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    Three easy ways to find hidden cameras in hotels and rental homes

    Nearly 60% of Americans said they were worried about hidden cameras in Airbnb homes in 2019.
    And 11% of vacation home renters said they had discovered a hidden camera during a stay, according to a survey by the real estate investment company IPX1031.

    Spy cameras are not a new problem. In South Korea, more than 30,000 cases of filming with hidden cameras were reported to the police between 2013 and 2018, according to the New York-based non-profit organization Human Rights Watch.
    The number of hidden spy camera reports has proliferated because of the increasing accessibility and inexpensiveness of such cameras, combined with the public’s growing ability to detect them, said Kenneth Bombace, CEO of intelligence firm Global Threat Solutions.
    Experts share simple methods to locate hidden spy cameras in hotel rooms and rental properties.

    1. Conduct a physical search

    A light switch with a hidden camera (middle) on display at a spy camera shop in South Korea on March 22, 2019.
    Jung Yeon-je | Afp | Getty Images

    Almost all covert cameras are concealed in household devices, such as lights, thermostats, and plugged clock radios, Bombace said.
    “Look and see if anything looks like it’s out of the ordinary, and then inspect it closer,” he said.
    Most spy cameras are connected to an electrical source or an electronic device, Bombace added.
    He said the first thing he does in a bedroom is unplug the clock radios and put them in a drawer.
    Michael O’Rourke, CEO of security consulting firm Advanced Operational Concepts, also said he does exactly that.
    Even well-hidden cameras will have a small amount of reflective glass from the lens, Bombace said.
    “If you use flashlights and shine them on something you think could possibly hide the camera, you will see a reflection in there, which is a pretty good way of detecting if there’s a camera,” he said.

    A painting installed with a hidden camera on display at a spy camera shop on March 22, 2019. Even when a camera is hidden in another device like a thermostat or an outlet, there will be some glass in there that is reflective because there will be a lens, Bombace said.
    Jung Yeon-je | Afp | Getty Images

    But O’Rourke said care is needed to accurately locate hidden lenses.
    “A lot of people will try to do amateur lens detection, which can work,” O’Rourke said. “However, if you don’t have a good search methodology — if you go too fast, if you’re impatient — you can miss quite a bit.”

    2. Look at the Wi-Fi network

    A hidden camera must be connected to a local Wi-Fi network in order to be viewed remotely, Bombace said.

    Hidden cameras must be connected to a local Wi-Fi network to be viewed remotely, said Global Threat Solutions CEO Kenneth Bombace.
    Hispanolistic | E+ | Getty Images

    Wi-Fi scanning apps like Fing can identify devices on the network that are cameras, he said.
    Those who hide cameras might use a separate Wi-Fi network to stream live video footage, but Wi-Fi scanning apps can also detect how many networks are in a residence, Bombace said.
    But Kody Kinzie, a security researcher at data security and analytics firm Varonis, warned that a network scanner may not catch everything.
    “The next thing you can do is look for devices that are broadcasting their own network name,” he said.
    He recommended using apps like WiGLE to find devices that are “broadcasting some sort of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi network name,” Kinzie added.

    3. Buy a spy camera detector

    If all else fails, spy camera detectors can scan for radio frequencies connected to hidden cameras. These can be easily bought online from websites like Amazon or AliExpress.
    But O’Rourke noted this method works only if the hidden camera is transmitting data.
    “So many of them now have SD cards that just store data to be retrieved after someone leaves,” O’Rourke said. “And so these are much more difficult to detect.”
    Bombace added that while it is possible to buy a radio frequency scanner, the cheaper ones are probably not that good.
    “Like anything else, you get what you pay for — if it’s $30, it’s probably not that good,” Bombace said. “Better ones are going to cost hundreds or even over $1,000.”

    What to do if you find a camera

    After locating a camera, immediately disconnect it without damaging it because the camera’s firmware may contain identifying information, such as login credentials and the Wi-Fi network it was connected to, Kinzie said.

    Disconnect hidden cameras but don’t damage them, said Varonis security researcher Kody Kinzie.
    Krisanapong Detraphiphat | Moment | Getty Images

    O’Rourke said hidden cameras found in hotel rooms should be reported to the front desk. He advised then moving to another hotel instead of requesting another room.
    “Once you find a camera in a room, I wouldn’t trust any other room in that entire hotel,” he said.
    Bombace also recommended reporting hidden cameras to the police, even if it is just for documentation purposes, in case litigation or criminal charges should follow.
    “You could also provide [the report] to Airbnb so they can prevent this person from ever doing this again,” he said.
    But ultimately, Bombace said, he would not avoid renting a home over fears of spy cameras.
    “I would just take common sense steps to protect yourself. And realize you’re not in your own home,” he said. More

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    Stock futures fall following a major comeback week for stocks

    Traders on the floor of the NYSE, June 15, 2022.
    Source: NYSE

    U.S. stock futures fell on Sunday night following a major rebound last week from this year’s steep declines. Despite the bounce, Wall Street is preparing to wrap up the worst first half for stocks in decades.
    Dow Jones Industrial Average futures fell 75 points, or 0.2%. The S&P 500 futures declined 0.2%, and Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 0.2%.

    Those moves followed a major comeback week that saw the Dow industrials jump more than 800 points, or 2.7%. The S&P 500 popped 3.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite surged 3.3%.
    Those gains helped the major averages post their first positive week since May. The Dow climbed 5.4% last week. The S&P 500 increased 6.5%, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 7.5%.
    Market participants continued to assess whether stocks have found a bottom, or are briefly rebounding from oversold conditions. Stocks could continue to get a lift in the near term this week, as investors rebalance their holdings for the quarter-end.
    “In a sense, the equity market is likely to be… in a go-nowhere-fast mode for the foreseeable future,” Terry Sandven, chief equity strategist at U.S. Bank Wealth Management, told CNBC on Friday.
    “Inflation is running hot, sentiment is subdued, liquidity is evaporating, and earnings are both a bright spot and a wildcard. So, in aggregate, to us, that implies that we’re probably in a sideways trending mode for a while,” Sandven added.

    On the economic front, Wall Street is expecting the latest reading of durable goods orders to come out Monday before the bell.
    Traders are also watching for the pending home sales report, which is expected at 10 a.m. ET on Monday.

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    ‘Apathetic’ investors will embrace banks: RBC top analyst predicts comeback in year’s second half

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    Investors who are “apathetic” or negative toward banks will change their stance in the year’s second half, according to RBC Capital Markets’ top banking analyst.
    Gerard Cassidy predicts bullishness will make a comeback due to strong revenue growth and optimism surrounding credit.

    “You can really see people coming back to [bank] the stocks. They’re under-owned,” the firm’s head of U.S. bank equity strategy on CNBC’s “Fast Money” on Thursday. “At these valuation levels, there’s limited downside from here. But I think as people realize the banks are just not going to have the credit issues that they had in ’08-’09, that’s going to be the real rallying point for owning these names.”
    Cassidy, one of Institutional Investor’s top-rated analysts, delivered his latest forecast after the Federal Reserve revealed the results of its most recent stress tests. The results determined all 34 banks have enough capital to cover a sharp downturn.
    “The results came in quite nicely,” he said. “One of the major risks that we hear from investors today is that they’re worried about credit losses going higher.”
    Financials have been under pressure. With just a week left in the first half, the S&P 500 banking sector is off 17%. Cassidy suggests the group is being unjustly penalized for recession jitters.
    “What this [stress] test shows us, that unlike in ’08 and ’09, when 18 out of the 20 largest banks cut or eliminated their dividends, that’s not going to happen this time,” said Cassidy. “These banks are well-capitalized. The dividends are going to be safe through the downturn.”

    ‘Amazing numbers’

    Cassidy speculates rising interest rates will set the stage for “amazing numbers” starting in the third quarter. He highlights Bank of America as a major beneficiary.
    “We’re forecasting Bank of America could have 15% to 20% revenue growth this year in net interest income because of the rise in rates,” said Cassidy, who has a buy rating on the stock.
    He expects struggling banks including Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse to deliver better earnings results this year, too. Even in case of a financial shock, Cassidy believes they should be able to withstand it and come out with healthy capital.
    “The real risk is outside the banking system,” Cassidy said “Once people realize credit is not that bad and the revenue growth is real strong, that changes the sentiment hopefully in the latter part of the second half of this year.”
    S&P financials rallied 5% last week.
    — CNBC’s Natalie Zhang contributed to this report.
    Disclosures: RBC Capital Markets has received compensation for investment and non-investment banking services from Bank of America in the past 12 months. It has also managed or co-managed a public offering of securities for Bank of America.
    Disclaimer

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    Why inflation looks likely to stay above the pre-pandemic norm

    The bad news on inflation just keeps coming. At more than 9% year on year across the rich world, it has not been this high since the 1980s—and there have never been so many “inflation surprises”, where the data have come in higher than economists’ forecasts (see chart). This, in turn, is taking a heavy toll on the economy and financial markets. Central banks are raising interest rates and ending bond-buying schemes, crushing equities. Consumer confidence in many places is now even lower than it was in the early days of the covid-19 pandemic. “Real-time” economic indicators of everything from housing activity to manufacturing output suggest that economic growth is slowing sharply.What consumer prices do next is therefore one of the most important questions for the global economy. Many forecasters expect that annual inflation will soon ebb, in part because of last year’s sharp increases in commodity prices falling out of the year-on-year comparison. In its latest economic projections the Federal Reserve, for instance, expects annual inflation in America (as measured by the personal-consumption-expenditure index) to fall from 5.2% at the end of this year to 2.6% by the end of 2023.You might be forgiven for not taking these prognostications too seriously. After all, most economists failed to see the inflationary surge coming, and then wrongly predicted it would quickly fade. In a paper published in May, Jeremy Rudd of the Fed made a provocative point: “Our understanding of how the economy works—as well as our ability to predict the effects of shocks and policy actions—is in my view no better today than it was in the 1960s.” The future path of inflation is, to a great extent, shrouded in uncertainty. Some indicators point to more price pressure to come in the near term. Alternative Macro Signals, a consultancy, runs millions of news articles through a model to construct a “news inflation pressure index”. The results, which are more timely than the official inflation figures, measure not just how frequently price pressures are mentioned, but also whether the news flow suggests that pressures are building up. In both America and the euro area the index is still miles above 50, indicating that pressures are continuing to build. Inflation worry-warts can point to three other indicators suggesting that the rich world is unlikely to return to the pre-pandemic norm of low, stable price growth any time soon: rising wage growth, and increases in the inflation expectations of both consumers and companies. If sustained, these could together contribute to what the Bank for International Settlements, the central bank for central banks, describes in a report published on June 26th as a “tipping point”. Beyond it, warns the bis, “an inflationary psychology” could spread and become “entrenched”. Evidence is mounting that workers are starting to bargain for higher wages. This could create another round of price increases as firms pass on these extra costs. A survey by the Bank of Spain suggests that half of collective-bargaining deals signed for 2023 contain “indexation clauses”, meaning that salaries are automatically tied to inflation, up from a fifth before the pandemic. In Germany ig Metall, a trade union, has asked for a 7-8% pay rise for nearly 4m workers in the metals and engineering sector (it will probably get about half that). In Britain rail workers went on strike as they sought a 7% pay rise, though it is unclear whether they will succeed. All this will make wage growth hotter still. Already, a tracker for the g10 group of countries compiled by Goldman Sachs, a bank, is rising almost vertically (see chart). A measure of pay pressure from Alternative Macro Signals is similarly animated. And wage floors are rising, too. The Netherlands is bringing forward a rise in the minimum wage; earlier this month Germany passed a bill increasing its minimum by one-fifth. On June 15th Australia’s industrial-relations agency raised the wage floor by 5.2%, more than double last year’s increase. Faster wage growth in part reflects public’s higher expectations for future inflation—the second reason to worry that inflation might prove sticky. In America expectations for average price increases in the near term are rising fast. The average Canadian says they are braced for inflation of 7% over the next year, the highest of any rich country. Even in Japan, the land where prices only rarely change, beliefs are shifting. A year ago a survey by the central bank found that just 8% of people believed that prices would go up “significantly” over the next year (consumer prices, indeed, rose by only 2.5% in the year to April). Now, however, 20% of Japanese people reckon that will happen. The third factor relates to companies’ expectations. Retailers’ inflation expectations are at an all-time high in a third of eu countries. A survey by the Bank of England suggests that clothing prices for Britain’s autumn and winter collections will be 7-10% higher than a year ago. The Dallas Fed does find tentative evidence that customers are less willing to tolerate price increases than before; a respondent in the rental and leasing business complained that “it is getting tougher to pass on the 20-30% price increases we have received from manufacturers.” But that merely points to a lower level of high inflation. The big hope for lower inflation relates to the price of goods. Fast increases in the prices of cars, fridges and the like, linked in part to supply-chain snarls, drove the initial inflationary surge last year. Now there is some evidence of a reversal. The cost of shipping something from Shanghai to Los Angeles has fallen by a quarter since early March. In recent months many retailers spent big on inventories in order to ensure their shelves stayed full. Many are now cutting prices to shift stock. In America car production is finally picking up, which could unwind some of the outrageous price increases for used vehicles seen last year. Falling goods prices could, in theory, help douse the inflationary flames in the rich world, easing the cost-of-living crisis, giving central banks breathing room and buoying financial markets. But, with enough indicators of future prices pointing the other way, the odds of that happening have lengthened. Don’t be surprised if inflation roars for a while yet. ■ More

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    Anti-abortion states split on how to enforce ban, whether to prosecute or surveil doctors

    The Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade is splitting anti-abortion states that must decide whether to allow exceptions and how to enforce the law.
    Some states, such as Texas, are pursuing aggressive measures, including encouraging surveillance of women and prosecuting doctors.
    South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said the state will not file charges against women, but will debate how to handle women who travel to other states for the procedure.

    Thousands take to the streets to protest in New York City.
    Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

    The Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade is not only splitting the country into states where abortion is legal and illegal. It is also illustrating sharp divisions between anti-abortion states on whether to allow exceptions and how to enforce the law.
    Nearly half of the states had “trigger laws” or constitutional amendments in place to quickly ban abortion in the wake of a Roe v. Wade ruling. Yet lawmakers and governors on Sunday illustrated how differently that may play out.

    Some states allow exceptions, such as legal abortions to protect the life of the mother. Others are pursuing aggressive measures, including prosecuting doctors, looking into the use of abortion medications and travel to other states for the procedure and encouraging private citizens to sue people who help women obtain abortions.
    South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a Republican, said the state will not file criminal charges against women who get the procedure. She said the state also does not plan to pass laws similar to Texas and Oklahoma, which urge private citizens to file civil lawsuits against those accused of aiding and abetting abortions.
    “I don’t believe women should ever be prosecuted,” she said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. “I don’t believe that mothers in this situation ever be prosecuted. Now, doctors who knowingly violate the law, they should be prosecuted, definitely.”
    She said the state has not decided how to handle what will happen in the event a South Dakota resident travels to another state to get an abortion, saying “there’ll be a debate about that.”
    It will be up to each state and state legislators to decide what laws look like closer to home, she added.

    Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, said the state allows for one exception: saving the life of the mother. He has directed his Department of Health to enforce the law, but focus on providing resources to women who have unwanted pregnancies.
    The Arkansas law does not include an exception for incest, which would force a 13-year-old raped by a relative to carry a pregnancy to term. Hutchinson said he disagrees with that.
    “I would have preferred a different outcome than that,” he said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “That’s not the debate today in Arkansas. It might be in the future.”
    Hutchinson said the state will not investigate miscarriages or ban IUDs, a form of contraception that some anti-abortion activists consider abortion because it can stop a fertilized egg from implanting in the uterus.
    “This is about abortion, that’s what has been triggered, and it’s not about contraception. That is clear and women should be assured of that,” he told “Meet the Press.”
    In Texas, a state law takes a more sweeping approach. It enforces an abortion ban through lawsuits filed by private citizens against doctors or anyone who helps a woman get an abortion, such as a person driving the pregnant woman to a medical center.
    Oklahoma has a similar ban, which is enforced by civil lawsuits rather than criminal prosecution.
    U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York, and Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat from Massachusetts, said on Sunday that all of those state bans have the same outcome: stealing women’s freedoms and jeopardizing their lives.
    Ocasio-Cortez pointed to Arkansas’ public health record, noting that it has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country and a high rate of child poverty.
    “Forcing women to carry pregnancies against their will kill them,” she said on “Meet the Press.” “It will kill them, especially in the state of Arkansas where there is very little to no support for life after birth in terms of health care, in terms of child care and in terms of combatting poverty.”
    — CNBC’s Jessica Bursztynsky contributed to this report.

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    World Health Organization says monkeypox is not a global health emergency right now

    The WHO did not activate its highest alert level in response to the global monkeypox outbreak, called a public health emergency of international concern.
    Currently, only Covid-19 and polio are considered global health emergencies.
    There are at least 3,000 monkeypox cases across more than 50 countries.
    The WHO said the current outbreak raises serious concerns and it is monitoring the situation closely.

    Pavlo Gonchar | Lightrocket | Getty Images

    The World Health Organization on Saturday said the rapid spread of monkeypox across dozens of nations does not represent a global health emergency at this time.
    WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described monkeypox as an evolving health threat, however, and urged governments around the world to step up surveillance, contact tracing, testing and to make sure that people at high risk have access to vaccines and antiviral treatments.

    The WHO convened its emergency committee to determine what level of threat monkeypox currently poses to the international community. At least 3,000 monkeypox cases across more than 50 countries have been identified since early May, according to WHO data.
    The committee weighed whether or not to activate the WHO’s highest alert level in response to the outbreak, called a public health emergency of international concern. Covid-19 and polio are the only other virus outbreaks considered international public health emergencies by the WHO.
    Although the WHO did not activate its highest alert level, Tedros said the outbreak raises serious concern because it is spreading rapidly in countries where the virus is not normally found. Historically, monkeypox has spread at low levels in remote parts of West and Central Africa. In the current outbreak, 84% of cases reported worldwide are in Europe, which is very unusual.
    “What makes the current outbreak especially concerning is the rapid, continuing spread into new countries and regions and the risk of further, sustained transmission into vulnerable populations including people that are immunocompromised, pregnant women and children,” Tedros said in a press release Saturday.
    The WHO director said research on the circulation of monkeypox in Africa has been neglected, which has put the health of people there and around the world at risk.

    Monkeypox primarily spreads through close physical contact with a person who is infected or contaminated material such as shared clothing or bedsheets. The virus can spread through respiratory droplets if an infected person has lesions in their throat or mouth. This requires sustained face-to-face contact, however, and monkeypox is not believed to spread through aerosol particles.
    Respiratory droplets fall to the ground quickly, while aerosol particles linger in the air for a longer period of time. Covid-19 spreads through aerosol particles, which is one of the reasons it is so contagious.
    Monkeypox is in the same virus family as smallpox, but it has milder symptoms. Most people recover in two to four weeks without specific medical treatment.
    The monkey outbreak is primarily affecting gay and bisexual men who said they’ve had sex with new or multiple partners, according to the WHO. Of the 468 monkeypox patients that disclosed demographic information, 99% are men. Most of them identified as men who have sex with men and had a median age of 37, according to the WHO.
    The U.S. has reported 142 confirmed or suspected monkexpox cases across 23 states and Washington D.C., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Health officials in the U.S. sought to raise awareness ahead of Pride month about how the virus spreads and what the symptoms look like so people can protect themselves from infection. Although men who have sex with men are at higher risk right now, anyone can catch monkeypox through close physical contact regardless of their sexual orientation.
    Monkeypox often begins with symptoms similar to the flu, such as fever, headache, body aches, chills, exhaustion and swollen lymph nodes. A rash that looks like pimples or blisters then appears on the body. People are most infectious when they have the rash.
    Some patients in the current outbreak have developed a rash only on the genitals or anus before showing any flulike symptoms, however, indicating it’s spreading through sexual contact in those cases, according to the CDC. In other cases, patients developed the rash without any flulike symptoms at all.
    The U.S. has stockpiled two different vaccines and an antiviral treatment to fight smallpox and monkeypox. Jynneos is a two-dose vaccine approved for people ages 18 and older. The CDC generally recommends Jynneos over the one other option, ACAM2000, an older generation smallpox vaccine. Jynneos is considered safer than ACAM2000, which can have serious side effects.
    The WHO has said mass vaccination is not recommended at this time to stop monkeypox. The U.S. is offering vaccines to people who are at high risk of exposure to the virus.
    The international health agency has only applied the emergency designation six times since the rules were implemented in the mid-2000s. The last time WHO declared a global health emergency, before Covid, was in 2019 for the Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo that killed more than 2,000 people. The agency also declared global emergencies for the 2016 Zika virus, the 2009 H1N1 swine flu, and the 2014 polio and Ebola outbreaks.

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    Roe v. Wade's demise forces companies to grapple with health care plans, employee privacy and more

    The Supreme Court decision will have far-reaching implications in the corporate world.
    In the immediate term, companies will have to decide whether to cover abortion and travel to other states for employees who live in a place where abortion is banned.
    Abortion laws triggered by the reversal of Roe v. Wade may also influence where companies open offices, which lawmakers and political action committees they donate to and how they communicate with employees, customers and investors.

    Pro-choice activists are seen outside of the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC on June 15, 2022.
    Mandel Ngan | AFP | Getty Images

    The challenges posed by the end of Roe v. Wade are only just beginning for corporate America.
    By overturning the abortion precedent Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court set off a series of fresh difficulties for companies that must now navigate a country divided between states that will permit the procedure and others that will outlaw it.

    One of those issues for companies is deciding if — and how — to provide abortion access to millions of employees who live in states where the procedures are no longer legal.
    “Every major organization has health coverage,” said Maurice Schweitzer, a professor for the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. “The question is going to be what’s covered? Is travel for an abortion out of state covered if you’re operating in a state that prohibits abortion?”

    Some of the country’s large employers, including Apple, CVS Health, and Disney, reiterated that the companies cover travel to states that allow abortions. Others, such as Dick’s Sporting Goods, rushed to update their medical benefits. Several prominent business leaders went a step further, condemning the end of 50 years of federal abortion rights.
    Still many others declined to comment or said they are still reviewing plans.
    The Supreme Court decision will have implications in the corporate world that stretch far beyond employers’ health benefits and influence where companies locate headquarters and offices, which lawmakers and political action committees they donate to and how they communicate with employees, customers and investors.

    Over the years, certain companies have chosen to take a stand on polarizing issues, including the Black Lives Matter movement after the murder of George Floyd, a Black man, by a police officer and Florida’s HB 1557 law, dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
    The Supreme Court decision will likely force companies’ hand and make it hard for business leaders to stay silent, Schweitzer said. With those decisions, he said, companies could risk a lawsuit, run afoul of politicians and draw backlash from customers or employees.
    “This is going to be an additional challenge for executives,” he said.
    For companies that decide to cover abortion care in other states, it will raise new questions including how to reimburse travel expenses and protect employee privacy.

    Expanding employee benefits

    Some companies such as Netflix, Microsoft and Google’s parent company Alphabet already have health care policies that include abortion and travel benefits, but others are catching up.
    JPMorgan Chase told employees in a memo that it will expand its medical benefits to include travel coverage starting in July. Under Armour said it will add a travel benefit to its medical plans. Dick’s CEO, Lauren Hobart, shared on LinkedIn that employees, their spouses and dependents will get up to $4,000 in travel reimbursement if they live in an area that restricts access.
    Warner Bros. Discovery also reached out to its employees after the ruling was announced Friday.
    “We recognize that the issue of abortion can evoke a variety of emotions and responses which are different for each of us based on our experiences and beliefs,” Adria Alpert Romm, chief people and culture officer, wrote in a memo to employees obtained by CNBC. “We are here to support you.”
    Romm said the company is expanding its health care benefits to include expenses for employees and their covered family who need to travel to access a range of medical procedures, including care for abortions, family planning and reproductive health.
    Amazon and other companies added travel reimbursement earlier this year as state governments in the Sunbelt passed laws that shuttered abortion clinics or limited access in other ways.
    But how companies react over time will vary and could include removing abortion coverage from health plans, or offering indirect assistance such as paid time off or contributions to a health savings account that could be used for travel-related expenses to receive care in another state.
    Nearly 30% of organizations said they would increase support within an employee assistance program for reproductive care in a post-Roe world, according to a survey of more than 1,000 human resources professionals for the Society for Human Resource Management. The survey was conducted from May 24 to June 7.
    About a third cited paid time off as the top resource provided to support reproductive care, and 14% said they would include the topic of reproductive rights in their diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
    Nearly a quarter of organizations said that offering a health savings account to cover travel for reproductive care in another state will enhance their ability to compete for talent. 

    Businesses taking a stand

    Even before the Supreme Court decision, companies were under pressure to step into the abortion debate — or at least articulate how abortion limits and bans could affect their businesses.
    Companies have long used their economic power to influence political policy. In 2019, when Georgia legislators sought to ban almost all abortions, Hollywood used the threat of production boycotts in the state to make clear its opinions about politics.
    Still, in the wake of the pandemic, studios have been slower to react to new laws that traditionally they might have opposed. Production shutdowns are no longer a luxury the Hollywood can afford, especially as it seeks to keep up with demand for new content.
    Disney is coming off a recent battle over a hot-button cultural issue. The company publicly opposed Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill, after its employees demanded the company take action. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Florida’s Republican-led legislature revoked the company’s special district in the state, which is home to Walt Disney World and other resorts, in a move it said was not retaliatory.
    In a memo to employees Friday, Disney said it “remains committed to removing barriers and providing comprehensive access to quality and affordable care for all” employees. Disney, which already has pre-existing travel benefits that allow its employees who are unable to access care in their current location to seek out medical care for cancer treatments, transplants, rare disease treatment and family planning, which includes pregnancy-related decisions.
    As individual states decide whether to maintain abortion rights or block them, legislatures may be faced with backlash from companies and influential business leaders. This could include boycotts, a loss of political donations or inform decisions about where to place headquarters, distribution centers or new facilities.
    “Overturning Roe v Wade is a devastating decision by the U.S. Supreme Court,” billionaire and business mogul Richard Branson wrote in a statement. “This will not reduce abortions, it will just make them unsafe. Reproductive rights are human rights. We must all stand up for choice.”
    Branson was among the companies and business leaders who slammed Supreme Court’s decision.
    “This ruling puts women’s health in jeopardy, denies them their human rights, and threatens to dismantle the progress we’ve made toward gender equality in the workplaces since Roe,” said Jeremy Stoppelman, co-founder and CEO of Yelp. “Business leaders must step up to support the health and safety of their employees by speaking out against the wave of abortion bans that will be triggered as a result of this decision, and call on Congress to codify Roe into law.”
    Investors in publicly held companies could have a major influence on how responses to the new ruling are crafted.
    At a Walmart shareholders meeting earlier this month, an investor called on the country’s largest private employer to publish a report on the potential risks and costs to the company of state policies that restrict reproductive health care, and any plans the company has to mitigate those risks. The proposal, which is nonbinding, was opposed by the retailer and did not receive support from the majority of shareholders.
    Similar proposals could come up at other companies’ shareholder meetings in the near future. Analysts could also probe executives during upcoming earnings calls.
    Walmart is based in Arkansas, a state that already has a law on the books to trigger a ban. The company declined to comment on Friday when asked if it will cover travel expenses to states that allow abortions. It already pays for travel to hospitals and medical centers for other kinds of medical procedures, such as spine surgery and certain heart procedures.
    Wharton’s Schweitzer said employees and customers increasingly expect more from companies and want to join or spend money with those that mirror their values.
    The corporate world has led the way in some cases, with companies turning Juneteeth into a company holiday before it became a federal one. Some companies, such as Unilever-owned Ben & Jerry’s and CEOs, such as Levi Strauss & Co.’s Chip Bergh have become known for speaking out.
    “There’s been a growing trend for executives to become more involved, more engaged in social and political issues,” he said. “This is going to increase that trend where we’re going to see many executives speak out, many executives lead on this issue, and it’s going to normalize the idea that executives are part of the political process.”

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    Frontier Airlines sweetens offer for Spirit merger as shareholder vote looms

    Frontier Airlines sweetened its offer to combine with fellow budget carrier Spirit.
    Frontier raised the cash part of its offer by $2 a share and increased the reverse break-up fee.
    The offer comes less than a week before Spirit Airlines shareholders are set to vote on the deal and as JetBlue Airways also vies for the airline.

    A Frontier Airlines plane near a Spirit Airlines plane at the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on May 16, 2022 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
    Joe Raedle | Getty Images

    Frontier Airlines has sweetened its offer to combine with fellow budget carrier Spirit, less than a week before Spirit shareholders are set to vote on the deal.
    The new offer for $4.13 per share, $2 per share higher than Frontier’s original cash-and-stock bid, comes after JetBlue Airways repeatedly upped its own offer to buy Spirit outright in an all-cash deal.

    The battle for Miramar, Florida-based Spirit has heated up in recent weeks. JetBlue has argued that its deal would help it better compete against large carriers and expand quickly at a time when new planes and pilots are in short supply.
    JetBlue would take over Spirit, while a Frontier-Spirit combination would create a discount carrier behemoth. Either transaction would create the country’s fifth-largest airline.
    Spirit shareholders are set to vote on the Frontier deal on Thursday.
    Spirit CEO Ted Christie told CNBC the airline’s board has evaluated JetBlue’s latest offer and still has doubts that regulators would approve the deal. The board, he said, still views a Frontier tie-up as “a superior transaction.”
    “We will more thoroughly review and assess the revised terms of the Frontier-Spirit merger agreement, and we intend to continue our ‘vote no’ campaign against the inferior Frontier transaction at the special meeting,” JetBlue said in a statement Friday.

    The new offer, which was announced late Friday, also increases a proposed reverse break-up fee by $100 million to $350 million, in the event the deal doesn’t get approved by regulators. That matches the reverse break-up fee JetBlue has offered. Frontier’s new offer includes a pre-payable amount of $2.22 to Spirit shareholders.
    Christie said the board still had regulatory concerns about JetBlue’s Northeast Alliance with American Airlines, which allows the carriers to coordinate on flights and book passengers on each other’s planes. The Department of Justice last year sued to undo that partnership.
    Shares of all three airlines were little changed in after-hours trading Friday.

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