg, the fourth-largest city in Russia, and accused of being a spy. He was accredited by Russia's Foreign Ministry to report in the country when he was arrested, and he is considered wrongfully detained by the Biden administration.
💊AI Helps Fight The Fentanyl Crisis
AI tools are helping in the fight against the fentanyl epidemic.
The infiltration of fentanyl from Mexico and Asia into the U.S. is not merely a border control issue; it’s a sophisticated network of illicit trade.
Exiger CEO Brandon Daniels Says traditional methods of interception are no longer sufficient. This is where Exiger’s supply chain risk management tools come into play.
Daniels says, “With the ability to analyze vast amounts of data, the AI-powered technology in the 1Exiger platform can identify the manufacturing origins of fentanyl precursor chemicals and map out their intricate distribution networks, acting as a digital bloodhound tracing the scent of these deadly shipments.
Drug overdose deaths are now killing more than 110,000 people in the U.S. every year, according to the CDC.
🦟Cicadas Coming To Bug You
Trillions of cicadas are set to invade the US for the first time in 221 years.
From Nebraska to New York, in late April, two large broods of periodical cicadas are expected to emerge from the ground for a noisy orgy, mating frenzy.
An event like this hasn't occurred since 1803 when Thomas Jefferson was president and it's not expected to happen again until 2244.
Three weeks into the process, many of the cicadas will be high in the trees, where they laid their eggs.
The eggs will eventually fall to lower ground, where cicadas will hatch and burrow underground.
Within two to six weeks, most of the cicadas will die after reproducing.
🚗Your Car Is Spying on You
Car manufacturers admit they are selling your driving habits and more to insurance companies and others. Many of the automakers also saying they would share your information with the government or law enforcement without a court order.
➡️Exiger’s Bob Kolasky, a GisermanGroup client, former Dept of Homeland Security Assistant Director for Cybersecurity tells Scripps News why you should be concerned:
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☕️Coffee Fights Aging
Drink up!
New research has unveiled the potential health benefits of trigonelline — a natural molecule found in coffee.
This discovery is pivotal in the quest to improve muscle health and functionality, especially as we age.
Sarcopenia is characterized by the gradual weakening of muscles due to cellular changes associated with aging. This leads to a significant decline in muscle mass, strength, and ultimately, a reduction in physical independence.
In pre-clinical models, coffee which contains supplementation with trigonelline enhanced mitochondrial activity, thus aiding in the preservation of muscle function during aging.
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Defense Secretary Warns Of Russia-NATO War
NATO could be dragged into a war with Russia if Vladimir Putin's forces are not stopped in Ukraine, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned.
Exiger CEO Brandon Daniels just returned from Ukraine. He shares his unique perspective with NewsNation:
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🚢New US Attack On Houthis After They Sank Cargo Ship
The U.S. and the UK conducted a series of strikes at Houthi targets inside Yemen Saturday, part of a continuing effort to fight back against the Iran-backed group that has continued to attack commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea.
➡️Exiger CEO Brandon Daniels, a GisermanGroup client tells NewsNation the attacks on shipping have meant increasing costs for everything from oil to clothing to food:
➡️Exiger CEO Daniels dissected it all on Bloomberg:
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🧪Biden Pushes Abortion Rights As Court Rules Frozen Embryos Are Children
The Biden administration is calling for Congress to codify the protections of Roe v. Wade into federal law.
It comes as The University of Alabama at Birmingham health system is pausing in vitro fertilization treatments as it evaluates the Alabama Supreme Court’s ruling that frozen embryos should be considered children. The ruling has sent shock waves through the world of reproductive medicine, casting doubt over fertility care for would-be parents in the state and raising complex legal questions with implications extending far beyond Alabama.
Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said the ruling would cause “exactly the type of chaos that we expected when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and paved the way for politicians to dictate some of the most personal decisions families can make.”
🍀Fed Scientists Recommend Easing Marijuana Rules
Government scientists have concluded Marijuana is neither as risky nor as prone to abuse as other tightly controlled substances and has potential medical benefits, and therefore should be removed from the nation’s most restrictive category of drugs.
The recommendations are contained in a 250-page scientific review provided to Matthew Zorn, a Texas lawyer who sued Health and Human Services officials for its release and published it online on Friday night.
The records shed light for the first time on the thinking of federal health officials who are pondering a momentous change. The agencies involved have not publicly commented on their debates over what amounts to a reconsideration of marijuana at the federal level.
🤖Open AI’s Plan To Prevent Robot Uprising
OpenAI is putting together a new team of experts solely dedicated to preventing a potential robot uprising. The artificial intelligence company behind ChatGPT announced on Monday its plans for mitigating the dangers that may emerge from its technology—including cybersecurity risks and the potential that their bots may be used to create nuclear or biological weapons.
The company outlined the goals for the new “Preparedness Framework” in a 27-page document, saying that it would be used specifically to conduct regular tests and monitor their advanced models for any dangers it may eventually pose. The team would be dedicated to preventing such threats from emerging, while also ensuring that their products are deployed responsibly.
➡️Exiger’s JC Herz tells NewsNation the AI Genie is already out of the bottle - and can’t be put back:
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🎓Teachers Post Pics to ‘OnlyFans’ to Subsidize Low Pay
Teachers don’t make enough money!
At a small Missouri high school, two English teachers shared a secret: Both were posting adult content on OnlyFans, the subscription-based website known for sexually explicit content to supplement income.
But a new approach to Early Child Education hopes to help teachers avoid the stigma. GisermanGroup client Imagine Early Learning Centers is the nation’s only employee-owned childcare company.
➡️Laura Tulchin, Chief Strategy Officer at Imagine Early Learning tells Bloomberg and CBS, “Employee-ownership means teachers' voices are not only heard in the classroom, but in the boardroom as well:
➡️According to a new report from the Economic Policy Institute, teachers earned 74 cents, on average, for every dollar that other professionals make.
📺Sports Streaming Venture Challenged
FuboTV is suing Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery over their recently announced sports streaming joint venture, citing what the company calls “extreme suppression of competition in the U.S. sports-focused streaming market”.
The Department of Justice is also reportedly investigating over concerns the venture could harm consumers, sports leagues and rivals..
Earlier this month, the three media giants said they will launch a joint venture to start a sports streaming service this autumn to capture younger viewers.
Top NFL executives are also reportedly furious about only finding out at the last minute about the new sports streaming joint venture.
The app will carry content from the NFL, NBA, WNBA, MLB, NHL, NASCAR, major college sports, UFC, the PGA Tour, Grand Slam tennis, the FIFA World Cup and cycling.
💉Wegovy Reduces Heart Problems
The popular weight-loss drug Wegovy reduced the risk of serious heart problems by 20% in a large, international study that experts say could change the way doctors treat certain heart patients.
The research is the first to document that an obesity medication can not only pare pounds, but also safely prevent a heart attack, stroke or a heart-related death in people who already have heart disease — but not diabetes.
Zepbound, a new weight loss drug from Eli Lilly has been approved by the FDA, the latest entrant in the field which includes Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro.
The drug was shown in clinical trials to help people lose up to 52 pounds in 16 months. It will carry a list price of about $1,060 for a month's supply. Despite the steep price, some analysts have anticipated it will become the best-selling drug in history.
The cost may put the new drug out of reach for many people given that insurance companies are often reluctant to cover weight loss medications, and Medicare, by law, does not cover them.
In the United States, 4 in 10 adults have obesity, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
🩺Doctor Amazon
Amazon announces a new health care benefit program for Prime Members for $9 a Month (or $99 a Year)
“Prime members get high-quality, convenient care from One Medical, including 24/7 on-demand virtual care nationwide and easy to schedule office visits at any of One Medical’s hundreds of locations across the U.S”
💻They Want Your Password
Warning-New Scams to steal your passwords.
If you've had a password hacked recently, you aren't alone. The volume of password attacks has soared to an estimated 921 attacks every second. That's a 74% rise in one year, according to the latest Microsoft Digital Defense Report.
➡️Exiger's Robert Kolasky with more on Bloomberg & CBS:
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