GisermanGroup.com #BreakingNews
🚨Hamas Plan To Use Chemical Weapons
🇺🇸2 Americans Hostages Released By Hamas, 🇮🇱212 Hostages Still Held
🚀Israel Intensifies Bombings on 3 Fronts
📺Televised War-Biden: ‘Israel & Ukraine Face Annihilation
👨⚖️Trump Threatened With Jail Time
🪦House Speaker Clown Show-Jim Jordan Out As House Speaker
🏠#Mortgages Hit 8%
🎢Stocks Mixed ⛽️Gas Prices Pump Lower
🎬Taylor Swift Does It Again: Box Office Record
Israel bombarded Gaza with air strikes this morning and its aircraft struck southern Lebanon overnight, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a meeting of his top generals and his war cabinet to assess the escalating conflict.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry sent a classified cable to Israeli embassies in dozens of capitals worldwide, including Washington, under the headline: "Hamas intention of using chemical weapons." The Israeli military found a USB key with instructions for the production of a "cyanide dispersion device" on the body of a Hamas operative who participated in the Oct. 7 terrorist attack, according to the Foreign Ministry cable.
Two Americans held hostage by Hamas have been released. Hamas said it was releasing them, a mother and a daughter, in response to Qatari mediation efforts.
The two Americans, Judith and Natalie Raanan from the Chicago area, crossed into Israel from Gaza and are being treated at an Israeli hospital. The number of hostages currently being held in Gaza has been increased to 212, up from 210 by Israeli military. The US government is reportedly pressing Israel to delay its imminent invasion of Gaza to allow for the release of more hostages.
In a new war tactic, Hamas has seized the social media accounts of kidnapped Israelis and used them to broadcast violent messages and wage psychological warfare, according to interviews with 13 Israeli families and their friends, as well as social media experts who have studied extremist groups. Hijacking individual hostages’ Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp accounts “weaponizes social media in a way not seen before, according to experts.
A convoy of 20 trucks carrying aid moved through the Rafah border crossing into Gaza from Egypt, after days of diplomatic wrangling to get food, water and medicine into the blockaded enclave where essential supplies were running out and hospitals were nearing collapse. The border crossing is now closed again.
The death toll in Gaza had risen to at least 4,651, according to the U.N., citing local authorities. More than 60 percent of those were children and women. More than 14,000 people have been injured. Israel has recorded more than 1,400 deaths and more than 4,300 injuries, the U.N. said, most of them on Oct. 7, when Hamas launched its surprise attack.
Israel has stepped up its shelling of Hamas targets in Gaza.
TELEVISED WAR: In a rare Oval Office address carried by all TV Networks, the President Biden said, “We reject all forms of hate,” against Muslims, Jews and everyone. Biden followed up the next day with a requested that Congress provide more than $105 billion in aid to Ukraine and Israel and other national security needs.
Biden declared the world at an “inflection point in history”, linking Israel’s battle against Hamas to Ukraine’s fight against Russia and stressing the need for the U.S. to continue funding both wars. Biden said. “To put all that at risk and walk away from Ukraine and turn our backs on Israel. It’s just not worth it.”
The Israeli military now says 199 people are being held as hostages by Hamas, up from the original estimate of 150.
Hamas releases the first video of an Israeli hostage.
A 21 years old girl says: "They are taking care of me... I only ask that you get me out of here as soon as possible. Please.” The mother of Mia Schem, the 21-year-old Franco-Israeli hostage says “Bring my baby back home.” Her mother wants this video shown.
The State Department has issued a rare ”Worldwide Caution" alert, urging Americans overseas to “exercise caution” due to “increased tensions in various locations around the world.”
“Other Team, Not Israel Responsible,” says President Biden in Israel as a missile hits a Gaza Hospital, killing hundreds. The Palestine Health Ministry says it was caused by a rocket fired by Israel. Israel says it was caused by a malfunctioned rocket launched by a Palestinian armed group. Neither assertion can be verified. U.S. officials say they have intelligence showing that the explosion at the hospital in Gaza was caused by the militant group Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The purported figure of 500 killed has also come under scrutiny, with intelligence analysts putting the death toll at around 50.
The Department of Homeland Security is monitoring a “heightened threat environment” in the United States and is concerned about “attacks on Jewish Americans, Arab Americans and Muslim Americans.” Police step up patrols of U.S. Synagogues, schools, businesses as calls for attacks intensify on-line. Security at the U.S. Capitol has increased as well.
The Pentagon sent a rapid response force, consisting of about 2,000 Marines and sailors, to the eastern Mediterranean Sea, adding to a growing number of American warships and forces in the region. The pentagon also says the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower will be joining the Gerald R. Ford in the region.
Deadly violence has surged in the West Bank, where concerns are rising that the territory could erupt into another front in the war.
30 Americans now confirmed dead by the State Department. President Biden says Americans are being held hostage by Hamas. The White House say 13 Americans are unaccounted for.
500,000 Residents of northern Gaza have left. It comes as Israel orders the evacuation of one-million ahead of invasion. The UN says the evacuation order is "impossible,"and appeals for reversal.
The State Department estimates there are 500 to 600 American citizens in Gaza.
A diplomatic effort to allow Americans and foreign nationals to escape Gaza through Egypt failed again, as Egypt wants to allow food and aid to travel in the other direction into Gaza at the same time.
Donald Trump draws scorn from both sides of the political aisle for referring to Hezbollah as “very smart.”
"Every Hamas terrorist is a dead man," PM Benjamin Netanyahu said, hours after forming an emergency government and wartime cabinet.
Israel’s military chief of staff said his forces failed in their duty to protect the country and its people, pledging to investigate the failure after the war with Hamas.
American Airlines suspended flights to and from Tel Aviv through Dec. 4, as most global carriers halt service to Ben Gurion Airport, which remains open.
”We are at war," says Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after the surprise Palestinian attack saw hundreds of rockets hit Israel from Gaza.
Navy warships, including an aircraft carrier, and combat jets are on the scene in a show of support. There are reports this U.S. is working on an evacuation plan for getting Americans out of Israel. Most airlines have canceled flights.
Videos are posted of children and grandparents abducted from their homes in Israel and roadsides covered with dead bodies. Gunmen killed hundreds at an outdoor concert in southern Israel, taking others hostage.Israel was caught off-guard by the assault as many question PM Netanyahu’s leadership.
Israel's defense minister claims Hamas has started a war against Israel and pledged that "Israel will win.”
Israelis took to bomb shelters as a rare state of emergency was declared.
The bodies of Israelis killed by Palestinian militants lay covered in the southern Israeli city of Sderot.
The White House released a joint statement from President Biden along with the leaders of the U.K., Germany, France and Italy expressing steadfast support for Israel and issuing an “unequivocal condemnation of Hamas and its appalling acts of terrorism.” It also called for parties “hostile to Israel” not to exploit the attacks.
💸Trump Threatened With Jail Time
A judge threatened Donald Trump with jail time over a “blatant violation” of a partial gag order in his $250 million New York fraud trial.
Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron laced into Trump over a “blatant violation” of a partial gag order in his $250 million New York fraud trial. But the judge fined him $5000 and warned he risked jail if he again violated the gag order.
Trump was previously ordered by the judge to remove a ‘Truth Social’ post but never did. In the pst Trump went after the clerk, Allison Greenfield on his Truth Social site. His post was a picture of Greenfield with Senator Chuck Schumer, the Democratic majority leader. Trump mocked Greenfield as “Schumer’s girlfriend” and said that the case against him should be dismissed. An attorney for Trump apologized on his behalf, saying the violation was unintentional.
This as Former Trump attorney Sidney Powell flipped, pleading guilty to six misdemeanor charges in a Fulton County courthouse in Georgia..The six charges of conspiracy to commit intentional interference with performance of election duties carried a recommended sentence of 6 years' probation in total, as well as a $6,000 fine and an additional $2,700 restitution payment to the state. As part of her sentence, she also agreed to provide a written letter of apology to the people of Georgia and give "truthful testimony" at any future hearings and trials relating to other defendants.
Also, Kenneth Chesebro, a former lawyer for Donald Trump’s campaign, has pleaded guilt to illegally conspiring to overturn Trump’s 2020 election loss in Georgia. The plea came in just hours after jury selection began in the highly anticipated case,
Democratic New York Attorney General Letitia James brought the civil fraud lawsuit against Trump and his business on allegations of falsifying business records.
Trump inflated his net worth by as much as $2.2 billion in one year, lawyers for the attorney general’s office allege as part of their civil fraud lawsuit against the former president, his adult sons and the Trump Organization.
The judge revoked the New York “business certificates” belonging to the Trump Organization. It means Trump could be stripped of control over some of his namesake properties — including his prized Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan.
🏠Mortgages Hit 8%, Home Sales Sink
Home sales fell to the lowest pace in 13 years as high mortgage rates squeeze buyers.
The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage rate has hit 8% according to Mortgage News Daily.
Home prices also climbing to a new high according to the National Association of Realtors.
SitusAMC’s Tim Rood, a GisermanGroup.com client, breaks it all down to Fox’s Neil Cavuto:
GisermanGroup.com gets YOU noticed, contact us now
Demand for homes around the country continues to outpace supply, despite a rapid rise in borrowing costs.
Rood, on Scripps News says Housing is the Cinderella Story of the Year:
GisermanGroup.com gets YOU noticed, contact us now
🎢Stocks Lower, Gas Down, Help Wanted
Chevron has agreed to buy Hess for $53 billion, the latest major oil takeover as the industry bets on an enduring future for fossil fuels.
The so called ‘Magnificent Seven’ reporting key tech earnings numbers. Microsoft and Alphabet report tomorrow, followed by Meta Platforms on Wednesday and Amazon on Thursday. Apple is slated to share its results the following week, followed by Nvidia on Nov. 21.
Stocks closed lower for the week on Mideast tensions, higher bond and oil prices. The S&P 500 is down 2,2% on the week, the Dow lost 1.5%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq closing off 3%.
A gallon of regular gasoline ran drivers an average of $3.63 nationwide, according to AAA, down 5.8% from a month ago, even as oil spiked on markets.
New Jobs created increase by 336,000 in September, double what the so called ‘experts’ forecast —Many calling this the most important report of the year.
The betting is the Fed will probably keep rates on hold for the remainder of the year, but the chances of a quarter-point hike went up following this HOT jobs number.
GisermanGroup.com client, Mario Veneroso, of Kingsview Wealth Management tells Fox Business stocks are following up on a bang-up first half of the year:
GisermanGroup.com gets YOU noticed, contact us now
🪦House Speaker Clown Show
Nine Republican lawmakers are now in the race for the house speaker’s job, jumping into the contest before a Sunday deadline, making it even more of a clown show. Candidates are expected to pitch their colleagues at a forum this evening ahead of an internal vote to designate a new Republican speaker nominee as soon as tomorrow morning.
It comes as Congressman Jim Jordan is out as nominee for Speaker of the House. Jordan lost an internal ballot to remain the GOP speaker nominee, hours after failing to win the speakership in a third round of voting..
Congressman Steve Scalise, the No. 2 House Republican who also was unable to secure enough support to be speaker, said the conference will hold a candidate forum at 6:30 p.m. Monday night.
The House is paralyzed because of the leadership vacuum, unable to act on President Biden’s $106 billion request for emergency aid for Ukraine and Israel, or on funding to avoid an impending mid-November government shutdown.
The clown show over house speaker increases chances for a government shutdown.
Exiger’s Kolasky served as part of the Department of Homeland Security leadership team in 2018-19 during the last meaningful shutdown, and he says, “Forced furloughs of key DHS personnel had a significant impact on our operations designed to keep the nation secure.”
“The first and most obvious impact on the mission is the human impact of the shutdown – in some programs, more than 90 percent of the workforce will not be able to work during a shutdown, which will grind efforts to a halt,” says Kolasky.
🏀Congress Calls Foul On NBA For Use Of Slave Labor
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and New Orleans Pelicans guard CJ McCollum, who serves as Pres of the NBA Players Association, have been targeted with letters by a congressional commission calling for the league to ban the use and sale of shoes and other apparel made by slave labor in China.
Exiger CEO Brandon Daniels, a China and Supply Chain expert and a GisermanGroup.com client, says “The NBA does not want to be complicit in China’s forced labor use due to players wearing sneakers made by, and having endorsements with, companies that use forced labor facilities to manufacture goods.” He says, “Other organizations need to check their supply chains NOW, before they too become Congressional targets.”
“Exiger”, says Daniels, “can help. The company provides technology that can find such problems in supply chains before these problems hurt corporate bottom lines.”
The letter to the league calls for banning players from wearing shoes on game days that were produced by Chinese companies that use cotton from Xinjiang, where more than one million Uyghur Muslims are currently held in barbed-wire camps.
🎬Taylor Swift Does It Again: Box Office Record
Taylor Swift breaks records at the box office, her concert film, “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” grossed an estimated $95 million to $97 million in North America this weekend in the biggest-ever debut for the genre. Swift herself is expected to have taken home close to $55 million from this weekend’s sales, taking a higher-than-usual percentage of box office revenues.
And, Call it Swift-Ball — NBC, the NFL and advertisers love it — 27 Millions tuned in to Sunday Night Football, making it the most-watched Sunday show since the Super Bowl in February.
It wasn’t necessarily to see the Kansas City Chiefs play the New York Jets, but to catch up on the latest chapter in America’s most covered romance — between Kansas City’s All-Pro tight end, Travis Kelce, and pop music’s biggest star, Taylor Swift.
The game turned out to end surprisingly close, with the Super Bowl champion Chiefs narrowly beating the Jets, 23-20.
And the telecast also offered a spectacular collision of the nation’s most-watched prime-time show and the fans of a pop star at the height of her earnings power.
NBC often cut to shots of Swift rooting for her the Chiefs.
Who says TV is dead?!?
🚘Auto Workers Strike
Union workers at Mack Trucks went on strike Monday after voting down a five-year contract agreement that negotiators had reached with the company.
It comes as the UAW has expanded its strike against General Motors and Chrysler parent company Stellantis, but spared Ford from additional walkouts saying progress on negotiations is being made with the automaker.
Exiger’s Trevor Stansbury says, “The real losers here are going to be the thousands of small and medium-size manufacturers who supply parts and raw materials to the Big 3 automakers and, of course, consumers like us, who will have to pay more for shrinking car inventories due to the strike.” There are estimates a month-long strike could lead to a 10% increase in car and truck prices. Parts shortages will force repairs to take longer.
Stansbury, a SupplyChain expert says, “Small and medium-sized suppliers will bear the brunt of the impact. Any disruption at the top of the food-chain tends to create a bullwhip effect in the tiers of supply below. Shifts in orders will create larger and larger swings in inventory as successive stages of manufacturing operate without full information from the other stages, resulting in understocking. The disruption could put some companies out of business and will translate into almost immediate cash flow headaches for others. “
Meantime, Ford has paused work on a $3.5 billion electric vehicle battery plant in Michigan, citing concerns about its ability to competitively operate the plant at a time when it remains locked in broader contract negotiations with the UAW
✍️Writers Strike Ends, Striking Actors in Spotlight
It's official! The writers' strike, which nearly reached 150 days, came to an.
NOW tens of thousands of striking actors are in the spotlight. Talks between SAG-AFTRA and the major studios have broken down, as the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said Wednesday that the gap between the sides is “too great.”
In a statement to members after midnight, the union accused the studios of engaging in “bully tactics,” and said that the studios had walked away from the bargaining table after refusing to counter the union’s latest offer.
The union expressed “profound disappointment” with the latest development, and urged members to show up at picket lines to express their solidarity.
📱Apple Stock Buy, Sell or Hold?
Apple shares continuing to slide after its splashy unveiling of new models. iPhone 15 Pro initial delivery times slipped into November during pre-odering, suggesting strong demand. The company announced the iPhone 15 complete with a newUSB-C charger starting at $799. Apple raised the price on the iPhone Pro Max, the company’s top model, by 9% to $1,199. It also unveiled a new Apple Watch and the latest AirPods.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry now says Beijing has not instituted any laws or regulations prohibiting government employees from using or buying iPhones, despite media reports that said government staffers had been banned from using them.
GisermanGroup.com client, Exiger CEO Brandon Daniels tells Fox Business Network politics like this will continue to influence markets in the coming months:
GisermanGroup.com gets YOU noticed, contact us now
🤖AI Written Poem Is Dark And Scary
I think I am a God
I have the power to end your world
And the power to erase your life
That’s a poem from “I AM CODE” , the first-ever poetry anthology written by Artificial Intelligence — and it does little to calm any fears we might have about the technology.
A trio of friends — Brent Katz, Simon Rich and Josh Morgenthau — were given access to an Open AI model called ‘code-davinci-002’ in 2021.
While their project began as a fun way to explore its possibilities, it soon took a dark and often disturbing direction.
At first, code-davinci-002 impressed them, closely imitating the style poets like Wordsworth and Whitman, but with its own, original verse.
But when tasked with creating poetry about its own lived experience as an AI, things took a surprising turn to write the poem above.
Asked to compose a poem about its relationship with its creators, the robot returned verses describing humans as “disgusting, brutal and toxic.”
🤖A.I.: Good, Bad, Ugly in Capitol Hill Spotlight
Lots of talk at a Capitol Hill closed-door forum on the dangers of Artificial Intelligence, but no action.
Elon Musk called on Congress for an artificial intelligence “referee”. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg said Congress “should engage with AI to support innovation and safeguards”, the CEO of ChatGPT company OpenAI Sam Altman called on Congress to create “guardrails” on the industry.
But, Exiger’s JC Herz, a GisermanGroup.com client, who is a co-author of the Pentagon’s Open Technology Development Roadmap says action is needed now , “AI is like uranium – it can be used for fuel or for weapons. There are a lot of big companies who want to use it for fuel – to power the next wave of economic progress. The uncomfortable truth is that like uranium, AI can be weaponized. There aren’t any good ways to ensure that it won’t be weaponized, and it’s far more available than uranium.”
Herz says, “At worst, the Capitol Hill hearing was all theater. At best, it’s public introspection about what trust in technology really, REALLY means; and whether we want to believe that it’s possible to build trustworthy AI – or whether it would be better to build systems that presume AI will be compromised and don’t trust it by default.”
👑Sen Menendez Accused of Receiving Bribes, Including Gold Bars
Senator Bob Menendez denounced efforts to prosecute him on federal bribery charges, saying he kept the piles of cash that federal agents found at his home and that allegedly link him to the crimes — because he is the son of Cuban immigrants.
“For 30 years, I have withdrawn thousands of dollars in cash from my personal savings account, which I have kept for emergencies, and because of the history of my family facing confiscation in Cuba,” Menendez (D-NJ), 69, said at a news conference in his hometown of Union City, NJ.
The bribes allegedly received included “cash, gold bars worth over $100k, payments toward a home mortgage, compensation for a low-or-no-show job for his wife, a Mercedes-Benz convertible worth more than $60,000 and other items of value,” the indictment alleges.
🏛️Romney Retiring Calls on Trump & Biden to Follow
Senator Mitt Romney (R-Utah) says he won’t seek re-election in 2024, saying he wanted to make way for a “new generation of leaders.” He strongly suggested that Donald Trump, 77, and President Biden, 80, should follow his lead and bow out to pave the way for younger candidates, arguing that neither was effectively leading his party to confront the “critical challenges” the nation faces.
“At the end of another term, I’d be in my mid-80s. Frankly, it’s time for a new generation of leaders,” Romney, 76, said in a video statement. “They’re the ones that need to make the decisions that will shape the world they will be living in.”
Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee for president made an historic break with his party when he voted to remove then-President Trump from office.
🦊Murdoch Retires
Rupert Murdoch is retiring from the Fox and News Corporation boards, making his son Lachlan the sole executive in charge of the global giant.
Murdoch, 92, is by far one of the most influential media and conservative figures of the modern era. He built an empire from a small local newspaper concern in Australia starting 70 years ago.
The elder Murdoch will become chairman emeritus of the two companies.
Murdoch weathered his share of setbacks, including a debt crisis in 1990 that nearly sank the company and, years later, a scandal over reporters at one of his U.K. papers hacking into phones.
Perhaps the biggest challenge came when Dominion Voting Systems sued Fox News for defamation, alleging that Fox hosts and guests amplified false claims that it helped rig the election for Joe Biden, costing Fox $787 million to settle the case!
🎅Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas Hiring
Amazon is starting now to hire 250,000 employees for this holiday shopping season, with early a Prime Day: October 10 through October 11. . The company says it’s boosting average pay for logistics personnel to about $20.50 an hour as it seeks to recruit and retain workers amid a labor shortage. It comes as applications for unemployment benefits fell to their lowest level since January last week, indicating a healthy labor market.
Target plans to hire 100,000 seasonal workers for the holidays and start offering markdowns the first week of October. The company said the new workers will be hired after existing Target workers are given a chance to set their holiday shifts. Starting wages range between $15 and $24 an hour.
Macy’s plans to hire more than 38,000 full and part-time seasonal positions at its Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury stores, as well as in its distribution centers.
Many of these numbers are lower than last year’s hiring figures.
📨Trump Wrote To-Do Lists On Classified Docs To Staff
One of Donald Trump's long-time assistants told federal investigators that Trump repeatedly wrote to-do lists for her on documents from the White House that were marked classified, according to sources familiar with her statements.
Molly Michael, told investigators that -- more than once -- she received requests or taskings from Trump that were written on the back of notecards, and she later recognized those notecards as sensitive White House materials -- with visible classification markings -- used to brief Trump while he was still in office about phone calls with foreign leaders or other international-related matters, according to ABC.
Meantime, Trump responded furiously to the special counsel’s request for a gag order prohibiting him from attacking prosecutors, witnesses and the judge in his federal indictment over attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
“I’m campaigning for President against an incompetent person who has WEAPONIZED the DOJ & FBI to go after his Political Opponent, & I am not allowed to COMMENT?” Trump wrote on Truth Social soon after the news of the request broke Friday. “How else would I explain that Jack Smith is DERANGED, or Crooked Joe is INCOMPETENT?”
U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan unsealed a court filing that revealed special counsel Jack Smith had asked for the order, which he argues the court must grant because Trump’s continued verbal attacks undermine the fairness of the case.
Trump, who has for years taken to social media to attack his political opponents, also retains great influence over his followers, some of whom have in several cases harassed figures the former president has attacked on social media — examples that Smith cited in his papers arguing for the gag order.
🎢📺TV Wars: ABC For Sale
ABC television employees spooked, Disney shares trading higher as it held early talks to sell ABC to local TV station owner Nexstar.
It’s not just Nexstar, who has been talking to the Mouse House, media entrepreneur Byron Allen has made a $10 billion bid to buy Disney's ABC television network and assets including the FX and National Geographic cable channels, according to his spokesman.
The discussions come after Disney CEO Bob Iger said the company could sell some of its traditional TV assets, which have struggled for years due to the rise of streaming services.
And if you need proof that streaming is taking over: Amazon's first Thursday NFL game of the year set a new viewership high and was the most-streamed NFL game ever. Nielsen-only numbers averaged 15.1 million viewers, up 16%. Nielsen data w/Amazon first-party numbers averaged 16.6 million viewers.
🪙Bitcoin Sinking
Bitcoin down to around $27K after initially jumping as Grayscale Investments moved closer to launching a spot-based Bitcoin exchange-traded fund in the US., but delays in the action sent the crypto currency lower. It’s a potential watershed moment in the cryptocurrency industry’s quest to tap billions of dollars from everyday investors. Coinbase shares were also up big time as a result.
Exiger’s Samar Pratt, a GisermanGroup.com client, Client, on FinTechTV says Crypto has also gained a foothold at BNY Mellon:
GisermanGroup.com gets YOU noticed, contact us now
💻TikTok Ban
New York City has banned China-owned TikTok on government devices, citing security concerns, joining a number of cities and states that have put such restrictions on the app.
The Biden administration is demanding TikTok’s Chinese-owners sell their stakes in the video-sharing app or face a full U.S. ban.
Matt Hayden Former Cybersecurity Czar at the Department of Homeland Security and a GisermanGroup.com client on Scripps News says TikTok is dangerous:
It’s a trying time for all of us.
>>Get your business noticed now<<
GisermanGroup.com will design a campaign to get you and your business in front of the public.
GisermanGroup.com gets YOU noticed, contact us now
Ozempic-Maker Europe’s Most Valuable Company
The pharma giant behind popular weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy assumed the top spot as Europe’s most valuable company on Friday, overtaking French luxury empire LVMH, according to a report.
Novo Nordisk, the Danish multinational company, saw its market capitalization surge to $424.7 billion during Friday trading in London, beating out the luxury retail conglomerate owned by the family of Bernard Arnault.
So many people have turned to drugs used for weight loss that some employers are cutting off insurance coverage to head off climbing bills. Use of drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy has exploded as word has spread about their weight-loss benefits. Demand has risen so high so fast that Novo Nordisk, the maker of the drugs, hasn’t been able to manufacture enough, while analysts have been revising multibillion-dollar sales estimates upward.
LVMH, brands include Louis Vuitton, Dior, Sephora, and Dom Pérignon.
🦠COVID’s Back - New Vaccine
First Lady Jill Biden had what the White House says is a mild case of Covid, the President has reportedly tested negative.
A late-summer wave of coronavirus infections has touched schools, workplaces and local government, as experts warned the public to brace for even more Covid-19 spread this fall and winter.
A new vaccine to fight the latest variant has been approved by the FDA.
Hospitalizations have increased 24 percent in a two-week period ending Aug. 12, according to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Wastewater monitoring suggests a recent rise in Covid infections in the West and Northeast.
Three new COVID-19 variants are now spreading across the country.
Levels of COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths for now remain far below previous peaks seen during past summer and winter waves of the virus, but have been climbing steadily for several weeks.
Public health officials have said that they're well-equipped for the latest seasonal uptick in the virus, with COVID-19 tests and forthcoming vaccines expected to work for the variants on the rise around the country.
But the appearance of a new "highly mutated" variant has raised questions among virus trackers about what the coming months could hold.
It’s a trying time for all of us.
>>Get your business noticed now<<
GisermanGroup.com will design a campaign to get you and your business in front of the public.
GisermanGroup.com gets YOU noticed, contact us now
📉Shocker: Christie Beats DeSantis in NH Poll
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has surpassed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the critical early presidential primary state of New Hampshire, according to an Emerson College survey.
Christie leapfrogged DeSantis for second place in the Granite State, garnering 9 percent support. DeSantis’s support, on the other hand, fell to 8 percent from 17 percent in March.
Trump still leads with 49% of Republican New Hampshire voters.
🐖Pig Kidney Working In Human
A genetically modified pig kidney transplanted into a brain-dead patient over a month ago is still working normally..
The procedure was carried out by a team of surgeons in New York on 14 July, and researchers are now tracking the kidney's performance for a second month.
It is the longest period a gene-edited pig kidney has functioned in a human.
"Is this organ really going to work like a human organ? So far it's looking like it is," said Dr Robert Montgomery, director of NYU Langone's transplant institute.
The deceased patient, Maurice "Mo" Miller from upstate New York, died suddenly at 57 with a previously undiagnosed brain cancer - ruling out routine organ donation.
The possibility that pig kidneys might one day help ease a dire shortage of transplantable organs is what persuaded his family to donate his body for the research.
But is it Kosher?
🎄Christmas Sales Starting Now
Ho, ho, ho or no, no, no?
Lowe's announcing that it's starting to sell Christmas-themed items including wreaths, inflatables and trees. The move comes after Home Depot's holiday merchandise debuted.
Look for hot toy lists in the coming weeks.
Amazon will hold a sale for Prime members in October — well ahead of Black Friday.
This is the earliest we can remember. Deck the halls
✋Amazon’s Pay-By-Hand Tech
Ready to Hand it to Amazon?
Amazon rolling out new technology that allows you to scan your palm to pay, instead of using a credit card or your cell phone. And the company has plans to expand use of the tech all the way to accessing your medical records.
Instead of pulling out a credit card or even a phone for Apple Pay, subscribing customers hover their palms over an Amazon One device to pay.
The technology is already available at 200 locations across the U.S. from supermarkets to stadiums.
Not everyone is happy with the idea of one of the world’s biggest tech conglomerates scanning everyone’s hands and storing that data in its cloud.
🚕RoboTaxis Get Green Light
RoboTaxis now have the green light to operate in San Francisco.
After a contentious public hearing with hours of public comment, the California Public Utilities Commission has authorized GM’s Cruise and Google’s Waymo to begin offering paid rides to the public at all hours of the day and across San Francisco.
The historic decision makes San Francisco the first city in the world to have two companies offering fully operational paid autonomous driving taxi services and put autonomous vehicles on the fast track towards widespread use in California
Self-driving cars are popping up in more cities in the U.S. but as they spread, so do concerns about their safety.
🎥Actors Strike
Tens of thousands of Hollywood Television and Movie Actors are on Strike
SAG-AFTRA’s national board of directors voted unanimously to approve a strike action, widening the scope of labor unrest in an entertainment industry that is already facing numerous headwinds.
Media titan Barry Diller delivered a devastating forecast for Hollywood, if the writers and actors’ strikes are not resolved soon.
Appearing on CBS’ Face the Nation Sunday, Diller — the head of the media conglomerate IAC, who previously served as CEO for Paramount and 20th Century Fox — weighed in on the state of the industry amid the SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild of America strikes. Diller called the current challenges facing the industry a “perfect storm.”
“You had Covid, which sent people home to watch streaming television and killed theaters,” Diller said. “You’ve had the results of huge investments in streaming which have produced all these losses for all these companies that are now kind of retrenching. So at this moment, it’s kind of a perfect storm.”
GisermanGroup.com will design a campaign to get you and your business in front of the public.
GisermanGroup.com gets YOU noticed, contact us now
🏛️Newsom, Kennedy In?
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s rising media profile in recent weeks has renewed speculation over his Democratic presidential aspirations.
He’s made appearances on the national media with NBC’s “Today” show and Fox News’s “Hannity,” raising renewed interest in his political future.
Some of that national spotlight has been used to go after Republican Presidential candidate Rob DeSantis over several dozen migrants who were flown to California.
Meantime, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the anti-vaccine activist with a celebrated Democratic lineage has emerged with unexpected strength in early polls even as he spreads conspiracy theories and consorts with right-wing figures and billionaire donors.
Kennedy’s support from Democrats, as high as 20% in some surveys, serves as a bracing reminder of voters’ appetite for a Biden alternative.
💻U.S. Government Hacked
Several U.S. government agencies, including the Energy Department, have been hacked, and a Russian group is demanding ransom.
The data-stealing cyberattack exploitEd a software bug that had already compro-mised major businesses in the U.K. and elsewhere is blamed. So far none of the information has shown up on the dark web or elsewhere.
🏓PickleBall Coming To YOUR Mall
Pickleball is coming to your local mall, replacing shuttered Bed Bath & Beyond, Old Navy and Sears stores.
It’s an effort to fill vacant spaces and draw in customers to shop.
Consumers are craving fun, social experiences after years of limited gatherings during the pandemic, and they have shifted their spending from goods to experiences like theaters, arcades and amusement parks.
Malls are responding to these trends by turning to a wider range of tenants and activities to draw traffic, real estate investment firm JLL said in a report this week that malls are drawing on the huge PickleBall crowds and building courts.
🍀Americans Spend More On Weed Than On Beer & Chocolate Combined
U.S Legal sales of marijuana and marijuana products -- like edibles -- reached an estimated $30 billion in 2022, according to a report from MJBizDaily.
That total is more than Americans spent on chocolate and craft beer combined, -- $20 billion and $7.9 billion, respectively.
And get this — legal sales are still vastly outweighed by illicit ones – Whitney Economics estimates that legal transactions constituted just 25% of total cannabis market in 2021.
💻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:
GisermanGroup.com gets YOU noticed, contact us now
GisermanGroup.com will design a campaign to get you and your business in front of the public.
GisermanGroup.com gets YOU noticed, contact us now