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Wednesday, April 19, 2023

4/19 WAKE-UP CALL: American Consumers Going Further In Debt


Consumers are starting to fall behind on their credit card and loan payments as the economy softens, according to executives at the biggest U.S. banks, although they said delinquency levels were still modest. Profits at Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N), Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) and Citigroup Inc (C.N) beat analyst forecasts as lending giants earned a windfall from rising interest rates. But industry chiefs warned that the strength would tail off this year as a recession looms and customer delinquencies climb. "We've seen some consumer financial health trends gradually weakening from a year ago," Wells Fargo Chief Financial Officer Mike Santomassimo said on a conference call Friday to discuss its first quarter results. 


While delinquencies and net charge-offs - debt owed to a bank that is unlikely to be recovered - have slowly risen as expected, consumers and businesses generally remain strong, the bank's CEO Charlie Scharf said.

➤BIDENS PAY IRS: President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden paid $169,820 in federal and state income tax on a combined $579,514 in adjusted gross income, according to their annual tax returns. Both amounts represented a decrease from the previous year, in which the first family made $610,702 in 2021 and paid $183,925 in taxes. The decline was in part because of increased charitable giving — the Bidens donated slightly more than $20,000 last year — and in part because of falling income from their S-corporations, entities that they have used to run the income from their book deals. Still, the Bidens’ returns show a largely unchanged financial picture. Their income came primarily from the president’s $400,000 annual salary, as well as the $82,335 that the first lady earned as a professor at Northern Virginia Community College. The couple also received nearly $50,000 in Social Security benefits, and more than $35,000 from pensions and annuities.  The returns were released by the White House on Tuesday, the deadline for Americans to file tax documents. The Bidens saw an effective federal tax rate of 23.8% in 2022, down from 24.6% the prior year. They won’t receive a refund this year and instead ended up owing $4,632;

➤PUTIN, ZELENSKY VISIT THEIR TROOPS: Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky, both visited troops in Ukraine within a day of each other this week as the leaders try to shore up morale ahead of an expected offensive by Kyiv to wrest territory from Moscow’s grip. Putin made a rare visit to his troops by traveling Monday to Ukraine’s Kherson and Luhansk regions, both of which are partly occupied by Russian forces, and was briefed by senior officers about the situation on the front line, the Kremlin said Tuesday. Then on Tuesday, Zelensky visited troops in the eastern town of Avdiivka, which has been on the front line with Russian forces since an earlier phase of the conflict that began in 2014. The visits underscore the high stakes ahead of an anticipated Ukrainian offensive that experts say may determine the outcome of the war now in its second year. The visits also showcased the two leaders’ contrasting images and styles of leadership. 

➤WORKPLACE RELIGIOUS-RIGHTS CONSIDERED: Supreme Court justices appeared to edge toward a compromise in a workplace religious-rights case Tuesday, with conservatives Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh suggesting that a 1977 precedent could be clarified but not overturned to balance the interests of employees and employers. A group of conservative advocacy groups filed the case on behalf of a part-time mail carrier who said his evangelical Christian faith prevented him from working on Sundays. The group aims to overturn the current application of federal law requiring employers to make reasonable accommodations for employees’ religious exercise, so long as undue hardship wasn’t imposed on the business.

Although Tuesday’s case involves a government agency, the U.S. Postal Service, the outcome, expected by July, likely will affect private employers that also are covered by provisions of the 1964 Civil Rights Act requiring them to “reasonably accommodate” a worker’s “religious observance or practice without undue hardship on the conduct of the employer’s business.” 

➤DVDs BY MAIL SERVICE ENDING: Netflix Inc. is shutting down its original business of delivering DVDs by mail, 25 years after introducing a revolution in at-home TV viewing. The company will ship its final discs on Sept. 29, according to a statement Tuesday.  “Our goal has always been to provide the best service for our members, but as the business continues to shrink that’s going to become increasingly difficult,” Co-Chief Executive Officer Ted Sarandos said. The business, hatched by co-founders Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph, became a ritual for tens of millions of subscribers who got the red envelopes containing the discs in the mail. Some of the company’s earliest original productions were created in the DVD era.  In 2007, the company launched its streaming business, helping to put Blockbuster Entertainment, the largest DVD rental chain, out of business.

➤PRIDE NIGHT SCHEDULED AT DISNEYLAND: Disneyland unveiled an LGBT-friendly 'Pride Nite' event in June after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis escalated his battle against the progressive entertainment giant. The $119-a-ticket party announced on Twitter Monday afternoon, just moments after a press conference in which DeSantis threatened to build a state prison next to Walt Disney World and Reedy Creek. That move was in retaliation after the entertainment giant attempted to circumvent the authority of his oversight board. Disney found itself in DeSantis' sights last year after ousted CEO Bob Chapek slammed Florida's Parental Rights in Education Bill - better known as the 'Don't Say Gay' law. 

➤TARGETED CHICAGO COUPLE SPEAK-OUT: A couple who were violently targeted in Chicago's out of control 'teen riots' have condemned their attackers for trying 'to kill us' - after an Illinois state senator defended the mob for protesting 'against poverty and segregation'. Terrifying footage caught the moment on Saturday evening when Ashley and DJ, whose second names have not been revealed, were swarmed by teen rioters after they stepped out on the streets of Chicago. The young couple said the unprovoked attack was 'completely random' - but state senator Robert Peters took to Twitter the next day to come out behind the mob. 'I would look at the behavior of young people as a political act and statement. It’s a mass protest against poverty and segregation,' he said in the post, which sparked widespread outrage. The shocking scenes come after an uncontrolled mob of teenagers torched downtown Chicago, leading at least two shootings and over a dozen arrests. 

Kaylin Gillis
➤PARENTS DEVASTATED OVER LOSS OF DAUGHTER: The parents of a 20-year-old woman who fatally shot after the car she was in drove into the wrong driveway say they are 'lost' and 'devastated' by their daughter's 'senseless' death.  In posts on Monday, Andrew and Angelique Gillis remembered Kaylin Gillis as a 'ray of light' and a 'kind, beautiful soul,' who was taken 'far too soon,' just months shy of starting college in Florida.  'She was a big sister, much loved daughter, devoted friend, and partner to her loving boyfriend,' Andrew's tribute reads. 'She was just beginning to find her way in the world with kindness, humor, and love.' Kaylin, 20, and three friends were headed to a home in upstate New York on Saturday around 10pm when they accidentally entered Kevin Monahan's driveway in Hebron. Monahan, 65, according to the Washington County Sheriff's Office, fired two shots from his porch at the car , one of which struck Gillis who was still in the vehicle. The man has been charged with second-degree murder.

➤'WRONG HOUSE' SHOOTER' OUT ON BAIL: Andrew Lester, 84, surrendered to Clay County's Detention Centre in Kansas City, Missouri, on Tuesday afternoon. He posted 10 percent of the $200,000 bail, and was freed. As a condition of his release, Lester is not allowed to possess weapons of any kind and may not have any contact with Yarl. The retired aircraft mechanic is facing life in jail after being charged with first-degree assault and armed criminal action. 

➤PARKING GARAGE COLLAPSE KILLS 1: One person was killed and multiple others trapped Tuesday after a parking garage collapsed in Lower Manhattan, officials said. Shocking footage from the scene at 35-37 Ann Street shows multiple cars on top of the concave roof as a woman is heard screaming, “Get out!” 

“At this time the building is completely unstable,” Mayor Eric Adams said during a press conference at the scene. One victim was carried away in a stretcher as dozens of SUVs slid into the gaping hole in the roof which precipitated the collapse. Five others were hurt — four were taken to the hospital and one refused medical attention.

➤14 MILLION CASES OF TYPE 2 DIABETES LINKED TO THESE FOODS, STUDY SAYS: An estimated 14 million cases of type 2 diabetes were caused by a poor diet, a recent study published in Nature Medicine found.  Diets that lacked whole grains or had too much-refined rice, wheat, or processed meats were linked to the disease. Those that included overconsumption of fruit juice or insufficient amounts of non-starchy vegetables, nuts, or seeds also had some impact on diagnoses, though not as much. The rise of type 2 diabetes cases represents “a growing burden on individuals, families, and healthcare systems,” a press release noted.

➤AUSTRALIAN SCIENTISTS SAY THEY HAVE DISCOVERED A BACKYARD MOLD THAT CAN BREAK DOWN PLASTIC IN 140 DAYS, GIVING HOPE TO THE RECYCLING CRISIS: Australian scientists say they have successfully found a way to use a backyard mold to break down stubborn plastics, showing potential for improving the low recycling rate for some plastics. Scientists at the University of Sydney discovered through experiments that they could use two types of mold commonly found in plants and soil, Aspergillus terreus and Engyodontium album, to break down stubborn plastic, according to findings published in the science journal npj Materials Degradation.

✞EX-NFL PLAYER DEFENSIVE END CHRIS SMITH DEAD AT 31: Former NFL defensive end Chris Smith died Monday at the age of 31, his high school said in a tweet posted Monday night. Smith's agent, Drew Rosenhaus, confirmed the news in a tweet. The cause of his death is not known. Smith played eight seasons in the NFL after the Jacksonville Jaguars selected him in the fifth round of the 2014 Draft out of Arkansas.

⚾HUNTER GREENE, REDS AGREE ON 6-YEAR, $53M EXTENSION: Right-hander Hunter Greene and the Cincinnati Reds are in agreement on a six-year, $53 million contract extension, the team announced Tuesday, tying the hardest-throwing starter in baseball long term to the organization that previously didn't have any salary guaranteed to players beyond this season. Greene, 23, debuted last year as Cincinnati's rebuild remained a work in progress.


🏈STEELERS SET TO TRADE FOR RAMS WR ALLEN ROBINSON: The Steelers are expected to trade for Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Allen Robinson. In the trade, which is contingent on Robinson passing a physical, the Steelers would receive Robinson and a seventh-round draft pick (No. 251) for Pittsburgh's seventh-round pick (No. 234), sources told Schefter.

🏈BILLS' DAMAR HAMLIN OK TO PLAY AFTER SUFFERING CARDIAC ARREST: Just over 3½ months after commotio cordis caused Damar Hamlin to collapse on a football field in Cincinnati, Hamlin sat in the Buffalo Bills' facility and officially announced his plans on making a comeback to the NFL after being fully cleared to return to playing football.  "This event was life changing, but it's not the end of my story," Hamlin said.


🏀NBA SCORES:
  • Boston Celtics 119 Atlanta Hawks 106
  • Cleveland Cavaliers 107 New York Knicks 90
  • Phoenix Suns 123 Los Angeles Clippers 109

 





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