GisermanGroup.com #BreakingNews
🏠2023: The Housing Bust That Won’t Happen
🎉#Stocks: Expect the Unexpected in 2023
🛩️#Airline Travel Crippled by ‘Once In Generation’ Killer #Blizzard
🕊️#Musk Searching for New #Twitter CEO
🚨#Trump Paid $0 Taxes in 2020, How Much Did You Pay?
⛽️#Gas Lowest In Year
💻Ban #TikTok
🤥#Congressman: “I’m Jew-ish”
🎊HAPPY NEW YEAR
🏠2023: The Housing Bust That Won’t Happen
SitusAMC's Tim Rood, Former Fannie Mae Executive says “2023 will be the great housing bust that never happens.”
He cites Sales of New Homes surprisingly rising 5.8% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 640,000 in the last month, declining mortgage rates and increasing home values
Rood, a GisermanGroup client, tells Bloomberg, CBS and Fox Business Network the housing is coming out of the basement:
TIm Rood will have the latest TODAY 3pmET on Yahoo Finance TV - Please Tune In!
🎉#Stocks: Prepare for Unexpected in 2023
Stocks wavering after the 3-day Christmas break, on track for their worst annual performance since 2008.
Nobody predicted that!
So called ‘experts’ got it all wrong in 2022, so why should we believe that inflation and recession will subside next year?
Be prepared for the unexpected!
For December, the S&P 500 has lost 5.8%, while the Dow is down 4% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq down 8%
If there is a lesson to be taken away from the past 12 months it is this:
Expect more surprises.
The warnings come with the Fed increasing interest rates by a half-percentage-point, to the highest level in 15 years
Fed Chief Jerome Powell says the central bank will continue hiking interest through the year ahead, projecting a higher-than-expected rate of 5.1%, currently it’s 4.25%
Exiger CEO Brandon Daniels, a GisermanGroup client, tells FBN "Further interest rate hikes will certainly move us into a recession”:
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Get The Notice You Deserve in 2023
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.
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🛩️Travel Crippled by ‘Once In Generation’ Killer #Blizzard
Airport mayhem after a ‘once in a generation’ blizzard
Southwest Airlines plans to operate just over one-third of its typical schedule in the coming days after scrapping about 60% 2,500 flights yesterday and cancelling about 46% of its flights on Christmas Day
“USDOT is concerned by Southwest Airlines’ disproportionate and unacceptable rate of cancellations and delays as well as the failure to properly support customers experiencing a cancellation or delay,” the Department of Transportation said. “As more information becomes available the Department will closely examine whether cancellations were controllable and whether Southwest is complying with its customer service plan as well as all other pertinent DOT rules.”
46 deaths have been attributed to the ‘once in a generation’ blizzard. Close to 5-feet of snow is on the ground in Buffalo, NY.
The storm downed power lines, littered highways with piles of cars in deadly accidents and led to mass flight cancellations.
Conditions are expected to slowly improve, according to the service, with “slow moderations of temperatures.” Forecasts show a general warming trend for the week, with temperatures rising to seasonal normal levels and above.
🚌Merry Christmas From Texas Gov Greg Abbott
Busloads of migrants were dumped at Vice President Harris’s residence in D.C. on Saturday — Christmas Eve — leaving migrants and their children on the streets in below-freezing temperatures, sent their by Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
The migrants were later taken to a church by the Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid Network, a local aid group.
What are those words inscribed on the Statue of Liberty???
⚡️#ElectricSlide: Power Station Attacks
Law enforcement agencies investigating at least 8 attacks on power stations in four states in the past month that have underscored the vulnerability of the nation’s power grid.
In the most recent incidents outside of Tacoma, Washington, thousands were left without power after vandals forced their way into four substations and damaged equipment, in one case leading to a fire, according to the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department. In all, 14,000 people were left without power.
The attacks come just weeks after gunfire at two substations in North Carolina caused 45,000 homes and business to lose power.
In January, a the US Department of Homeland Security warned in a report that domestic extremists have been developing “credible, specific plans” to attack electricity infrastructure since at least 2020.
👩⚖️Trump Prosecution - Will Justice Dept Act?
Donald Trump has been accused of insurrection, conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruction of an act of congress by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol as it referred him to the Justice Department for potential prosecution.
The action, the first time in American history that Congress has referred a former president for criminal prosecution, for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election that culminated in a violent mob of the former president’s supporters laying siege to the Capitol.
The key question: Will the Justice Department follow up and bring charges?
Meantime, Trump's business has been convicted of criminal tax fraud. A New York jury finding the Trump Organization engaged in an off-the-books compensation scheme to pay some executives in car leases, apartments and cash.
Trump and his family were not personally charged in this case, but the former president was mentioned repeatedly during the trial by prosecutors about his connection to the benefits doled out to executives.
The maximum penalty is $1.62 million, a rounding error for Trump.
🤥Congressman Lied About His Resume
New York Rep.-elect George Santos came clean to The NY Post, admitting he lied on the campaign trail about his education and work experience — but insisting that the controversy won’t deter him from serving out his two-year term in Congress.
“I am not a criminal,” Santos said at one point during his exclusive interview. “This [controversy] will not deter me from having good legislative success. I will be effective. I will be good.”
“My sins here are embellishing my resume. I’m sorry,” Santos said on Monday.
Santos confessed he had “never worked directly” for Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, chalking that fib up to a “poor choice of words.”
The 34-year-old now claims instead that a company called Link Bridge, where he worked as a vice president, did business with both of the financial giants.
Santos says he never claimed to be Jewish…rather he claimed to be “ Jew-ish”!?!
Musk Looking for New Twitter CEO
Elon Musk says he’s searching for a CEO to run Twitter. It follows his poll asking users whether he should step down as head of the social-media platform showing they want him to go.
More than 17 million users had voted by the time the poll closed after 6 a.m. ET, with 57.5% saying he should leave as head of the company he bought in October for $44 billion. Mr. Musk had said when he launched the Twitter poll that he would abide by the results.
Musk has reinstated the journalists he banned from Twitter saying he allowed the users back on the platform based on the results of a 24-hour Twitter survey that he posted Thursday night where he asked if the accounts should be reinstated immediately or in seven days. More than 58% of voters urged him to unsuspend the journalists “now.”
Musk without warning or explanation Friday banned the accounts of several high-profile journalists including: The New York Times' Ryan Mac, The Washington Post's Drew Harwell., CNN's Donnie O'Sullivan, Progressive journalist Aaron Rupar and pundit Keith Olbermann.
Musk earlier reinstated Donald Trump’ Twitter account three weeks after acquiring the social media company for $44 billion and shortly after millions of accounts voted in favor (52% of more than 15 million total votes) of the decision through a poll Musk posted Friday night. Twitter previously suspended Trump's account two days after the January 6th insurrection at the Capitol, in what it said was a response to the "risk of further incitement of violence." Trump has yet to Tweet.
Meantime, Tesla investors expressing misgivings that Chief Executive Musk‘s involvement with Twitter may be to the detriment of the electric-vehicle maker with its stock on track for its worst ever full-year.
🚙Economic Warning Sign: Car Repos Soar
As the song goes “Who’s Going to Get You, The Repo Man”
The latest economic warning sign — car repossessions are soaring.
A growing number of consumers are falling behind on their car payments, a trend financial analysts fear will continue, in a sign of the strain soaring car prices and prolonged inflation are having on household budgets.
Repossessions tumbled at the start of the pandemic when Americans got a boost from stimulus checks and lenders were more willing to accommodate those behind on their payments. But in recent months, the number of people behind on their car payments has been approaching prepandemic levels, and for the lowest-income consumers, the rate of loan defaults is now exceeding where it was in 2019, according to data from ratings agency Fitch.
Industry analysts worry the trend is only going to continue into 2023 with economists expecting unemployment to rise, inflation to remain relatively high and household savings set to dwindle. At the same time, a growing number of consumers are having to stretch their budgets to afford a vehicle; the average monthly payment for a new car is up 26% since 2019 to $718 a month, and nearly one in six new car buyers is spending more than $1,000 a month on vehicles. Other costs associated with owning a car have also shot up, including insurance, gas and repairs.
🕕FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Out on Bond
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried released on $250 million bail in a deal designed by federal prosecutors and Bankman-Fried’s defense attorneys, a New York federal judge ruled on Thursday.
Bankman-Fried’s ex-girlfriend along with a co-founder of FTX have pleaded guilty to fraud charges and are both cooperating with federal prosecutors.
Politicians were among the biggest benefactors. Bankman-Fried; Ryan Salame, the former co-C.E.O. of FTX; and Nishad Singh, a former head of engineering at the company, have donated a total of $84.3 million to Democrats, Republicans and political action committees since 2019, according to data collected by OpenSecrets.org.
Meantime, a lawsuit has been filed against stars who promoted the firm including Larry David, Tom Brady, and Stephen Curry.
Exiger’s Samar Pratt on FinTechTV explains how Crypto had just gained a foothold at BNY Mellon before this meltdown:
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⛽️Gas Prices Lowest in a Year
What inflation? Gas prices are the lowest in a year!
The national average price for regular gasoline is $3.18 a gallon, A year ago, the average price at the pump was $3.34, according to AAA
At their peak, gasoline prices were over $5 a gallon in mid-June.
The price of West Texas Intermediate crude oil, the U.S. benchmark that serves as the main driver of gas prices, this week fell to its lowest level of the year, around $72 per barrel, after rising above $120 in March.
AAA expects gasoline prices to continue to decline through the winter.
But, shoppers cutting back on holiday spending. A Harris poll shows about 60% of respondents plan to buy fewer gifts and a third are skipping gift-giving completely.
Bah Humbug
🇺🇦Zelenskyy Thanks U.S
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy told cheering U.S. legislators during a defiant wartime visit to the nation’s capital on Wednesday that against all odds his country still stands, thanking Americans for helping to fund the war effort with money that is “not charity,” but an “investment” in global security and democracy.
Zelenskyy called the tens of billions of dollars in U.S. military and economic assistance provided over the past year vital to Ukraine’s efforts to beat back Russia and appealed for even more in the future.
💸Trump’s AntiSemitism
Jewish Republicans are finally distancing themselves from Trump after his dinner with Kanye West, who has been denounced for making antisemitic statements, and with Nick Fuentes, an outspoken antisemite and Holocaust denier. Twitter has again suspended West’s account after he posted a swastika in a tweet.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell saying that anyone who thinks the Constitution can be suspended will have a “very hard time” becoming president.
Has anyone heard from Ivanka or Jarred Kushner?
And Get This: two more documents marked as classified have been found during a search of a Trump storage locker. A source familiar with the situation is quoted as saying it contained a wide array of items, including bizarrely wrestling belts!
🤧Flu Soars
It’s the worst flu outbreak in 10 years hitting 43 states.
Flu-connected hospital admissions are skyrocketing — over Thanksgiving week cases almost doubled from the previous week and were highest since the 2010-2011 season.
Adults 65 and older and kids have been hit particularly hard.
Pharmacies say drugs to fight the flu are in short supply.
NYC advises wearing masks when inside.
Get a flu vaccine now!
🚨Domestic Terror Alert
Warning to Jews, the LGBTQ community and migrants over violent extremists inside the U.S. from, the Department of Homeland Security.
Americans motivated by violent ideologies pose a “persistent and lethal threat,” a senior DHS official told reporters. Intelligence officials across the federal government have consistently highlighted the growing threat of American extremists in recent years, while explaining that foreign threats such as the Islamic State terrorist group and Al Qaeda are no longer as persistent as they once were.
College campuses have long hosted heated debates about the Israel-Palestinian conflict. But now, students say anti-Jewish antagonism is on the rise: Antisemitic incidents have increased, and a growing number of campus groups bar students who support Israel from speaking or joining.
Widespread power outages caused by vandalism of electrical substations in Central North Carolina blamed on Anti-LGBTQ terror. Electricity shutoff to 450,000 homes and businesses. The outages are the result of intentional damage by firearms to two substations in the county, according to Moore County and Duke Energy officials. A curfew is in effect.
💻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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🐭DisneyTo Sell ABC, ESPN?
Will Disney sell off ESPN andABC?
Wells Fargo analyst Steve Cahall described it as the "best path forward" and said he sees it "as a reasonable probably late-'23 event." Cahall, who said it is "time for change," explained that "with linear and sports trends diverging from core IP, we think severing the company is increasingly logical." He says CEO Bob Iger wants to do something big.
💻Ban TikTok
Maryland is banning the use of TikTok and certain China and Russia-based platforms in the state’s executive branch of government, the latest state to address cybersecurity risks presented by the platforms.
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr calls on Congress to ban TikTok - saying ownership of the popular social media app by a Chinese company is a major security concern.
Exiger’s Bob Kolasky, former Cybersecurity Official at the Department of Homeland Security and a GisermanGroup client, has been warning for years that, “You and especially Your Business need to protect key data now from TikTok, the Chinese Government and others who desperately want to get their hands on it.”
Kolasky, on Cheddar also warns of Russia hacking U.S. companies:
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🎶Chorus Against Ticketmaster
The chorus against Ticketmaster’s contentious concert pricing practices is growing, numbering among them Zach Bryan and friends.
The country music artist dropped a live album, “All My Homies Hate Ticketmaster,” on Sunday. With it came a statement posted to social media in which he decried “a massive issue with fair ticket prices to live shows lately.”
Ticketmaster has faced a slew of bad press and scrutiny in recent weeks, notably around the botched rollout of tickets for superstar Taylor Swift’s upcoming Eras Tour.
A presale event in mid-November crashed the site and left many fans without tickets; the planned general sale for the stadium tour was subsequently scrapped because the dominant ticketing giant had run out of tickets. The debacle has even led several state attorneys general to open investigations.