Raphael Stevens

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    Many factory workers in Shanghai can't get back to work, even after Covid controls ease

    Shanghai, China’s largest city, has struggled to contain a Covid outbreak and began large-scale lockdowns in late March.
    In the last week, authorities announced a whitelist of 666 companies that would get priority for resumption of work.
    Foreign business organizations said the list is a step in the right direction, but it’s difficult to get more than half of workers to factories due to lockdown restrictions.

    Tesla’s Shanghai factory was “back up and running” as of Wednesday, according to CEO Elon Musk’s comments during a quarterly earnings call, per a StreetAccount transcript. This picture shows the factory on the outskirts of Shanghai in July 2021.
    Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images

    BEIJING — Foreign businesses are struggling to bring workers back to factories after weeks of lockdowns in Shanghai, as the country battles its worst Covid outbreak since the pandemic began.
    Nearly a month since Covid restrictions began in earnest in Shanghai, U.S. and U.K. businesses say that less than half of their employees are able to return to work.

    Since March, mainland China has imposed travel restrictions and stay-home orders in economic hubs from the southern city of Shenzhen to the northern province of Jilin. The extent of Covid controls has varied by region.
    Lockdowns in the southeastern metropolis of Shanghai, which began at scale in late March, have been among the most disruptive — to daily life, and to foreign businesses and their supply chains. The city accounts for about 3.8% of China’s GDP but is home to the world’s busiest port.
    Last Friday, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology announced it sent a team to Shanghai. The ministry called for prioritizing resumption of work at 666 major businesses in industries such as chips, biopharma and auto and equipment manufacturing.
    A “significant” number of members of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China are on the whitelist, particularly in sectors of manufacturing, chemicals and autos, said Bettina Schoen-Behanzin, the chamber’s vice president and Shanghai chair.
    But “many companies still face the challenges of labor shortages and logistical difficulties,” she told CNBC in a statement, estimating that less than 30% of members’ workforce are eligible to return to work due to lockdowns.

    [The 600-plus company whitelist] is a good first step but there are thousands of manufacturing companies in Shanghai that are shut down.

    Michael Hart
    President, American Chamber of Commerce in China

    Being on the list means a factory could resume operations if workers live at the production site and contact is limited to people with valid negative virus tests — what’s known locally as “closed-loop management.”
    “Some estimate that with the re-opening whitelist, the requirements to achieve closed-loop status may not be attainable, or maybe can only recall 30-40% of staff back to manufacturing facilities,” Matthew Margulies, senior vice president of China operations for the US-China Business Council, said in an email.
    The difficulty of getting workers into factories means companies cannot easily bring in new staff for other shifts, foreign business organizations said.

    Before the list was released, some companies in Shanghai and other regions subject to Covid lockdowns were able to maintain minimal operations under the closed-loop protocols.
    When companies try to bring in new workers, it will usually “fail with the local communities who don’t want to let people out,” said Johan Annell, partner at Asia Perspective, a consulting firm that works primarily with Northern European companies operating in East and Southeast Asia.

    The only good thing about the current situation is its so obviously unsustainable for the economy and all the companies that it will not last too long.

    Johan Annell
    partner, Asia Perspective

    Another challenge for workers who do get permission to leave their apartments is Covid-related restrictions on travel, at which point the process of returning to work “usually fails,” he said.
    Transport restrictions can also affect delivery of parts.
    There’s a “fear among truck drivers, if you risk a 14-day quarantine going to that factory maybe you skip that delivery and do something else,” Annell said.
    For a business to be able to operate at 30% capacity in a week or so is “a really good outcome,” he added.
    “The only good thing about the current situation is its so obviously unsustainable for the economy and all the companies that it will not last too long,” he said. “I would not expect the situation to be nearly as bad as now when we come to the second half of May or June.”

    Road freight plunges

    Local restrictions vary from province to province, and can range from blanket travel bans to virus test requirements for drivers.
    The differing measures have taken an uneven toll on businesses, whether foreign or Chinese.
    A measure of China’s road freight transport turnover fell by 27.2% nationwide from April 1 to 17 from a year ago, Nomura’s chief China economist Ting Lu pointed out in a report Wednesday.
    For Shanghai, that same transport measure plunged by 82.6% over the same time period, the report said.
    China’s central government has more than once called on local authorities to support transportation services and remove constraints, such as making drivers wait for virus test results before they could move on.

    Read more about electric vehicles from CNBC Pro

    Last week, Huawei Consumer Business Group CEO Richard Yu warned in a WeChat post — akin to a Facebook update — that if work and production in Shanghai cannot resume by May, all the industrial and tech companies with supply chain ties to the region will need to stop production, especially automobiles.
    Huawei confirmed the contents of Yu’s post from his personal account, which was first reported by Chinese media. Yu’s post came around the same time the government announced the whitelist.
    Asked about such warnings and staffing issues, the ministry of industry told reporters Tuesday that the problems were only “temporary,” and that authorities would improve the whitelist system.
    “On the one hand, we think the government does understand how important Shanghai is. On the other hand, 600 manufacturing companies — it’s a good first step but there are thousands of manufacturing companies in Shanghai that are shut down,” Michael Hart, Beijing-based president of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, said in a phone interview Wednesday.
    “We had some of our companies in northern China contact us, their key suppliers in Shanghai are not among those allowed to restart,” Hart said.

    What companies are saying

    Foreign businesses in China have reported varying states of returning to work. Shanghai still reports new daily Covid cases of around 20,000, with and without symptoms.
    Tesla’s Shanghai factory was “back up and running” as of Wednesday, according to CEO Elon Musk’s comments during a quarterly earnings call, per a StreetAccount transcript. “They really had significant challenges due to the Covid shutdowns and nonetheless have been able to output a tremendous number of high-quality vehicles.”

    On the other hand, American chemicals company DuPont told CNBC late Tuesday that while most of its China manufacturing sites were operating normally or under closed-loop management, those in Shanghai remained shut.
    “Our manufacturing sites in Shanghai will resume production as soon as we receive government approval and when our colleagues are allowed to leave from community health management,” the company said. “We are assessing supply chain logistics challenges and are seeking alternative routes and systems to transport products and materials to meet our customers’ needs.”
    As of Monday, Volkswagen said it was evaluating how feasible it was to resume production at its plant in Anting on the outskirts of Shanghai, while its factories in the northern city of Changchun in Jilin province “have gradually resumed production.”
    German chemicals giant BASF said Wednesday that its sites in Shanghai have operated under local management restrictions since late March, with some producing at reduced levels.
    “There have been individual raw material supply issues, logistic disruptions and labor shortages, that are impacting our operation and business,” the company said, noting that most of its production sites in China remain in operation.

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    Florida Republicans vote to dissolve Disney's special district, eliminating privileges and setting up a legal battle

    On Thursday, the Florida legislature passed a bill seeking to dissolve a special district that allows the Walt Disney Company to act as its own government within the outer limits of Orange and Osceola counties.
    If Gov. Ron DeSantis signs the bill into law, the Reedy Creek special district would be dissolved effective June 1, 2023.
    Dissolving the district would mean Reedy Creek employees and infrastructure would be absorbed by the counties, which would then become responsible for all municipal services.

    Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has his guns pointed at Disney World.
    On Thursday, the Republican-held Florida legislature passed a bill seeking to dissolve a special district that allows the Walt Disney Company to act as its own government within the outer limits of Orange and Osceola counties. The bill passed the state Senate on Wednesday with a vote of 23-16 and sailed through the state’s House of Representatives by a vote of 70-38.

    The proposal was first introduced Tuesday by Republican state Sen. Jennifer Bradley, but opponents say it’s really driven by DeSantis. Widely seen as a contender for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, DeSantis is locked in a bitter and public feud with the entertainment giant over the company’s denouncement of Florida’s HB 1557 law last month. HB 1557, dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, limits early education teachings on sexual orientation or gender identity.
    Until recently, there had been no major public discussion about dissolving Disney’s long-established special district, which it’s occupied for 55 years, leading opposing senators and other critics of the bill to question its timing and the speed at which it’s being pushed through.
    State Rep. Randy Fine told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Thursday that the bill isn’t retaliatory but said “when Disney kicked the hornet’s nest, we looked at special districts.”
    “People wanted to deal with the special district for decades,” he said. “Disney had the political power to prevent it for decades. What changed is bringing California values to Florida. Floridians said, ‘You are a guest. Maybe you don’t deserve the special privileges anymore.'”

    Fine said the bill was introduced to even the playing field in Florida for theme park operators. He noted that Disney’s competition, Universal, SeaWorld and Legoland, do not have special districts to operate in.

    Democrats in the state Senate, though outnumbered, came to the theme park’s defense on Wednesday during a special session of the body.
    “The Disney corporation is being attacked for expressing support for its many LGBTQ employees and customers,” said state Sen. Tina Polsky, a Democrat who represents the 19th district of Florida, during the special session. “Are we really making this enormous decision based on spite?”
    And it is an enormous decision.
    The district in question is the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which was established in 1967. It was established by the Florida legislature so Disney could develop the infrastructure for Walt Disney World at no cost to Florida taxpayers.

    None of this makes any sense. They just bit off way more than they can chew by trying to get the Reedy Creek district dissolved.”

    Linda Stewart
    state senator for Florida’s 13th district

    The arrangement has allowed Disney to build theme parks, hotels and other tourist experiences within the Reedy Creek district with little to no oversight. The company also became the largest employer of Florida residents in the state and helped the Orlando area become one of the largest hubs for tourism in the U.S.
    “I just don’t understand what we are doing here,” said Loranne Ausley, a Democrat who represents the state’s 3rd Senate district, during Wednesday’s session. “We are adding insult to injury by voting on something today that was proposed yesterday going after a private business that has literally made our state what it is, all because they have taken a position that the governor disagrees with.”
    The decades-old legislation also ensured that only the landowners within the district, primarily Walt Disney World, would be responsible for paying the cost of municipal services such as power, water, roads and fire protection.
    For decades, taxpaying residents of Orange and Osceola counties have been spared maintenance bills for Disney park services.
    Currently, Disney pays taxes to both counties as well as the Reedy Creek district. If DeSantis signs the bill into law, Reedy Creek, along with five other special districts established before November 1968, would be dissolved effective June 1, 2023.
    Reedy Creek, as a special district, has no representatives in the state legislature.

    Absorbing debt

    Dissolving the district would mean Reedy Creek employees and infrastructure would be absorbed by the local counties, which would then become responsible for all municipal services. The counties would collect the tax revenue Disney currently pays the Reedy Creek district, but would also be saddled with the district’s liabilities. Namely, its debt.
    Reedy Creek historically operates at a loss of around $5 million to $10 million each year, according to its financial reports. But since Disney can subsidize its own operations with theme park revenue, that debt doesn’t have much impact on its bottom line.
    According to lawmakers, there’s around $1 billion in debt on the balance sheet that taxpayers would become responsible for should the special district get absorbed, leading to higher taxes.
    “No one wants to take that amount of debt up,” Linda Stewart, a Democrat who represents Florida’s 13th Senate district, told CNBC on Wednesday. “None of this makes any sense. They just bit off way more than they can chew by trying to get the Reedy Creek district dissolved … This is a major, major issue that I don’t think it will be, in the end, very successful.”
    Taxpayers would also be on the hook for any municipal improvements that Disney currently pays for, including road work.
    In 2019, for example, Disney’s Orlando neighbor Universal partnered with Orange County and the state to build a 1.7-mile extension to Kirkman Road between Carrier Drive and Universal Boulevard to accommodate the company’s new park Epic Universe.
    That project cost an estimated $300 million, more than half of which Universal footed. The company paid $160 million, leaving Orange County to pay $125 million and the state to pay around $16 million.
    The tab for similar projects at Disney could easily pile up.

    ‘Nothing is going to happen’

    Disney declined to comment on the legislature’s efforts, but the dispute is likely to end up in court, according to David Ramba, executive director of the Florida Association of Special Districts.
    Ramba said he has dissolved a number of special districts, but never any that didn’t want to be dissolved and noted that “a lot of lawyers are going to get paid” as the parties work to sort out the operational implications of this bill.
    Florida law dictates that special districts created by the legislature can only be dissolved with a majority vote of the district’s landowners. For Reedy Creek, that’s the Walt Disney Company.
    “Nothing is going to happen,” said Jason Pizzo, a Democrat who represents the state’s 38th Senate district, during the special session Wednesday. “Everyone in this room knows this is not going to happen. I’m just tired of missing my kid’s baseball games for stuff we know is not going to happen.”
    Pizzo was among several state senators who spoke out against the bill ahead of the Senate vote Wednesday. Many expressed frustration during discussion on the legislature floor, calling the legislation a “revenge bill” and “political theater.”
    “[The governor] wants to prove a point,” Stewart said. “He wants to prove he’s more powerful, but I don’t think he’s more powerful than Disney.”
    Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the parent company of Universal and CNBC.

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    Florida taxpayers could face a $1 billion Disney debt bomb if its special district status is revoked

    The Florida legislature on Thursday cleared a bill that would dissolve Disney’s special improvement district, effective June 2023.
    If the special district is eliminated, Orange and Osceola counties would have to provide the local services currently provided by the special district.
    Legislators and tax experts warn the bill creates an even larger potential problem for taxpayers in the form of bonds totaling more than $1 billion.

    A repeal of Disney’s self-government status in Florida could leave local taxpayers with more than $1 billion in bond debt, according to tax officials and legislators.
    The Florida House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill that would dissolve Disney’s special improvement district, escalating Gov. Ron DeSantis’ attack on the company over its opposition to Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill, dubbed by critics the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

    The state Senate passed the bill Wednesday, after it was first introduced Tuesday. It will now go to the governor for his signature.
    Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement District was created in 1967 and gives the Walt Disney Company full regulatory control over Disney World as well as government services such as fire protection, emergency services, water, utilities, sewage and infrastructure.
    Tax experts and legislators say elimination of the district, which would take effect in June 2023, could have unintended consequences for county taxpayers.

    A view of the Walt Disney World theme park entrance on July 11, 2020 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
    Octavio Jones | Getty Images

    Reedy Creek spans 25,000 acres in Orange and Osceola counties and includes Disney’s four theme parks, two water parks and sports complex. It also includes the two small cities of Bay Lake and Lake Buena Vista, which had a combined population of 53 people in 2020, all either representatives or employees of Disney.
    To fund the government services of Reedy Creek, Disney effectively taxes itself. While the precise tax flows of Reedy Creek are unclear, Scott Randolph, the tax collector for Orange County, said the Reedy Creek district collects roughly $105 million annually in general revenue.

    On top of the $105 million, Disney also pays local property taxes. Public records show Disney is the largest taxpayer in central Florida, paying over $280 million in property taxes to the counties between 2015 and 2020.
    If the special district is dissolved, Orange and Osceola counties would have to provide the local services currently provided by Reedy Creek. And, the $105 million in revenue would disappear, meaning county and local taxpayers would be on the hook for part or all of the added costs.
    “If you dissolved Reedy Creek, that $105 million in revenue literally goes away, it doesn’t get transferred,” Randolph said.
    The reason: Reedy Creek is what’s known as an “independent tax district” meaning the tax revenues it generates are in addition to its local tax obligations, rather than a replacement of them. If the district is eliminated, the tax payments to Orange and Osceola counties would not increase, Randolph said.
    Florida state Rep. Randy Fine, R-Palm Bay, who has helped champion the bill, told CNBC on Thursday that local taxpayers would not pay more — and could actually benefit from Reedy Creek’s elimination. Fine said the tax revenue that Disney pays would be transferred to local government and could more than pay for the added services.
    “Those taxes will continue to be paid,” he said. “They will just be paid to Orange and Osceola county instead of this special improvement district. The taxpayers could end up saving money because you’ve got duplicative services that are being provided by this special district that are already being done by those municipalities.”

    But legislators and tax experts warn the bill creates an even larger potential problem for taxpayers in the form of bonds totaling more than $1 billion.
    Reedy Creek has bond liabilities of between $1 billion and $1.7 billion, according to the district’s financial filings. Under Florida statute, if Reedy Creek is dissolved, those liabilities are transferred to the local governments — either Bay Lake or Lake Buena Vista, or more likely, Orange and Osceola counties.
    State Senate Minority Leader Gary Farmer, D-Fort Lauderdale, tried to amend the bill to include further study of the bond debt, but the amendment failed on a voice vote.
    Farmer said the bond debt could total more than $2 billion and that tax authorities are increasing their estimates as they learn more about Reedy Creek’s outstanding liabilities.
    “This is a very real impact, the extent of which we don’t fully understand yet,” Farmer said.
    If the liabilities of $1.7 billion or more are transferred to Orange and Osceola counties, he said, the debt could amount to $1,000 per taxpayer.
    “If the counties are left holding the bag, the state might have to come to their aid,” Farmer said. “So it’s not even just a tax issue for these two counties. It affects every taxpayer in the state of Florida.”
    Fine argued that if the bonds are transferred to the counties, the tax revenue that currently funds the bond payments would also be transferred.
    “The Reedy Creek Improvement District is a local government right now,” he said. “So the taxpayers of that district already owe that money. Yes, the bonds would go to other municipal governments in the same place. But the revenues go along with it. Disney is taxed by this improvement district. Those taxes are used to pay that debt.”
    Tax experts say that in order for the counties to collect additional revenue from Disney to pay the bond debt, the counties would have to create a new special tax district of their own. Even if they created a new special “Disney” tax district, the tax rate would be capped below that of the current district rate, leaving Orange and Osceola counties with Reedy Creek’s debt service but with less revenue to pay it off.
    “We shouldn’t be moving at warp speed on something that can have such far-ranging economic impacts,” Farmer said.

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    Jim Cramer says investors should avoid Carvana after the company’s disappointing quarter

    Monday – Friday, 6:00 – 7:00 PM ET

    CNBC’s Jim Cramer warned investors against buying stock of Carvana after the company reported worrisome quarterly results on Wednesday.
    “This is a ‘what have you done for me lately’ market and in the near-term, I expect Carvana, they couldn’t do anything for you, lately or otherwise,” the “Mad Money” host said.

    CNBC’s Jim Cramer warned investors against buying stock of Carvana after the company reported worrisome quarterly results on Wednesday.
    “There is zero tolerance for unprofitable companies, and Carvana just made it clear it will take them a heck of a lot longer to reach profitability than we thought,” the “Mad Money” host said.

    “Given what we heard last night, I think there’s more downside here, even as I kind of think the long-term story’s cool. But this is a ‘what have you done for me lately’ market and in the near term, I expect Carvana, they couldn’t do anything for you, lately or otherwise,” he added.
    Carvana beat expectations on revenue but reported a wider-than-expected loss per share for its latest quarter. The online used-car retailer also saw its quarterly sales decrease for the first time.
    Shares of Carvana fell 10.12% on Thursday, reaching a new 52-week low earlier in the day.
    Evercore ISI downgraded Carvana from outperform to in line following the company’s earnings report.
    Cramer said that a problem Carvana faces is higher supply costs as well as demand destruction, as consumers become unwilling to keep paying higher prices for used vehicles. He highlighted demand destruction last week as a sign that inflation could be peaking. 

    “Making matters worse, Carvana actually pulled its full-year forecast. … Companies don’t pull their forecasts unless they’re feeling real nervous about the future,” Cramer said.
    The used-car retailer also said it plans to sell $2 billion in common and preferred stock and that chief executive Ernie Garcia and his father plan to purchase up to $432 million in common stock.
    “Carvana’s been dogged by liquidity worries because they offer financing to their customers, then package those loans into asset-backed securities, which they then sell to investors. Unfortunately, used-car backed bonds haven’t been selling too well of late. … So when Carvana raises this money, it removes a major overhang,” Cramer said.
    Cramer said of the chief executive’s decision to purchase common stock: “I don’t know if that’s a wise decision. But I commend Ernie Garcia for believing in his own vision.”
    Sign up now for the CNBC Investing Club to follow Jim Cramer’s every move in the market.
    Disclaimer

    Questions for Cramer?Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBC
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    Cramer's lightning round: Don't sell Marvell Technology

    Monday – Friday, 6:00 – 7:00 PM ET

    It’s that time again! “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer rings the lightning round bell, which means he’s giving his answers to callers’ stock questions at rapid speed.

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    OptimizeRx Corp: “There’s not enough there at that company. … Can’t go there.”

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    SoFi Technologies Inc: “Here’s the problem. This thing was built as a way to be able to help on student loans, and when you get rid of your major product … it’s very hard to recommend the stock.”

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    Marvell Technology Inc: “That one’s been going down along with some others, and it’s the one that shouldn’t. … We are looking to buy back the stock we sold. Please do not sell Marvell Technology.”

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    Solid Power Inc: “Energy storage situations are very hard. … I can’t really own that stock.”

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    Why would an Oscar-winning actor create a travel app? Kevin Costner shares his story

    Kevin Costner knows a good story when he hears one.
    That’s why he said he was intrigued when he heard about an app designed to alert travelers of notable, yet often unnoticed, places of interest along their journeys.  

    “I’m the guy that driving around America … when you see those bronze markers along the way, I want to stop. I want to read what was there,” he said. “It’s something of history, and I remember being really thrilled by that. Otherwise, you’re just watching the miles click off.”
    An app that would send compelling, timely stories straight to him was appealing, he said, since “a good story has always been something that’s thrilled me.”
    Costner was loosely connected to the app’s creator, entrepreneur Woody Sears, through their children, Sears said. While the app was in preliminary stages, Costner agreed to narrate several stories before eventually joining the company as a co-founder.

    The app — called HearHere — launched in August 2020, fortuitously coinciding with one of the biggest travel trends of the Covid era: the resurrection of the road trip.     

    A ‘road trip story guide’

    Similar to the past two years, road trips are expected to dominate this summer, according to a survey by travel website The Vacationer. Nearly 80% of American adults — or some 206 million Americans — plan to take one, according to the survey of nearly 1,100 American in March.

    However, HearHere — which is billed as a “road trip story guide” — was in development before the pandemic, said Sears.
    “The idea of travel had changed for a lot of people,” said Sears. “We happened to open our doors at the same time as the shift.”

    Kevin Costner said a key part of the app HearHere is to tell the stories of the people who first inhabited North America, a subject at the heart of his Academy Award-winning film “Dances With Wolves.”
    Tig Productions | Archive Photos | Moviepix | Getty Images

    Costner said he’s been involved with several start-ups, but this one “was in the wheelhouse of what I already do in terms of storytelling, and my kind of love of history,” said Costner.
    From “The Untouchables” to “JFK” and “Wyatt Earp,” many of Costner’s most well-known movies have touched upon pivotal figures in American history. A key reason for his involvement with HearHere was his desire to tell the stories of the first people to inhabit North America. It’s a subject he explored in the 1990 Academy Award-winning film “Dances With Wolves,” which Costner starred in, directed and produced.
    “That was the fundamental for me … who are the first people? — because there’s no here without knowing who was there before,” he said.

    The harder truths

    HearHere has more than 9,000 stories to date, with topics ranging from Abraham Lincoln to Janis Joplin, and from Kentucky’s National Corvette Museum to Nashville’s music scene.
    But to Costner, telling the harder truths about U.S. history is paramount too.
    “Our story is not always a great one. There was so much violence in America. We’re watching violence play out now across the globe …  to think that that didn’t occur here — it did,” he said.

    Stories about America’s Founding Fathers and its Civil War battlefields are interspersed with histories of Mississippi towns settled by slaves and the disenfranchisement of Black people.
    “We don’t have to be ashamed about it,” said Costner. “We can be a little embarrassed, but it’s more embarrassing to not know.”

    A rise in audio content

    HearHere has been downloaded more than 400,000 times and has subscribers in every U.S. state, said Sears. The company announced in February it had raised $3.2 million in seed funding, led by the American recreational vehicle company Camping World.
    Though he’s at the forefront of a new mobile app company, Costner indicated he’s not much into tech. He said most mobile apps “fly over my head” and, of HearHere’s Twitter page: “I don’t even know how to get on it.”

    The co-founders of HearHere: Woody Sears, Kevin Costner and Bill Werlin. “I’m not a figurehead … this is my interest,” said Costner.
    Source: HearHere

    “I was really raised with wolves,” he said. “If I need to expand my life … I have to open my ears, I have to open my eyes. When I’m traveling across the country, my nose doesn’t need to be in a computer — it needs to be looking out.”
    Sears said so-called “screen fatigue” is one of the reasons audio content outpaced video content in 2021. Audio entertainment is also easier to integrate into daily life because it can be consumed while “walking, driving and doing chores, versus video which is primarily watched while stationary,” he said.
    Demand for audio services surged during the pandemic, with companies such as Amazon, Twitter and Facebook announcing expanded audio platforms over the past several years.   

    Launching into other countries?

    While U.S.-based stories continue to be added to HearHere, Costner said the company has a model that lends itself well to international expansion.
    He said the company is still refining its business and listening to its customers, but “I like to jump off the page quite honestly … try something new,” he said.
    Costner said he applies a similar approach to his movies.
    “It’s easy to follow a trend — it’s much more difficult to try to be original. Trends, or the repetition of something popular, is a way you make a lot of money,” he said. “Doing something that’s classic — that no one’s felt like they’ve ever seen before — can live forever.” More

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    Stock futures are flat as the S&P 500 attempts to avoid another losing week

    Stock futures were flat in overnight trading Thursday as the S&P 500 tried to avoid another losing week amid busy earnings and rising bond yields.
    Futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 20 points. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures both traded 0.1% lower.

    The overnight action followed a dramatic reversal Thursday that saw major averages wiping earlier gains and closing lower. The Dow ended the day more than 300 points lower, while the S&P 500 dropped nearly 1.5%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite bore the brunt of the sell-off on surging rates, sliding 2%.
    “Stagflation concerns resurface on the back of real-time signs of a tight labor market and waning business sentiment, coupled with another bounce in 10-year Treasury yields — and all peppered with a deluge of earnings releases,” Chris Hussey, a managing director at Goldman Sachs, said in a note.
    For this week, the Dow is up 1% and on pace to break a three-week losing streak. The S&P is up less than 0.1% on the week and attempting to break a two-week losing streak. The Nasdaq, however, is down 1.3% week to date, on track to post its third negative week in a row.
    Weighing on sentiment Thursday was Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s comment on the possibility of a larger-than-usual rate hike for next month.
    Powell said during an International Monetary Fund panel moderated by CNBC’s Sara Eisen that taming inflation is “absolutely essential” and a 50-basis-point hike is on the table for May.

    Meanwhile, the first-quarter earnings season continues to roll on. Snap saw its shares jump more than 6% during extended trading after the social media platform reported first-quarter earnings that included strong growth in daily users.
    Gap shares plunged 10% after the company announced the CEO of its Old Navy division, Nancy Green, is leaving the business this week. Gap also slashed its outlook for net sales growth in fiscal 2022.
    Verizon is slated to post results before the bell Friday.

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    SpaceX signs first Starlink inflight Wi-Fi deal with charter carrier JSX

    SpaceX signed its first deal to add Starlink satellite internet to an air carrier’s fleet of planes with semi-private charter company JSX.
    JSX announced the deal on Thursday, with CEO Alex Wilcox informing CNBC the agreement with SpaceX covers service on up to 100 airplanes.
    The SpaceX-provided service on flights is pending regulatory approval, but Wilcox said JSX expects it to be available by the fourth quarter.

    SpaceX signed its first deal to add Starlink satellite internet to an air carrier’s fleet of planes with semi-private charter company JSX, as Elon Musk’s firm moves into the in-flight Wi-Fi market.
    JSX CEO Alex Wilcox told CNBC on Thursday that the agreement with SpaceX covers service on up to 100 airplanes. JSX currently has 77 30-seat Embraer jets in its fleet.

    “We’ll be the first to have [Starlink] on an airplane,” Wilcox said. The co-founder of JSX, Wilcox was the former head of product development at JetBlue Airways.
    SpaceX’s Starlink service on JSX flights is pending regulatory approval, but Wilcox said he expects it to be available by the fourth quarter, if not earlier. Currently, a Starlink aircraft antenna is installed on a JSX airplane for testing purposes.
    “The SpaceX engineers are unbelievable,” Wilcox said.
    Wilcox declined to provide financial details about JSX’s contract with SpaceX. He noted that JSX will provide Starlink service to passengers free of charge, with no login screens required to access the network.
    Starlink on JSX “will be just like home, only faster,” Wilcox said.

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