Hello
These chocolate eggs and bunnies charge more at Easter.
The value of cocoa is soaring, topping $10,000 a tonne for the first time on Tuesday. About 70% of the world’s cocoa production is grown in West Africa, where El Niño has led to poor yields.
Mondelēz, maker of Hershey and Cadbury, has announced plans to increase costs accordingly, while corporations such as Mars have reduced the length of their chocolates.
Avoiding chocolate probably isn’t enough for your pocket: retail prices for sugar and chocolates are expected to rise by as much as 5. 6% in 2024.
Let’s get to the headlines,
The FDA has approved a new treatment from pharmaceutical giant Merck for pulmonary arterial hypertension, and it is considered to be the first drug of its kind to treat the condition. PAH causes progressive narrowing of the blood vessels in the lungs. , increasing blood pressure and the risk of heart failure. In a clinical trial, the drug reduced the risk of death or increased the severity of the disease by 83%.
NBC News will no longer hire Ronna McDaniel, former chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, after the network gained backlash and live complaints from its own reporters over its decision to hire McDaniel as a paid contributor after spending years wondering about the results of the 2020 presidential election. McDaniel’s contract with NBC is worth about $300,000, the New York Times reported.
Shipping traffic in and out of the Port of Baltimore is halted indefinitely after the discovery of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse Tuesday morning. The bridge passed through one of the largest ports in the U. S. It is the largest port for transporting cars, but economists say the bridge collapse would have minimal implications for vehicle inflation.
Shares of Donald Trump’s social media company have soared in its stock market so far, but there is little technical evidence to suggest that Trump Media is worthy of its current valuation of between $8 billion and $10 billion, which is higher than that of many S-listed companies.
Trump Media’s inventory profits have enriched Trump by more than $4 billion, and Forbes estimates that the former president is now net worth $6. 4 billion as of Tuesday afternoon. But it remains to be seen to what extent the former president will be able to use this newfound wealth, as shareholders are currently prohibited from selling shares or giving them as collateral for loans for six months.
Billionaire Andreas Bechtolsheim has agreed to settle fees filed through the SEC alleging that he profited from insider trading of Cisco System’s multibillion-dollar bid for Acacia Communications in 2019. Bechtolsheim co-founded generation hardware company Sun Microsystems in 1982, which was acquired through Oracle in 2010. for $7. 4 billion, and he and his family have a net worth of $16. 4 billion, Forbes estimates.
Biotech startup eGenesis developed a genetically modified kidney that was effectively transplanted into a living patient through surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital last week, and CEO Mike Curtis told Forbes that this step is just the beginning. His company, which has so far raised $291 million in venture capital, aims to bring its gene-editing generation for kidney, liver and center transplants into clinical trials over the next two years, making it a disruptive player in a market that Grand View Research estimated to be worth about $15 billion.
A Forbes survey shows that while only a handful of blockchains other than Bitcoin and Ethereum have gained traction, there are no fewer than 50 blockchains trading for more than $1 billion, of which at least 20 are functional zombies. The 20 blockchains analyzed through Forbes, whose ambitions range from a universal global computer to an untraceable payments network, have a combined market value of $116 billion, but have few users at most. But don’t expect them to close their doors anytime soon: With billions of dollars in their hands, coffers can continue to exist for years.
NFL team owners have approved a primary overhaul of the kickoff, borrowing a game design inspired by rival XFL’s in a bid to reduce head injuries, one of the biggest tweaks to football regulations in recent years. that of a normal play from scrimmage, according to the NFL.
Most of the taxable source of income in the U. S. is the largest part of the U. S. In 2021, taxpayers also reported about $2. 7 trillion in investment income sources. When reviewing your tax return, don’t worry about the source of income, such as interest from your bank, brokerage account, or savings bonds in some cases, as well as dividends and capital gains.
Gerard Barron’s TOPLINE Metals Company needs billions of dollars’ worth of metal-rich nodules from the ocean floor. They commonly involve nickel, manganese, cobalt, and copper, all of which are imperative for making batteries such as those that force electrical power. vehicles.
In 2021, TMC went public on Nasdaq, a SPAC, raising $570 million at a valuation of $2. 9 billion with the goal of commercially mining those rocks. Today, the company still has no revenue, while the stock has fallen by 80%.
On Monday, the company announced its results for the full year 2023, which equate to a total cash burn of $60 million versus the $20 million raised, with only $7 million left in the bank.
The good news is that TMC’s major shareholders have agreed to lend the company another $45 million, enough to get through a year of authorization and bureaucracy. In the meantime, the company says, “discussions with potential strategic partners are ongoing” about monetizing what they estimate will be the $8. 1 billion price tag of their initial nodule collection site.
The disappointing news: A few months ago, the company hoped to start announcing nodule collection in 2025. Given the regulatory bureaucracy, they now say it will be more than mid-2026 before the Hidden Gem, a former deep-sea drillship for the oil industry, can be deployed.
Its first collection box will be in the waters of the global hotspot for polymetallic nodules, known as the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ). Sponsored by the island nations of Nauru, Tonga and Kiribati, TMC has made it possible to exploit 90,000 square miles of seabed. .
Not all of them with the exploitation of the seabed. Environmental scientists fear that collecting nodules will send plumes of sediment into the water and kill everything that lives on the seafloor, such as brittle stars and rare species of sea cucumbers such as the so-called rubbery cucumber. squirrel. Marine scientists and the International Union for Conservation of Nature have called for a ban on deep-sea mining.
But TMC points out that half a dozen studies date back to the work done by National Oceanic.
“Until now, humans have been able to extract all the metals and minerals we want by digging into the Earth (often destroying tropical forests in the process),” says Chris Helman, editor-in-chief of Forbes. “But if we want to move away from fossil fuels and toward greater electrification, we will want much larger amounts of ingredients like nickel, copper, and cobalt. Miraculously, all the metals we desire are like potatoes at the bottom of the sea: it’s a blessing worth billions of dollars. if corporations like The Metals Company can find a way to ship them cost-effectively. Big implications for our ability to enable electrification without major environmental devastation.
MORE: This Miner Can Replace the Long Life of iPhone
As part of a landmark class-action settlement, Visa and Mastercard will apply credit card “usage fees” to merchants for the next five years. The settlement ends a decades-long dispute alleging that credit card issuers violated antitrust laws:
About $30 billion: How much the settlement will save U. S. traders, according to a press release from the law firm representing the plaintiffs
Four basis points: the amount by which Mastercard and Visa will reduce credit card processing fees for U. S. -issued customer credit cards, and the amount by which Mastercard and Visa will reduce credit card processing fees for U. S. -issued customer credit cards. U. S. retail operations over the next three years.
More than 80%: Percentage of the national credit card network through Visa and Mastercard.
Saving for an emergency fund is the first purpose of monetary expansion for someone living paycheck to paycheck, but from there, a “cash cushion” can also help. It’s essentially a cash reserve in your checking account equal to the value of a month’s expenses. This can decrease monetary stress, ensuring you break the intellectual cycle of waiting for your next paycheck to pay for expenses owed in the same month. Financial security far outweighs drawbacks, such as missed investment opportunities.
Filming for the long-delayed upcoming season of an HBO show has been postponed indefinitely. What TV show is it?
A. “Euphoria”
B. “White Lotus”
C. “House of the Dragon”
D. “The Last of Us”
Check your answer.
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