Raphael Stevens

In 2020, when the world suddenly ground to a halt, most people postponed or canceled all of their plans due to the coronavirus crisis. Many were issued vouchers or credits good for a future date. Now, one year later, those credits have likely expired — or are about to.More than half of all adults, or about 54%, who laid out money for activities that were canceled due to the pandemic already lost those funds, according to a study by Bankrate.com.More from Personal Finance:Here’s where Americans are planning to go this summer38% of Americans would give up sex to travel againVacations may bounce back this yearFewer received partial refunds, although it varied by the type of purchase. About 35% who canceled short-term home rentals got some, but not all, of their money back.Less than a quarter of adults were partially refunded for canceled flights, sporting events, concerts, theater tickets or hotel stays, Bankrate found.Although many consumers accepted credit or vouchers rather than refunds, often good for up to a year, few expected it would be this long before the country began to open up again.With those expiration dates quickly approaching, it’s a good time to check in on those vouchers, advised Ted Rossman, an industry analyst at CreditCards.com.”If you aren’t ready to use it, ask for an extension or make a plan for a few months out,” he said. Many airlines and hotels have relaxed their policies and waived fees.At Frontier Airlines, for example, credits for future travel originally required that travelers rebook within 90 days. The airline then modified that policy and now credits are good for up to one year.Additionally, flights can currently be booked through April 2022 and the budget carrier is offering no-fee changes. Other airlines have made similar accommodations.With more than half of U.S. consumers planning to take a vacation later this year, this is a great time to book, Rossman added.In fact, summer travel reservations are picking up, thanks to steady improvements in the availability of Covid-19 vaccine shots, while the cost of airfare and hotel stays remain low. (The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says people who are fully vaccinated can safely travel within the U.S. but cautions that international travel poses additional risks.)”There are a lot of good deals right now,” Rossman said. “The longer you wait, the more likely prices are to rise or things fill up.”Subscribe to CNBC on YouTube. More

In this screengrab, Eva Longoria speaks at the 26th Annual Critics Choice Awards on March 07, 2021.Getty ImagesThe Biden administration on Thursday is launching a massive campaign to persuade more Americans to take the Covid-19 vaccines, administration officials told NBC News.The campaign, called “We Can Do This: Live,” will target young people through social media and will include virtual events where celebrities and athletes answer Americans’ lingering questions about the vaccines, according to NBC News.Famous people slated to participate in the campaign include actress Eva Longoria, Dallas Mavericks owner and billionaire investor Mark Cuban, Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest, the co-hosts of “Live with Kelly and Ryan” as well as people from NASCAR, the NBA and WNBA, according to NBC News.The goal, according to a detailed release of the campaign obtained by NBC News, is to reach Americans, particularly young people, “directly in the places where they already consume content online, including social media, podcasts, YouTube, and more.”The administration’s effort, led by the Department of Health and Human Services, comes as polls suggest a significant portion of Americans will likely refuse to take the shots, potentially stalling the nation’s recovery from the pandemic that has killed at least 569,405 Americans in a little over a year.Some young people appear resistant to getting vaccinated. A recent poll from STAT News-Harris found that 21% of Generation Z, or young adults aged 18 to 24, said they would not get vaccinated against Covid and another 34% said they would “wait a while and see” before getting vaccinated.CNBC Health & Science Read CNBC’s latest coverage of the Covid pandemic:New Covid variant detected at Texas A&M lab shows signs of antibody resistance and more severe illness in young peopleRich countries are refusing to waive the rights on Covid vaccines as global cases hit record levelsBiden says White House hit 200 million shots goal as case counts in Michigan, U.S. show signs of slowingIndia reports record single-day jump in Covid cases, with more than 314,000 new infectionsAdditionally, some doctors said a number of their patients became skeptical of the vaccines after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Food and Drug Administration asked states last week to temporarily halt distribution of Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine after six cases of a rare, but potentially deadly, blood-clotting disorder were reported.Many of former President Donald Trump’s supporters also are strongly opposed to taking the vaccine, experts on public health and politics say, which worries U.S. health officials hoping enough people will get immunized so the country can obtain herd immunity to the virus.White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci has previously said 75% to 85% of the U.S. population need to be inoculated to create an “umbrella” of immunity that prevents the virus from spreading.In some regions of the U.S., the supply of the vaccines is already outpacing demand as local health officials struggle to persuade people to get vaccinated.As of Wednesday, more than 134 million Americans, or 40% of the total U.S. population, have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, according to data compiled by the CDC. Roughly 87.5 million Americans, or 26.4% of the total U.S. population, are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.The United States averaged 3 million reported shots per day over the past week, according to CDC, down slightly from a peak of 3.4 million reported shots per day on April 13.Fauci said Monday that there would be a “full-court press” to get people vaccinated.”It’s very disturbing that on the basis of political persuasion people are not wanting to get vaccinated,” Fauci said Monday on “CBS This Morning.” “I find that really extraordinary because those are the ones who are saying you’re encroaching on our liberties by asking us to wear masks and do kinds of restrictions that are public health issues. The easiest way to get out of that is to get vaccinated.”–CNBC’s Nate Rattner and Rich Mendez contributed to this report. More

Over the past decade, few stocks have delivered as much return on investment as Netflix. The streaming titan has churned out positive returns as almost reliably as it has released new seasons for “Chef’s Table” and “Queer Eye,” growing its user base from less than 50 million to 208 million.Despite a disappointing first-quarter earnings report in which Netflix raked in a $1.7 billion profit but fell drastically short of expectations for subscriber growth, many investors see Netflix regaining its footing over the long term.In its letter to shareholders, Netflix blamed coronavirus-related production delays for its “lighter content slate in the first half of this year,” but said it expects to continue producing content as it invests $17 billion into its movies and shows this year.The stock slid 7% at one point after Tuesday’s earnings report.If you invested in Netflix back in 2011, even a down quarter isn’t enough to make a dent in the stock’s overall upward trajectory over the years. The stock has grown nearly fifteenfold over the last 10 years.A $1,000 investment in Netflix on April 20, 2011, would be worth $15,252 as of Tuesday, a gain of 1,425%.That’s significantly more than the S&P 500, which grew 209% over the same period. It’s nearly double Google parent Alphabet’s 767% growth rate since 2011 and even outpaces Apple’s 1,134% growth over the past decade, during which a $1,000 investment would have turned into $12,339.In 2011, Netflix had a market cap of $13.4 billion. But today, its $243.4 billion market cap is bigger than that of Twitter, Snap and Spotify combined. Its growth has been fueled by the cord-cutting revolution, as well as by massive investments into its content library.Netflix, which since 2011 has relied on external financing to fund the billions of dollars it has spent building out its library with big-budget projects and deals, has said it expects to be cash-flow positive after 2021.”While traditional media companies had one toe in the water and a glass-half-empty view of streaming, Netflix grabbed the bull by the horns and ran with it,” Wedbush Securities managing director Dan Ives tells CNBC Make It. “Now, everyone is trying to play catch-up in a game that has changed the media ecosystem forever.”Despite its success, Netflix is also entering perhaps its biggest period of uncertainty, with Disney+, HBO Max and the new Paramount Plus network jockeying for subscribers. Disney+, with its growing stable of high-budget TV shows based on Marvel properties, is the service’s closest rival, adding nearly 95 million paying subscribers since its November 2019 launch.Looking forward, Netflix has 35 nominations at Sunday’s Academy Awards, including two films, “Mank” and “Trial of the Chicago 7,” both nominated for Best Picture — a prize that has eluded the studio. It also has major projects coming down from A-list collaborators like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese.And while past results are no indication of future performance, Netflix’s first-mover advantage and entrenchment into culture over the past decade has put it in a strong position, according to Ives.”Whether it’s Microsoft with its home office tools, Google with search or Netflix with streaming, these products have become consumer habits as commonplace as eating breakfast and having coffee in the morning,” he says.Check out: Meet the middle-aged millennial: Homeowner, debt-burdened and turning 40Don’t miss: This simple change can cut your takeout spending by 10% More

Florentino Perez, President of Real Madrid pictured on February 18, 2020 in Madrid, Spain.Mateo Villalba | Quality Sport Images | Getty ImagesReal Madrid president Florentino Perez insists the European Super League is not “dead” despite the competition collapsing just 48 hours after it was announced.On Sunday, 12 clubs – the Premier League’s ‘Big Six’, plus Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus, Inter Milan and AC Milan – confirmed they were planning to start the new midweek European competition.However, the plans began to crumble on Tuesday, when Chelsea and Manchester City withdrew following a furious backlash from supporters, the Premier League and UEFA.Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham then pulled out on Tuesday night, leaving Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli to admit on Wednesday morning that the Super League could no longer go ahead.Inter Milan, AC Milan and Atletico also withdrew on Wednesday, but Perez – who was due to be the chairman of the league – remains bullish, telling Spanish radio show El Larguero: “If anyone thinks the Super League is dead, are they wrong? Absolutely.”We’re going to keep working and what everyone thinks is for the best will emerge.”The project is on standby. The Super League still exists.”Sky Sports News reported on Tuesday morning that the Super League could collapse amid uncertainty among some of the six Premier League members over whether to continue with the plans.That was confirmed when Chelsea and City became the first clubs to withdraw later that day. Perez admits one English club was not “convinced” and that their doubts became “contagious”.Read more stories from Sky SportsOle, Carrick address anti-Glazer protesters at CarringtonWoodward resigned over belief he could not back Super League’Chisora is heading for disaster and retirement'”I’m a bit sad and disappointed because we’ve been working on this project for three years,” he said. “There was someone in the group of six English teams who wasn’t that interested and I think that started to become contagious among the others.”There are people of a certain age involved and maybe they were scared because they didn’t understand anything that was going on. We all signed a binding contract, but I don’t think that one of them was ever convinced.”In the end, there was an onslaught from the leagues and the Premier League got fired up, so they said, ‘we’ll leave it for now’.”A joint statement from the English, Spanish and Italian FAs and leagues, plus UEFA, on Sunday threatened the 12 Super League clubs with expulsion from their domestic competitions and suggested their players could be banned from representing their countries.Supporters also reacted with outrage, with Chelsea’s decision to backtrack coming amid protests outside Stamford Bridge ahead of their game against Brighton on Tuesday night.Perez told El Larguero that “40 Chelsea fans” were protesting, adding, “I can tell you who got them there if you want.” However, he produced no evidence to substantiate his claims, and images from Stamford Bridge showed hundreds of supporters gathered to protest.Perez believes the failure to establish the Super League will prevent the largest clubs from being able to afford the game’s biggest stars, saying: “As for signings like [Erling] Haaland or [Kylian] Mbappe, they won’t exist without the Super League.NAPLES, CAMPANIA, ITALY – 2017/03/07: Real Madrid players celebrated after Sergio Ramos first goal during the Champions League.KONTROLAB | LightRocket | Getty Images”During the pandemic, they won’t exist for Real Madrid or for any club.”However, Perez – who ushered in the ‘Galacticos’ era at Real during his first spell as president by signing the likes of Zinedine Zidane and David Beckham – then insisted Mbappe could still arrive at the Bernabeu.”Does it mean we won’t sign Mbappe? No, I didn’t say that,” he said. “We’re now in the final stage of this season and want to finish it as strongly as possible.”We don’t know. If Mbappe doesn’t join this year, nobody is going to shoot themselves.”People know what I’m like and what I do. If something doesn’t happen, it’s because it’s not possible.”As for big signings in the future without a Super League, they certainly won’t happen.” More

In this articleVOLV.B-SERNO-FRDAI-DE2020 Land Rover DefenderSource: Land RoverLONDON – The global chip shortage is continuing to wreak havoc at some of the world’s biggest carmakers.Britain’s Jaguar Land Rover announced Thursday that it has been forced to stop car production for a “limited period” at its Castle Bromwich and Halewood manufacturing plants in England as a result of the chip shortage, which has been going on for several months now.”Like other automotive manufacturers, we are currently experiencing some Covid-19 supply chain disruption, including the global availability of semi-conductors, which is having an impact on our production schedules and our ability to meet global demand for some of our vehicles,” a spokesperson told CNBC.They added: “We are working closely with affected suppliers to resolve the issues and minimize the impact on customer orders wherever possible.”The Coventry-headquartered firm — which produces cars like the popular Range Rover Evoque, the iconic Land Rover Defender, and the Jaguar F-Pace SUV — said production will continue at its Solihull plant near Birmingham while its other factories are out of action.Jaguar Land Rover’s announcement comes just two months after the company announced it was going to cut 2,000 non-factory jobs.It also comes a day after Mercedes-maker Daimler said it is cutting the hours of up to 18,500 workers and pausing production at two plants in Germany. Daimler said the pause will commence on Friday and last for at least a week.”Currently, there is a worldwide supply shortage of certain semiconductor components,” a spokesperson reportedly told Reuters. “We continue to play things by ear.””The situation is volatile, so it is not possible to make a forecast about the impact,” they added.Elsewhere in Europe, French car giant Renault said Thursday that its sales in the most recent quarter had been hit by the semiconductor shortage.In a bid to mitigate the impact, the company has pledged to focus on its most profitable models and increase prices.Meanwhile, Sweden’s Volvo said Thursday that it anticipates more risk from the “unstable” chip supply chain. The automotive firm has already been forced to halt truck production and idle plants.”The global supply chain for semiconductors as well as for other components remains very unstable and the uncertainty about the development is high,” Chief Executive Officer Martin Lundstedt said in Volvo’s first-quarter report. “We maintain our readiness to increase production when possible.”Shares of Renault were down almost 2% during Thursday afternoon trading in Paris, while Daimler was down around 1% on Frankfurt’s main market. Volvo was up around 2%. More