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Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Just this week the Senate Judiciary Committee posted an ominous message to Ticketmaster regarding their upcoming sale of tickets for Beyoncé. They took to Twitter to say “ We’re watching @Ticketmaster. ” Since when does the legislative branch of government communicate in the same cadence as Tony Soprano? It is as if the Senators don’t believe the free market works. Perhaps that makes sense in today’s Washington D.C. where George Santos inexplicably remains a sitting member of Congress and a certain ex-President is campaigning on a platform that his 2020 election “victory” was stolen. In the land of reality, tickets trade like any items of value. The prices move up and down based upon supply and demand. Those in the know understand that Bruce Springsteen is almost universally regarded as a stellar artist and performer. Along with that reputation is the lesser known truth that demand for his tickets is always high in New … [Read more...] about Happy Valentine’s Day Senator Klobuchar: Bruce Springsteen’s Ticket Prices For His February 14th Show Are Crashing

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Key takeaways Options allow you to make money in the stock market regardless of whether it’s up, down or stagnant The two varieties of options, calls and puts, can be combined in several different ways to anticipate the increases or decreases in the market, decrease the cost basis of a trade or mitigate the risk options trading poses Trading options can be risky, so it’s best to practice trading on paper before you use real money Most people know that you can make money in the stock market when the prices of equities are rising and the economy is doing well. But what about when economic times are uncertain? Rather than sitting on the sidelines, you can use alternative approaches to make money during a down market. One of these strategies is trading options. Options come with more risk than buying and holding stocks, but this can be minimized with proper planning. Better yet, your returns could be much more … [Read more...] about Options Trading 101: Understanding Calls And Puts

President Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general fielded questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 15. A 22-member committee grilled William Barr for over seven hours, asking for his thoughts on a number of issues facing the government. His comments about marijuana during his confirmation hearing caused the ETFMG Alternative Harvest ETF ( MJ ) to fall over 3%. Prominent marijuana producers like Cronos Group Inc. ( CRON ) and Canopy Growth Corp. ( CGC ) ended the day lower. Relief for Marijuana States If Barr is confirmed as the successor to Matthew Whitaker, the former Attorney General to George H.W. Bush said his Justice Department will “not go after” marijuana companies that operate in states where the drug has been legalized. The nominee said he disagreed with former Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ decision to rescind the Cole Memorandum in January 2018. Instead, Barr vowed to uphold the directive issued under the Obama administration that … [Read more...] about What Does Trump Attorney General Nominee William Barr Think of Marijuana?

Representative image The UK's Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has said that users sharing passwords for streaming sites like Netflix, Amazon Prime Video or Disney+ are breaking the law. The UK IPO has collaborated with Meta for a counterfeit and piracy campaign, and one of the guidelines makes it clear that accessing streaming services without paying for subscription amounts to piracy. "Piracy is a major issue for the entertainment and creative industries," says the IPO in a post . "Accessing films, tv series or live sports," or using hacked devices to watch them, "without paying for a subscription is an infringement of copyright and you may be committing a crime." According to the IPO, this also extends to pasting images "without permission" on your social media accounts. The IPO draws comparisons to other lines of work saying, "When we go to work, we want to be paid - the creative industries are no different." Read More It takes the example of an … [Read more...] about Sharing passwords for streaming services like Netflix illegal: UK’s Intellectual Property Office

A still from the Netflix anime 'The Dog & The Boy' (Image: NetflixJP/Twitter) Netflix is facing backlash for using AI-generated artwork in its anime The Dog & The Boy rather than paying human artists. The controversy comes at a time when the art community is concerned about the rise of AI putting their jobs at risk, besides the contentious issue of copyright theft by AI image generators. Netflix ’s justification for using artificial intelligence to paint the backgrounds in The Dog & The Boy – that there is a shortage of labour in the anime industry – did not go down well on social media. The controversy snowballed when Netflix Japan shared a tweet announcing “As an experimental effort to help the anime industry, which has a labour shortage, we used image generation technology for the background images of all three-minute video cuts!” Netflix アニメ・クリエイターズ・ベース×技術開発のrinna株式会社×WIT STUDIOによる共同プロジェクトアニメ『犬と少年』のショートムービー。 … [Read more...] about Netflix slammed for using AI artwork in anime instead of paying an animator

The Federal Open Market Committee will meet on Wednesday, Feb. 1, to determine the direction of U.S. monetary policy. What will the Fed do? Since March 2022, it has already raised the fed funds rate by 4.25 percentage points, the largest one-year increase in four decades. When it comes to speculation over the direction of the fed funds rate, the financial press is filled with musings from Fed watchers and assorted wags. That is just background “noise.” (RELATED: EJ ANTONI: Wokeness Is Slowly Hollowing Out The Fed) There is only one objective measure of where the fed funds rate is heading — in other words, the “signal,” rather than the “noise.” It’s the Chicago Mercantile Exchange FedWatch Tool , which translates the prices of trades on fed funds futures contracts (read: market prices) to put a probability on where the fed funds rate will go. As Friedrich Hayek taught us long ago in his classic 1945 article, “ The Use of Knowledge in Society ,” an article that landed him … [Read more...] about STEVE HANKE And CALEB HOFMANN: The Fed Is Asleep At The Wheel And Americans Are Feeling The Consequences

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Every week, on his The Soul & Science Podcast , Jason Harris talks with great marketing minds. I was struck by this interview on the subject of keeping the brand fresh: “If you’re standing still, you’re moving backward," said Chris Davis, chief marketing officer of New Balance on the podcast. “Would you take kindly to being called complacent? I know I wouldn't. By not thinking ahead, you could be missing out on big opportunities. Seeking out innovation as you look into the future is crucial. Avoid getting too comfortable in your strategy so that you don’t go stagnant.” No matter how well your marketing is doing, it pays to avoid going stagnant. Steve John, CEO of Monterey Peninsula Foundation, host of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, is committed to building on the rich tradition established by classic crooner Bing Crosby and his celebrity friends. He and board chairman Clint Eastwood are definitely not … [Read more...] about Build Your Brand Like New Balance And Pebble Beach Pro-Am

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin The short answer is NO! This issue has been around for many years and seems to have resurfaced recently as we get closer to 2034. The definition of bankruptcy is the inability to pay outstanding debts or obligations. The key word here is inability. The Social Security program, as designed, has become antiquated and is being asked to do something it was simply not designed to do. When Social Security started in 1935 there were approximately 45 workers to every 1 beneficiary. That number has steadily fallen over the past 88 years. The growth in beneficiaries due to living longer and reduced contributing workers due to people having fewer children has brought the current number of workers to beneficiaries to 3 to 1. Current studies project that the system can operate as-is at a 3 to 1 ratio. By 2034, the ratio is expected to be 2 to 1. So, you can see that the decrease of contributing workers to … [Read more...] about Is Social Security Going To Go Bankrupt?

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Netflix has plans to crack down on those subscribers who share their account with others. Earlier this week it looked like that crackdown was coming soon, causing some panic among sharers. However, it now seems there may be a respite for password sharers, for now, anyway. MORE FROM FORBES Apple Watch Ultra 2: New Leak Claims Dramatic Price Jolt By David Phelan Mind you, it will come and Netflix has previously said that it will arrive before the end of March. Kate O’Flaherty has a good explainer, here on Forbes. On Wednesday, Netflix posted guidelines on its U.S. and other websites which showed what the crackdown will involve, implying the restrictions were imminent, if not live. The page was later taken down. As reported in The Guardian , Netflix said, “For a brief time yesterday, a help center article containing information that is only applicable to Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru went live in other … [Read more...] about Netflix Account Sharing May Still Be Safe For The Time Being

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Listening to music on the move is a relaxing way of passing the time on a long train or plane journey. It’s ideal for catching up on the latest releases or relistening to favorite albums if you have music stored on your smartphone or stream tracks from a service like Spotify, TIDAL or Qobuz. A good quality amplifier/DAC is ideal for those who demand high-quality sound no matter where we are. Last month, I brought news of the launch of a new and affordable amplifier/DAC from FiiO . The company makes some excellent music players and amplifiers. The brand’s main competitor would possibly be iFi , but there are many alternatives in this market. The BTR7 is about the size of a cigarette lighter (remember those?) and is finished in a classy matte black with glass panels front and back. It feels incredibly well made and includes a small 1.3-inch color screen on the front panel for navigating the device’s menu settings and … [Read more...] about Reviewed: FiiO’s BTR7 Is A Superb For Listening To Music On The Move