Raphael Stevens

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    Pfizer, GSK RSV shots for older adults may prevent thousands of hospitalizations, CDC analysis says

    Vaccinating a million adults ages 65 and above with a single RSV shot from Pfizer or GSK may prevent thousands of hospitalizations over two seasons of the virus, according to a CDC analysis. 
    The analysis suggests the shots can help reduce the burden of RSV on hospitals in the fall, when the virus, Covid and the flu usually begin to spread at high levels. 
    A CDC advisory committee recommended that adults ages 60 and older may receive one dose of Pfizer’s or GSK’s respiratory syncytial virus shot after consulting their doctor. 

    Respiratory syncytial virus vial.
    Manjurul | Istock | Getty Images

    Vaccinating one million adults ages 65 and above with a single RSV shot from Pfizer or GSK may prevent thousands of hospitalizations over two seasons of the virus, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analysis. 
    A CDC medical officer presented the analysis, conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan, at an advisory committee meeting on Wednesday. The committee recommended that adults ages 60 and older may receive one dose of Pfizer’s or GSK’s respiratory syncytial virus shot after consulting their doctor. 

    The analysis found that vaccinating one million adults 65 and older with a single dose of Pfizer’s shot may prevent 2,500 hospitalizations and 25,000 outpatient visits over two seasons of the virus.
    RSV season typically lasts from October to March in the Northern Hemisphere.  
    The analysis also found that vaccinating one million adults in the same age group with one dose of GSK’s shot may prevent roughly 2,300 hospitalizations and 23,000 outpatient visits. 
    The estimated number of prevented outcomes is lower for adults ages 60 to 64, according to the CDC medical officer, Dr. Michael Melgar. He said that’s because there’s “less existing RSV disease” in that group for the vaccine to prevent. 
    The analysis further supports the efficacy of each newly approved shot in preventing RSV, a common respiratory virus that causes cold-like symptoms in most people but more severe infections in seniors and children. 

    Each year, RSV hospitalizes 60,000 to 160,000 older adults and kills 6,000 to 10,000, according to CDC data. 
    Pfizer and GSK on Wednesday both presented longer-term efficacy data at the meeting, which suggested that their shots generally maintain some protection against RSV after one season of the virus. 
    The analysis also suggests that the shots could reduce the burden of RSV on hospitals in the fall, when multiple respiratory viruses usually begin to spread at high levels. 
    Last year, cases of RSV – along with Covid and the flu – in children and older adults overwhelmed hospitals across the nation.  More

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    SEC fines JPMorgan subsidiary for deleting 47 million emails, some related to subpoenas

    The Securities and Exchange Commission fined the broker-dealer subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase $4 million for accidentally deleting about 47 million emails from early 2018.
    Some of those emails were sought by subpoenas in at least a dozen regulatory investigations, the SEC order against J.P. Morgan Securities LLC noted.
    The firm in late 2021 agreed to pay $125 million in penalties for failing to preserve text messages and other electronic communications sent between January 2018 and November 2020.

    The JP Morgan Chase & Co. headquarters, The JP Morgan Chase Tower in Park Avenue, Midtown, Manhattan, New York.
    Tim Clayton – Corbis | Corbis Sport | Getty Images

    The Securities and Exchange Commission fined the broker-dealer subsidiary of JPMorgan Chase $4 million for accidentally deleting about 47 million emails from early 2018, according to an administrative order Thursday.
    Some of those deleted emails were sought by subpoenas in at least a dozen regulatory investigations, but could no longer be retrieved, the SEC order against J.P. Morgan Securities LLC noted.

    Others “could relate to potential future investigations, legal matters and regulatory inquiries,” the order said.
    The emails, which were accidentally deleted in 2019, were from and to about 8,700 email boxes, which included those of up to 7,500 employees who had regular contact with Chase customers.
    Many of the emails were “business records required to be retained pursuant” to federal securities law, the order said.
    J.P. Morgan Securities consented to the SEC sanction, which also censured the firm.
    The firm had submitted a settlement offer in anticipation of administrative proceedings related to the deletions, and the SEC accepted that offer.

    The SEC also ordered the firm to “cease and desist from committing any future violations” of the securities law requiring broker-dealers to retain for at least three years the originals of all communications.
    This is the third time the investment advisor has agreed to punishment for failing to preserve electronic records.
    The firm in late 2021 agreed to pay $125 million in penalties for failing to preserve text messages and other electronic communications sent between January 2018 and November 2020.
    In 2005, the firm paid $700,000 in penalties for not preserving electronic records from mid-1999 to mid-2002.
    JPMorgan spokeswoman Patricia Wexler declined to comment on the latest sanction.
    In its order Thursday, the SEC noted JPMorgan in 2016 began a project “to delete from its system older communications and documents no longer required to be retained.”
    Those messages included old emails, instant messages and communications sent over the Bloomberg terminal service.
    But there were “glitches” in the project, “with the identified documents not, in fact, being expunged,” the order said.
    While troubleshooting that issue in June 2019, employees of the firm “executed deletion tasks on electronic communications from the first quarter of 2018,” the order said.
    Those employees “erroneously” believed — based on claims by the firm’s archiving vendor — that all of those documents were coded in a way to prevent the permanent deletion of those records that were required by law to be kept for three years, the order said.
    “In fact, however, the vendor did not apply the default retention settings in a particular email domain,” the order said.
    “And those communications, including many required to be maintained pursuant to the broker-dealer recordkeeping rules, were permanently deleted.”
    Those deletions were discovered in October 2019, when a JPMorgan team responsible for producing records related to legal cases detected that emails were missing from early 2018, the order said.
    JPMorgan reported the deletions to the SEC in January 2020.
    The order noted that, “In at least twelve civil securities-related regulatory investigations, eight of which were conducted by the [SEC] Commission staff, JPMorgan received subpoenas and document requests for communications which could not be retrieved or produced because they had been deleted permanently.”
    And, the order added, “JPMorgan notified only one of the eight investigative teams at the Commission that its production in response to the subpoenas had been compromised by the 2019 deletion event.”
    The order noted that because the deleted communications “are unrecoverable, it is unknown – and unknowable – how the lost records may have affected the regulatory investigations.”
    In fact, a member of JPMorgan’s compliance department acknowledged in an internal email after the deletions came to light that “lost documents could relate to potential future investigations, legal matters and regulatory inquiries,” the order said. More

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    Americans’ buying power rose for first time since March 2021 amid falling inflation

    Annual real hourly earnings increased by 0.2%, on average, in May, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
    Real earnings are wages after accounting for inflation. It was the first time they rose since March 2021.
    If the trend continues, it would mean the average household gets a consistent increase in its standard of living after two years of eroded buying power.

    Images By Tang Ming Tung | Digitalvision | Getty Images

    Workers saw their buying power grow in May for the first time in two years, as inflation continues to fall from its pandemic-era peak.
    If the trend continues, it’d be welcome news for households, who could lean more on their paychecks instead of their savings or credit cards to support everyday spending, economists said.

    “Real” hourly earnings increased by 0.2%, on average, this May versus May 2022, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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    Real earnings represent an average worker’s annual wage growth after accounting for increased costs for household goods and services, as measured by the consumer price index, or CPI.
    A positive number means the average worker experienced an increase in their standard of living. A negative number means the opposite: that salaries can’t buy as much as they did a year ago.
    May’s figure was the first positive annual reading since March 2021, according to BLS data. Before the latest reading, workers had endured 25 consecutive months of eroding buying power, the longest stretch on record, said Aaron Terrazas, chief economist at Glassdoor, a career site.

    “This is clearly a function of inflation starting to come down,” Terrazas said.
    “Real wages turned positive, and that’s great,” he added. “But many [people] are just playing catch-up for what’s happened over the past two years.”

    ‘Unprecedented’ pay jumps during pandemic

    Wage growth started to spike in 2021 as workers enjoyed the benefits of a hot job market. Businesses’ demand for workers jumped to record highs as the U.S. economy reopened broadly after its Covid pandemic-induced lull. Employers raised wages at the fastest pace in decades to compete for a limited pool of talent.
    “Many companies did unprecedented pay increases during the pandemic,” said Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter.
    In some cases, workers’ pay growth was strong enough to outrun inflation’s impact — especially for those who quit their jobs for higher-paying gigs elsewhere.

    For the average person, however, inflation swamped those wage gains. Such households saw their bills for food, rent and filling up the gas tank rise faster than their paychecks.
    The CPI, an inflation barometer, peaked at 9.1% in June 2022 — the highest level in four decades — but has since declined to 4% on an annual basis.
    Meanwhile, wage growth has also declined but at a slower pace — translating to a net boost to Americans’ financial well-being in May relative to last year.
    “The trend reversal is good news for consumers, who have remarkably weathered the decline well and are now set to become even stronger,” Pollak said.

    Positive trajectory for household buying power

    Other economic measures further suggest household well-being has improved.
    For example, Americans’ “real” disposable personal income — both in the aggregate and per capita — has risen for 10 consecutive months since June 2022, according to the most recent U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis data.
    These data sets are more inclusive than that of wage growth. They include interest income, rental income and dividends, for example, all of which have been strong, said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics.

    This is clearly a function of inflation starting to come down.

    Aaron Terrazas
    chief economist at Glassdoor

    The trend is a “very encouraging” sign for consumers, who are less likely to need to supplement income with excess savings or with additional debt, Zandi said.
    Americans owed nearly $1 trillion in credit card debt by the end of March, a record high, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Interest rates on credit cards are also at historic levels, at more than 20%.
    Further, Moody’s estimates that excess savings amassed during the Covid-19 pandemic peaked in September 2021 at almost $2.5 trillion, roughly equal to 10% of U.S. economic output, Zandi said. By April, aggregate savings had fallen to $1.4 trillion, a “big drawdown,” he said.

    While the contours of future inflation and wage growth are unclear, a continuation of positive real earnings and income would be good news for households and the economy, experts said.
    “The key to avoiding [recession] is consumers continuing to spend at a consistent pace, and this is a reason to think that’s what we’re going to see here,” Zandi said of data on real income. “Consumers are the firewall between recession and a growing economy.
    “The firewall is holding firm,” he added. More

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    New technologies hurt car quality as EV brands fare poorly, J.D. Power says

    New vehicles are becoming more troublesome, due in part to new technologies including safety systems, according to the 2023 edition of J.D. Power’s Initial Quality Study
    The study found industry-wide problems per 100 vehicles rose by 12 to 192, on average.
    The firm’s annual initial quality rankings are based on survey responses from new car buyers or lessees of current model-year vehicles who respond during their first 90 days of ownership.

    The 2023 Alfa Romeo Tonale.
    Alfa Romeo

    New vehicles are becoming more troublesome, due in part to new technologies including safety systems, according to the 2023 edition of J.D. Power’s Initial Quality Study released Thursday.
    “The automotive industry is facing a wide range of quality problems, a phenomenon not seen in the 37-year history of the [Initial Quality Study],” said Frank Hanley, senior director of auto benchmarking at J.D. Power. “Today’s new vehicles are more complex — offering new and exciting technology — but not always satisfying owners.”

    The 2023 Initial Quality Study found industry-wide problems per 100 vehicles rose by 12 to 192, on average. That follows an increase of 18 problems per 100 vehicles in last year’s study, a rise attributed at the time to the ongoing supply-chain problems that plagued the industry during the Covid-19 pandemic.
    The study called out growing problems with advanced driver-assistance features such as lane-departure warnings and automatic emergency braking, as well as widespread issues with the wireless charging pads automakers have added for drivers’ smartphones.
    But while the survey showed that part of this year’s increase in problems is related to new technologies, it also found automakers are having trouble with things once seen as basics, such as door handles. Some automakers, perhaps inspired by Tesla, have added high-tech door handles to new models, a “percolating problem area,” according to the study, with electric vehicles making up seven of the 10 worst offenders.
    Three Stellantis brands — Dodge, Ram and Alfa Romeo — topped this year’s quality rankings, while Volvo and EV makers Tesla and Polestar landed at the bottom of the list, with 257 and 313 problems per 100 vehicles, respectively.
    Among U.S. automakers, General Motors had a strong showing, landing all four of its brands — Chevrolet, GMC, Buick and Cadillac — in the top 10 brands for quality.

    Ford Motor didn’t do as well. Both the Ford brand and Lincoln were below average in this year’s tally, with 201 and 208 problems per vehicle, respectively. While Korea’s Hyundai and Kia were both solidly above average, a longtime paragon of quality, Toyota, underperformed with 194 problems per 100 vehicles, slightly worse than average.
    The top mass-market brands for initial quality were Dodge, Ram and Buick. Alfa Romeo, Porsche and Cadillac topped the premium brands’ rankings.
    EV makers such as Tesla, Polestar, Lucid and Rivian aren’t officially considered part of the study because they don’t give J.D. Power formal permission to access customer data, a legal requirement in 15 states.
    J.D. Power was able to calculate its scores for Tesla and Polestar based on the results it collected in other states. Sample sizes for Lucid and Rivian were considered too small to be eligible for rankings and awards, but are included in the overall industry averages, J.D. Power said.
    The firm’s annual initial quality rankings are based on survey responses from new car buyers or lessees of current model-year vehicles who respond during their first 90 days of ownership. It’s a widely watched study within the auto industry. This year’s results were based on responses from over 93,000 participants.
    The company conducts separate surveys to rank brands by long-term dependability, the appeal of their new vehicles’ features and car buyers’ purchasing experiences across brands.

    Top 10 auto brands in the 2023 J.D. Power Initial Quality Study

    Dodge, with 140 average problems per 100 vehicles
    Ram, 141
    Alfa Romeo, 143
    Buick, 162
    Chevrolet, 166
    GMC, 167
    Porsche, 167
    Cadillac, 170
    Kia, 170
    Lexus, 171 More

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    Home sales barely budge from April to May in sluggish spring market

    Home sales inched higher in May from April, according to the National Association of Realtors.
    High interest rates, inflated prices and tight supply are weighing on the traditionally busy spring market.
    Compared with a year earlier, sales fell more than 20%.

    A sign is posted in front of a home for sale on June 09, 2023 in San Francisco, California.
    Justin Sullivan | Getty Images

    Sales of previously owned homes were essentially flat in May compared with April, according to the National Association of Realtors.
    They rose 0.2% to a seasonally adjusted, annualized pace of 4.30 million units. Compared with a year earlier, however, sales were 20.4% lower.

    The slow spring sales pace is a combination of still-high prices, elevated mortgage rates and a critical shortage of homes for sale.
    There were just 1.08 million homes on the market at the end of May. That’s 6.1% lower than the supply in May of last year. At the current sales pace that represents a three-month supply. Six months is considered a balanced market. Before the Covid pandemic hit, there were nearly twice as many homes on the market.
    “Newly constructed homes are selling at a pace reminiscent of pre-pandemic times because of abundant inventory in that sector,” Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the NAR, said in a release. “However, existing-home sales activity is down sizably due to the current supply being roughly half the level of 2019.”
    May sales are based on closings – that is, homes that likely went under contract in March and April. Mortgage rates were choppy during that period. The average contract interest rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage started March over 7%, then dropped sharply close to 6% briefly before then heading higher again, spending most of April around 6.5%.
    Strong demand has kept a floor under home prices, which would normally drop more given the slow sales pace. The median price of an existing home sold in May was $396,100, which is 3.1% lower than May 2022. Prices rose in the Northeast and Midwest but fell in the South and West.

    This is the largest price drop in just over a decade, but it is a median measure, which skews the price toward the type of home that is selling the most.
    Right now, lower-priced homes are seeing the most activity. While sales of homes in all price tiers are now lower compared with a year ago, sales of homes priced between $250,000 and $500,000 were down 12%. But sales of homes priced between $750,000 and $1 million were down 21%. Other price indexes that measure repeat sales of similar homes are showing prices rising again.
    The pull between strong demand and tight supply is keeping the market competitive. Nearly a third of properties sold above list price. Properties remained on the market for 18 days in May, down from 22 days in April but up from 16 days in May 2022. Nearly three-quarters of the homes sold in May were on the market for less than a month.
    “With fewer homeowners poised to become sellers in 2023, buyers have a tough road ahead,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist for Realtor.com. “Our revised 2023 outlook expects that there will be some positives, namely, a gradual decline in mortgage rates beginning midyear and a continued softness in home prices that will start to stabilize high housing costs.”
    The start of the summer housing season is shaping up much like the spring, with slower sales due to lack of supply. In a separate report from Redfin, a real estate brokerage, pending home sales fell 16% from a year earlier during the four weeks ended June 18. Pending sales are based on signed contracts, not closings.
    Despite slower sales, Redfin’s measure of requests for tours and other early stage buying services is up 11% year over year. There are simply more buyers than homes for sale, as new listings are down 24% from a year ago, and the total number of homes for sale is down 8%, the biggest drop in over a year. More

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    Key Boeing supplier stops production at Wichita plant after workers vote to strike

    Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems halted work at a Wichita plant on Thursday after workers voted against a new labor deal and for a strike.
    Spirit makes fuselages for Boeing’s 737 Max and makes parts for other aerospace manufacturers including Airbus.
    Shares of both Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems were down after the news.

    Airplane fuselages bound for Boeing’s 737 Max production facility await shipment on rail sidings at their top supplier, Spirit AeroSystems Holdings Inc, in Wichita, Kansas, U.S. December 17, 2019.
    Nick Oxford | Reuters

    Boeing supplier Spirit AeroSystems halted work at a Wichita plant on Thursday after workers voted against a new labor deal and for a strike. Spirit makes fuselages for Boeing’s 737 Max and makes parts for other aerospace manufacturers including Airbus.
    “In light of the decision to strike by Spirit AeroSystems employees represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers today, Spirit will suspend factory production prior to the expiration of the contract,” Spirit said.

    The production halt began with the first shift on Thursday, two days before the workers’ contract is set to expire.
    The union didn’t immediately comment.
    Spirit shares were down about 8% in premarket trading, while Boeing’s were off close to 3%.
    “We continue to monitor the situation and support our valued supplier,” Boeing said in a statement. More

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    Overstock.com wins auction for Bed Bath & Beyond’s intellectual property, digital assets

    Bed Bath & Beyond’s stores will disappear after Overstock.com agreed to buy the retailer’s intellectual property and digital assets for $21.5 million during a bankruptcy-run auction.
    The deal does not include keeping the chain’s brick-and-mortar presence alive.
    A separate auction for the Buy Buy Baby chain is slated for next week.

    Signage is displayed outside a permanently closed Bed Bath & Beyond retail store in Hawthorne, California, on May 1, 2023. 
    Patrick T. Fallon | AFP | Getty Images

    Bed Bath & Beyond will live on in name only after Overstock.com won an auction for the failed home goods retailer’s intellectual property and digital assets, according to court records filed early Thursday. 
    The e-commerce discounter, which was selected as the stalking horse bidder for Bed Bath’s bankruptcy-run auction, will buy the chain’s brand name, business data and digital assets for $21.5 million, the records say. 

    Shares of Overstock jumped roughly 8% in premarket trading on the news.
    The deal does not include keeping Bed Bath’s stores open. The sale price is the same as Overstock’s stalking horse bid, which set the floor price at the auction, indicating Bed Bath didn’t receive higher or more attractive bids. 
    Jowa Brands was selected as a backup bidder solely for Bed Bath’s Wamsutta brand, a private sheets and towels label the retailer owns. 
    Ten Twenty Four, a software company that helps owners maximize vacation rental revenues and does business as Beyond Pricing, was chosen as the backup bidder for the retailer’s Beyond.com asset. If the deal with Overstock falls through, Ten Twenty Four could win rights to the domain name. 
    The sale still needs to be approved at a hearing on Tuesday. 

    In a rare move, Bed Bath chose to run a separate sale process for its Buy Buy Baby chain, considered the crown jewel of its assets. 
    The separate process allows the company to find a bidder willing to keep the banner’s stores open, without the headache of taking on Bed Bath’s assets. 
    Buy Buy Baby assets garnered attention from buyers even before Bed Bath filed for bankruptcy in April. 
    The chain, which sells baby clothes, furniture and other goods, has since attracted interested buyers during the sale process, including from prospective bidders considering keeping its physical footprint alive, CNBC previously reported.
    The auction for Buy Buy Baby’s assets is slated to take place on Wednesday. More