| | Good afternoon. Here’s what you should know today, Aug. 23: |
| - The Fed chair gave his strongest signal yet that interest-rate cuts are coming soon
- The DOJ accused a real-estate software company of illegally coordinating rent prices
- The Jersey Shore has a situation over “teen night”
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| | | Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell issued his strongest signal yet that the central bank will soon begin cutting interest rates during a speech at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium. PHOTO: MICHAEL NAGLE/BLOOMBERG NEWS |
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| 1. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said “the time has come” for rate cuts to stave off a further weakening of the U.S. labor market. |
| | 2. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he would suspend his election bid and endorse Donald Trump. |
| The candidate said that the principles that persuaded him to leave the Democratic Party and run as an independent now led him to back the former president. Polls indicate that Kennedy’s departure will likely help Trump. Last night, Vice President Kamala Harris formally accepted the Democratic nomination in a bracingly normal, workmanlike political speech intended to position her as a steady, presidential hand, writes WSJ’s Molly Ball. Harris’s advisers are moving quickly to map out her policy plans, but the appetite for ambitious efforts has diminished since President Biden took office. One aspect that excites the Democratic rank and file: the vice president’s crusade against price gouging. |
| On the Convention Stage, Democrats Courted the Middle Class. After Hours, They Partied Like the 1%. (Read) ๐ฅ Harris on Immigration, Gaza and Her Own Story (Watch) H.R. McMaster: ‘I Cannot Understand Putin’s Hold on Trump’ (Read) |
| 3. An Italian prosecutor is probing whether crimes were committed in the sinking of Mike Lynch’s luxury yacht. |
| Possible crimes include manslaughter and causing shipwreck through negligence. No decision to charge anyone has been made yet, according to a judicial official. Separately, rescue teams recovered a seventh and final body; Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter, Hannah, was the last person missing. Since Monday, Italian authorities have been investigating what caused the Bayesian to sink in a matter of minutes a few hundred yards from the harbor. The speed with which the $35 million boat disappeared under the waves has flummoxed even seasoned maritime accident investigators. |
| 4. There might not be enough living hostages for Hamas to meet the expectations of the first stage of a proposed cease-fire deal. |
| Under the proposed terms, Hamas is to release 33 hostages who aren’t male soldiers in exchange for a number of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. Of the roughly 250 hostages taken on Oct. 7, 105 remain in Gaza, including 71 who haven’t been declared dead by Israel. Hamas has said in recent days that it has fewer than 20 living hostages who meet the criteria for the initial swap, Arab mediators said. Israel and the U.S. believe that the number of those still living is higher and that more than 20 need to come out alive in the first phase, according to the mediators. Meanwhile, Gaza’s 2.2 million people are now mainly confined to an area of roughly 15 square miles—smaller than the footprint of Manhattan. |
| 5. Delta’s operations chief is cleared for departure. |
| Mike Spanos, who has been the airline’s chief operating officer for just over a year, will leave to take a role at another company, CEO Ed Bastian told employees in a memo. His departure comes about a month after a botched CrowdStrike software update sparked an operational meltdown for Delta. Bastian said that Spanos had approached him earlier this summer and said he was considering other opportunities. Also considering other opportunities: Nestlรฉ CEO Mark Schneider, who learned he would be losing his job just 24 hours before it was announced publicly yesterday evening, according to a person familiar with the matter. |
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| | 80% | RealPage’s market share in commercial revenue management software, according to the Justice Department. The DOJ and eight states have sued the real-estate software company, accusing it of deploying a rent-setting algorithm that allows landlords to illegally coordinate price increases. RealPage denies the allegations. |
| | | The breakup of a Chinese rocket prompted new concern over Beijing’s attitude toward space junk. |
| Hundreds of pieces of debris are floating in orbit after a satellite launch earlier this month. China and other countries are pressing ahead with plans to increase rocket launches, raising risks for humans and satellites in orbit. Because of how fast they travel in orbit, debris pieces smaller than 10 centimeters (around 4 inches) in diameter can penetrate the shields of the International Space Station’s crew modules, and anything larger can shatter a spacecraft into pieces, according to the European Space Agency. |
| | | “No buyer’s agent I’ve met with yet has been able to articulate why they’re worth their fee nor fully explain the legal contract they asked me to sign as the potential buyer just seeking to view a house.” | —Marty Martin, a North Carolina lawyer who is currently house hunting in the state. After a landmark settlement the National Association of Realtors reached over commissions, home buyers are responsible for negotiating their agent’s fee—meaning most will need to sign a contract with an agent even before touring a property. Consumer advocates say it’s important for buyers to review contract terms carefully before casually signing and consult a lawyer if unsure. |
| | - Why China Is Starting a New Trade War (Read)
- Warner Gave Up on New TNT Dramas. Now It’s Trying to Revive Them. (Read)
- Russian Authorities Kill Islamist Militants After Prison Uprising (Read)
- Want to Feel Like You’re Flying Private? Ditch the Crowded Hubs for These Small Airports (Read)
- Yes, There Is a Best Month to Get Your Flu Shot (Read)
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| | Some Gen Zers are deep in debt, and they’re having a tough time paying their way out of it. WSJ tackled the topic in a three-part podcast series “Gen Z & the Debt Trap.” (You thought this was just a newspaper? More on that later.) The first episode goes deep into how Gen Z came to be in this mess, while the second episode explains why you should be concerned, even if you weren’t born in 1997 or afterward. Episode No. 3 drops Sunday. Development producer Aisha Al-Muslim helped put the project together. We talked to her about how the series came about, what listeners can learn and why she plans to apply winter imagery to her personal finances. Email her at aisha.al-muslim@wsj.com. |
| | Our summer audio intern Tadeo Ruiz Sandoval pitched this three-part series about Generation Z, also known as Zoomers. He is a senior at the University of Missouri focusing on audio storytelling. The series was inspired by his experience as a college student and his personal struggle with debt, which he talks about in the episodes. The topic was a perfect fit for our podcast “Your Money Briefing” since we try to appeal to a younger audience. |
| Why should people older or younger than Gen Z care about their debt load? |
| If delinquency rises because Zoomers aren't able to pay their debt, banks could make it harder for the next wave of adults to access credit. And baby boomers and those from the silent generation may have their retirement or financial goals impacted by loans and other debt that they co-signed for. And some are helping Gen Zers pay off their debt, which means leaving them with less to save or spend on themselves. |
| Though you're not a Gen Zer, what did you learn while producing this series that you can apply to your own finances? |
| I am a millennial and I learned about two different payment tactics that I plan to combine. One is the snowball method, which focuses on paying down the smallest balance that I owe first before moving onto the bigger ones. The other is the avalanche method, which prioritizes paying the balances with the highest interest rates. Experts say that focusing on higher interest-rate debt first will help you save money in the long run. |
| Most people associate WSJ with the written, not the spoken, word. Why does the paper produce podcasts? |
| Our podcasts promote and feature WSJ newsroom voices, namely our reporters and editors, and provide exposure to our great journalism to people who don’t subscribe yet. We also conduct interviews with outside guests like high-profile financial leaders, executives and policymakers that add value, insight and depth to various topics. All this helps to satisfy our audience’s appetite for content that educates and enlightens them—but in a different storytelling format. More people are using audio and video to get news and information, and it’s important for us to meet audiences where they are. |
| | | A “teen night” scandal is rocking a tiny Jersey Shore town. “Once the sun sets, it’s a whole other scene.” |
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Welcome to my geopolitics blog site. This is a Hawaii Island news site focusing on geopolitical news, analysis, information, and commentary. I will cite a variety of sources, ranging from all sides of the political spectrum.