Business

The Anti-Defamation League is urging Adidas to sever ties with Ye in a letter to Adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted and Chair Thomas Rabe.
The rapper and designer, formerly known as Kanye West, has in recent weeks made several degrading remarks about Jewish people and targeted his business partners with public threats.
Earlier this month, Adidas said it was reviewing its relationship with Ye.

Kanye West arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party on Feb. 9, 2020, in Beverly Hills, Calif.
Evan Agostini | Invision | AP

The Anti-Defamation League is urging Adidas to sever ties with Ye, calling out his recent hateful comments in a letter to Adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted and Chair Thomas Rabe.
The rapper and designer, formerly known as Kanye West, has in recent weeks made several degrading remarks about Jewish people and targeted his business partners with public threats. In September, he parted ways with retailer Gap, and earlier this month, Adidas said it was reviewing its relationship with Ye.

In the interim, though, the retailer said it would “continue to co-manage the current product” from Ye’s Yeezy brand, according to an Oct. 6 statement.
“In light of Kanye West’s increasingly strident antisemitic remarks over the past few weeks, we were disturbed to learn that Adidas plans to continue to release new products from his Yeezy brand without any seeming acknowledgement of the controversy surrounding his most recent remarks,” the ADL letter reads.
“We urge Adidas to reconsider supporting the Ye product line and to issue a statement making clear that the Adidas company and community has no tolerance whatsoever for antisemitism,” the letter says.
Adidas did not immediately respond to request for comment from CNBC.
Ye first partnered with Adidas in 2013 but has recently said he believes the company stole his ideas and hasn’t given him enough control over the Yeezy brand. He’s posted pictures attacking Adidas board members to his social media and in early September posted a doctored image of a New York Times front page falsely claiming Rorsted had died.

In recent days, Ye’s comments have escalated to include threatening and hateful comments about Jewish people. Twitter and Instagram both suspended him from the platforms. On Monday, right-wing social media company Parler said Ye had agreed to buy the app.
The ADL compiled a list of what it deemed harmful recent comments by Ye.
“At a time of rising antisemitism, when incidents in the U.S. reached an all-time high in 2021, such statements are more than damning — they are dangerous. … We hope that more companies, individuals, and political leaders will take action to show that there will be consequences for such hateful rhetoric and that they do not give Ye’s antisemitism a pass,” the statement said.
Adidas recently said its collaboration with Ye has been one of the most successful for the brand to date.
Morningstar analyst David Swartz estimates Yeezy sales for Adidas to be around $2 billion annually, potentially making up 10% of Adidas’s total sales. The retailer doesn’t report specific Yeezy sales numbers.
“Ten years ago, Adidas was struggling in the U.S., the largest sportswear market. Thanks, in part, to Yeezy, its U.S. business has rebounded,” Swartz said. “It has helped bring its North America business back to relevance, and it has made Adidas relevant in the collectors’ market and probably allows it to reach a demo that it has missed.”
Separately on Thursday, Adidas announced preliminary third-quarter results in which the retailer lowered its full-year 2022 guidance due to deterioration of traffic trends in China and a significant inventory buildup as consumer demand waned in major Western markets.

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Airfares are expected to remain high, especially for the peak holiday season.
Airlines are limited in adding flights by shortfalls of planes and staff like pilots.
Remote work and off-season travel is fueling demand longer than airline executives expected.

United’s check-in area at Washington Dulles International Airport.
Leslie Josephs | CNBC

Cheap airfares are hard to find, and it might not get much easier in 2023.
Between staffing shortages, aircraft delays and airlines’ conservative schedules after costly travel meltdowns, available seats are limited. Airlines are also passing along higher fuel prices and other costs to customers, keeping ticket prices elevated. But travelers, at least so far, are willing to pay the price.

“Holiday flights are going to be expensive once again,” said Scott Keyes, founder of flight-deal site Scott’s Cheap Flights. “The pricing power has shifted back to the airlines for winter holiday travel.”
Domestic airfares peaked in May, according to fare-tracker Hopper, but they’re on the rise for the holidays compared with last year. Domestic airfare deals over Thanksgiving are averaging $274, up 19% from 2021, while domestic roundtrips over Christmas are going for $390, up 40% from last year, Hopper says.

Windfall for airlines

The three biggest U.S. airlines — Delta, United and American — each reported profits and record revenue for the third quarter. They all expect to remain profitable through the end of the year, as strong bookings and spending on co-branded credit cards continue.
It’s a far cry from early in the Covid pandemic when travel collapsed and the industry was careening toward record losses. Airlines were propped up by $54 billion in taxpayer aid to weather the crisis and urged workers to take buyouts.
“Demand has not come close to being quenched by a hectic summer travel season,” Delta CEO Ed Bastian said on the carrier’s quarterly call last week.

Bookings have remained resilient despite high inflation and rising interest rates, as consumers refuse to give up getaways, and some even find new ways to travel thanks to more relaxed office attendance policies.
“With hybrid work, every weekend could be a holiday weekend,” United CEO Scott Kirby said on the company’s quarterly call Wednesday. “That’s why September, a normally off-peak month, was the third strongest month in our history.”
Other travel patterns have changed, too. Airlines say they’re maintaining more of their trans-Atlantic schedules as trips to Europe stay popular well into the fall, giving travelers a chance to avoid the crowds at popular tourist destinations. United and Delta recently said they will ramp up spring and summer flying across the Atlantic, a sign they expect demand to continue to recover well into 2023.
Over the holidays, customers appear to be more flexible, too, flying outside of traditional travel days like the Wednesday before Thanksgiving or the Sunday after.
“If you go look at our Thanksgiving schedule right now, there’s less peak-to-trough variability there than certainly I’ve seen in the schedule for a number of years,” Vasu Raja, American’s chief commercial officer, said on an earnings call on Thursday.

Limited seats

Delta doesn’t expect to fully restore its 2019 capacity until next summer. American said Thursday that it would likely get back to between 95% and 100% of its pre-pandemic capacity next year.
For the fourth quarter, American is planning for its capacity to be down as much as 7% compared with 2019, while United and Delta are planning to fly as much as 10% and 9%, respectively, below their levels three years ago.
All three airlines reported higher revenue than 2019, despite flying smaller schedules — a sign of stronger fares, though higher costs have taken a bite out of profits. Executives said customers are even spending more to upgrade to more spacious seats.

Paid seats in premium classes are running five to 10 percentage points over 2019, American’s CEO Robert Isom said in an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Thursday.
“It shows you customers want to treat themselves,” Isom said. “I think that’s a phenomenon that continues not just now … but also if there is any type of stagnation in the economy as well.”

High fares hit Main Street and Wall Street

While demand soars and shifts, aviation industry staff, particularly pilots, remain in short supply, with many still in need of training. Smaller cities have had to bear the brunt of the problem as airlines cut service, citing a lack of pilots.
Some aircraft deliveries are delayed, with the biggest manufacturers struggling to increase production because of labor and supply chain problems, limiting airlines’ ability to grow.
“They are constraints that will take years to fully resolve,” said United’s Kirby.
United and American this week said they would receive some of their Boeing aircraft later than expected.
American Airlines CFO Derek Kerr said the carrier expects to take delivery of 19 Boeing 737 Max 8 planes in 2023, compared with the 27 it previously expected based “on our latest guidance from Boeing.”
“We continue to work closely with suppliers to address industry challenges, stabilize production and meet our commitments to customers,” Boeing said a statement. The company reports its quarterly results next Wednesday.
The industry’s combination of challenges is keeping fares firm, a trend that’s rippling through both Main Street and Wall Street.
The latest inflation read showed airfare up nearly 43% from last year and nearly flat from August, generally a busy time for summer vacations.

Meanwhile, the NYSE Arca Airline index of 17 airline stocks is up more 8% so far this month as of Thursday’s close, almost four times the percentage gains in the S&P 500. Airline shares are still down sharply this year along with the broader market.

Book early

Scott’s Cheap Flights founder Keyes suggests travelers book as early as possible, and even consider snagging deals for summer 2023 in the winter.
“When you are opening your Christmas presents, ideally that’s when you should be thinking about booking those summer flights,” he said.
Large airlines scrapped change fees for standard economy tickets in 2020, so travelers’ plans can be more flexible, though they could be on the hook for a difference in fare.
“You can make your plans in pencil, rather than in pen,” he said.
Airlines have also made many schedule changes this year, so travelers should be aware that flight times could shift before their flight.
While it could be a tough sell to buy next year’s tickets after shelling out for holiday gifts and other expenses, procrastinators beware:
“Last minute fares tend to move in one direction, and it’s not down,” Keyes said.
-CNBC’s Gabriel Cortés contributed to this article.

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Chess grandmaster Hans Niemann filed a $100 million lawsuit against world champion Magnus Carlsen and others for claims that Niemann cheated in competition.
The suit claims that the defendants, including Chess.com, inflicted “devastating damages” against Niemann by “egregiously defaming him.”
It also claims collusion between Chess.com, Carlsen and popular streamer Hikaru Nakamura in barring Niemann from the professional chess world.

US international grandmaster Hans Niemann waits his turn to move during a second-round chess game against Jeffery Xiong on the second day of the Saint Louis Chess Club Fall Chess Classic in St. Louis, Missouri, on October 6, 2022.
Tim Vizer | AFP | Getty Images

Chess grandmaster Hans Niemann filed a $100 million lawsuit against world champion Magnus Carlsen and others for alleged defamatory statements claiming that Niemann cheated in competition.
The suit claims that the defendants, including Chess.com, inflicted “devastating damages” against Niemann by “egregiously defaming him” and “unlawfully colluding” to bar him from the professional chess world.

“My lawsuit speaks for itself,” Niemann said Thursday in a Twitter post.
Niemann, 19, has admitted to cheating on two occasions, once when he was 12 years old and a second time when he was 16. But he denied claims that he cheated in an over-the-board match against Magnus Carlsen this year.
Carlsen withdrew from the Sinquefield Cup in September after losing to Niemann, and eventually came forward with concerns that Niemann had cheated in the match in which he defeated Carlsen.
“When Niemann was invited last minute to the 2022 Sinquefield Cup, I strongly considered withdrawing prior to the event. I ultimately chose to play,” Carlsen, 31, said in a statement posted to Twitter in late September. “I had the impression that he wasn’t tense or even fully concentrating on the game in critical positions, while outplaying me as black in a way I think only a handful of players can do.”
The suit claims that Carlsen’s comments were a retaliatory attempt to keep Niemann from damaging his reputation.

“Enraged that the young Niemann, fully 12 years his junior, dared to disrespect the ‘King of Chess,’ and fearful that the young prodigy would further blemish his multi-million dollar brand by beating him again Carlsen viciously and maliciously retaliated against Niemann,” the suit, filed in the Eastern District of Missouri where the match took place, alleges.

World chess champion Norway’s Magnus Carlsen poses with the FIDE world chess championship trophy after beating challenger.
TOLGA AKMEN | AFP | Getty Images

Chess.com subsequently banned Niemann after reporting that an internal investigation revealed evidence of more cheating than Niemann’s public statements had expressed.
“We have shared detailed evidence with him concerning our decision, including information that contradicts his statements regarding the amount and seriousness of his cheating on Chess.com,” representatives from the Chess website wrote in the “Hans Niemann Report” published in early October. “We have invited Hans to provide an explanation and response with the hope of finding a resolution where Hans can participate on Chess.com.”
Niemann’s lawsuit alleges a conspiracy between the defendants, including Chess.com, popular Chess.com streamer Hikaru Nakamura and Carlsen, whose “Play Magnus” platform is set to be bought by Chess.com. In the “Hans Niemann Report,” the website denies that Carlsen asked or influenced the decision to shut down Niemann’s account.
The report from Chess.com did not find evidence of cheating in Niemann’s over-the-board matches, including the match against Carlsen, though the website notes that its cheating detection is primarily used for online matches.
The report does, however, allege that Niemann likely cheated in over 100 online chess games, including several prize money events. It also shows that Niemann’s Chess.com “Strength Score” sits in the range of over a dozen anonymous grandmasters who have admitted to cheating. The report also notes that Niemann is by far the fastest-rising player by yearly gain in classical over-the-board chess.
Niemann’s defamation and collusion suit calls him an “American chess prodigy,” but Chess.com throws doubt on that claim. The report states that, of the 13 grandmasters under the age of 25, Niemann is the only one who became a grandmaster after the age of 16. In general they call him “statistically extraordinary.”
The report notes Chess.com’s “best-in-class” cheat detection, which has elicited cheating confessions from four players in the global top 100. The report says that Niemann himself called it “the best cheat detection in the world.”

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State of Freight

Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (BMWED), the third-largest rail union, rejected a labor deal with railroads that the Biden Administration had helped to negotiate.
Unions are able to strike starting on Nov. 19 unless Congress intervenes or a deal is reached.
A union rep told CNBC, “The railroads consistently underestimate the frustration and anger of the workers. Workers can’t take it anymore.”

An aerial view of shipping containers and freight railway trains ahead of a possible strike if there is no deal with the rail worker unions, at the BNSF Los Angeles Intermodal Facility rail yard in Los Angeles, California, September 15, 2022.
Bing Guan | Reuters

Logistics managers are dusting off their plans for a possible railroad strike in November that could wreak havoc on the supply chain and cost the U.S. economy up to $2 billion a day.
The National Carriers’ Conference Committee (NCCC), representing the nation’s freight railroads in the national collective bargaining, notified the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (BMWED) on Wednesday that the union’s latest proposal will not be accepted. A deal between the rails and several large unions to avert a strike, with recommendations from the Biden administration, was moving closer to completion before being voted down by the BMWED last week.

“Now is not the time to introduce new demands that rekindle the prospect of a railroad strike,” the NCCC said in a statement.
Tom Nightingale, CEO of AFS Logistics, tells CNBC that logistics managers are fielding calls from customers in anticipation of a possible strike.
“Prudent shippers already had a plan in place a month ago, and most who did not have now ramped up their contingency planning after the wakeup call last month,” Nightingale said. “Proactivity is the key to supply chain success.”
For many intermodal shipments — shipments that use multiple modes of transport such as ocean, trucking and freight rail — there can be a week between when cargo is picked up and when it makes it onto the rail lines, according to Nightingale.
“That lag time will exacerbate the effects of delays and service interruptions, so effectively managing the risk of intermodal disruption means you must plan early and often,” he said.

In anticipation of a strike in September, Norfolk Southern, Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary BNSF, CSX, and Union Pacific all began ramping down freight approximately five days ahead of the strike date in an effort to move critical hazmat materials, such as chlorine and ethanol. That freight took priority over common freight.
“Shippers had a lot of sensitivity to the potential rail strike,” Nightingale said. “No shipper wants to lose their job or risk losing a customer when they have had this much advance notice to a looming disruption.”
As a result, AFS saw a significant uptick in customers looking to shift loads away from intermodal to other modes like truckload and even less-than-truckload shipping (LTL).
“Shippers don’t want cargo with a limited shelf life sitting at a rail yard, particularly commodities like chemicals and refrigerated food and beverage,” he said.

Under the Railway Labor Act, Congress has the ability to impose the resolution from Biden’s Presidential Emergency Board, or order the trains to operate as usual with an extension of negotiations. Nov. 19 is the earliest that rail unions can strike.
“While it is premature to make predictions about what could happen in negotiations, railroads will take every necessary and prudent step to ensure the safety and security of the network and the communities we serve,” a spokesperson for the Association of American Railroads said in an email to CNBC. “The rail network does not turn on and off like a light switch and advanced planning and positioning of assets takes time. Should uncertainty remain ahead of the status quo expiring with BMWED, past action is a good indicator of how those operational plans are executed, and specific decisions on timing will be made as events necessitate.”
“If you are in logistics and you are not already scenario planning for a potential work stoppage you may be behind the curve right now,” said Brian Bourke, chief growth officer of SEKO Logistics. “Everyone is waiting for after the election for any additional movement or news, but the time to start planning is now.”

Anger among union workers

On October 18, the BMWED posted on its website a letter members could use to send to their congressional representatives covering the quality of life and benefits issues, which have been a major sticking point in negotiations over a new contract. One of the key points of contention is the BMWED looking for more paid time off, especially for sickness. 
“The push for paid sick time off could potentially lead to Congressional action,” the letter said. “While we hope the carriers will acknowledge the concerns of their employees and negotiate with us, it is important that we are prepared for their unwillingness to address quality of life concerns.”
“The railroads consistently underestimate the frustration and anger of the workers. Workers can’t take it anymore,” Richard Edelman, counsel for BMWED and chief spokesperson in the collective bargaining, told CNBC. “The Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) ruling is just a recommendation. It is not a lid. Carriers have made the determination of not doing more than the net equivalent of the PEB.”
Union Pacific CEO Lance Fritz told CNBC during an interview on “Squawk on the Street” Thursday morning, “We’ve got some negotiating to do with that union and we’ve agreed to status quo, we’re in status quo while we’re doing that. I am confident we will find a way to craft an agreement that can be taken back out for ratification. That doesn’t mean a strike is not possible, it just means in my opinion I don’t think it’s probable. We’ve got plenty of runway to figure it out.”
On Sept. 15, before the previous national strike deadline, an agreement was announced by Labor Secretary Marty Walsh between the two largest unions, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and the Sheet Metal Workers’ Transportation Division (SMART-TD) and the National Carriers’ Conference Committee. The BMWED is the third-largest union with 23,900 members.
“The railroads have made billions off of their workers,” Edelman said. “These are incredibly skilled jobs where sophisticated pieces of equipment are used. The workers do not feel valued.”
One of the worries among logistics experts is workers quitting, but the AAR spokesperson told CNBC that train and engine service headcount was up 7.4% in September compared with January. Fritz told CNBC that UP’s attrition rate is near its historical norm this year and it’s hiring plan has been right on target, with no indication of any “Great Resignation” at the rail carrier.
“Those new hires came on board for the same reason most railroaders stay for life – railroading is a career that allows you to both support a family and take deep pride in your work,” the AAR spokesperson said.
“Workers need to be able to take off when they are sick. Under the present policy workers are penalized. Railroad executives are so deep into their own bubbles they think all of this is okay,” Edelman said.
The AAR told CNBC it updated the leave policy explainer last week. More

Warner Bros.’ latest DC Extended Universe movie “Black Adam” starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson arrives in cinemas Friday.
The film currently holds a “rotten” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
“Black Adam” fell flat for critics, who said it doesn’t take enough risks and relies too heavily on computer-generated fights and cliched dialogue.

Dwayne Johnson stars in Warner Bros.’ “Black Adam.”
Warner Bros.

Not even Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson could salvage Warner Bros.’ latest entrant into the DC Extended Universe.
“Black Adam,” which premieres Friday, did not impress critics, generating a meager 53% on Rotten Tomatoes from 102 reviews as of Thursday afternoon. While expectations are that the film can pull between $55 million and $75 million during its opening weekend, poor word of mouth could dash the reportedly $200 million film’s hopes before it has a chance to take off.

The film centers on Black Adam, a man who was bestowed the almighty power of the gods, but uses those gifts for vengeance. He is imprisoned for nearly 5,000 years and emerges in modern times to dole out his own unique form of justice.
Unlike his traditional superhero counterparts — in this film it’s the Justice Society, not the Justice League — Black Adam is not averse to the use of deadly force.
Here’s what critics had to say about “Black Adam” ahead of its theatrical debut:

Kristy Puchko, Mashable

“Watching an action movie shouldn’t feel like a chore, but ‘Black Adam’ does,” wrote Kristy Puchko in her review of the film for Mashable. “Amid a slew of publicly damned decisions, Warner Bros. has released a DC Extended Universe movie that is more exhausting than exciting, spooling out tedious exposition alongside ugly action for a muddled mess of a movie that squanders its big budget and the promising star power of Dwayne Johnson, Aldis Hodge and Noah Centineo.”
Puchko noted that “Black Adam” rushes through the introductions of Cyclone, Atom Smasher, Hawkman and Doctor Fate “so quickly that it’s actually comical.”

“In their rush to ‘meet the team,’ the screenwriters ramble out more hasty exposition that’s difficult to grasp amid the cross-cutting of so many introductions and quirky cameos (which I’ll admit are a thrill),” she said.
“‘Black Adam’ is in such a hurry to pitch this batch of C-list heroes into their battle with the protagonist that your head might be spinning.”
Read the full review from Mashable.

Mark Kennedy, Associated Press

“‘Black Adam’ isn’t bad,” said Mark Kennedy in his review of the film for the Associated Press. “It’s just predictable and color-by-numbers, stealing from other films like an intellectual property supervillain.”
Kennedy noted that Johnson is a natural choice to play Black Adam, able to mix “might with humor,” but ultimately his performance and the overall film were “let down by a derivative and baggy screenplay.”
“[The film] goes from one violent scene to another like a video game in order to paper over a plot both undercooked and overcooked,” he said. “At one point, with the audience exhausted by all the carnage, they introduce skeletons who rise up as a legion from hell, just what we wanted.”
Read the full review from the Associated Press.

Pierce Brosnan and Dwayne Johnson star in Warner Bros.’ “Black Adam.”
Warner Bros.

Alonso Duralde, The Wrap

For Alonso Duralde of The Wrap, “Black Adam” felt like “both too much and not enough,” a film where the “narrative gambits are helped by a sludgy visual style that’s either distractingly artificial or dispiritingly gloomy, except when it manages to be both.”
“The ensemble does what it can with the material, but no one’s going to be including this in their eventual life-achievement reels,” he said. “There’s a jarring sense of four-quadrant casting at work here — [Pierce] Brosnan for the parents! Centineo for the teens! Skateboard kid for the tweens! — that reads too obviously as a marketing strategy and not as a cast of characters who would actually be interacting in these circumstances.”
Like many other critics, Duralde noted that the film tries and fails to make a correlation between the Justice Society’s sudden appearance in Kahndaq, a fictional country in the Middle East, and past U.S. imperialism. It stops short of making any meaningful statement, however.
Read the full review from The Wrap.

David Ehrlich, IndieWire

Critics also narrowed in on the narrative choices of “Black Adam.” The superhero film tries to brand its titular character as a vengeful, dark antihero, but does nothing story-wise to elevate or redefine the genre.
“‘Black Adam’ so desperately wants to be a darker and gristlier version of the same hamburger that audiences have been served over and over again for the last 15 years, but Johnson — who’s also a producer on the film, and a part-time architect of this cinematic universe in addition to our own — can’t abide the idea of doing something that might leave even one audience member behind,” said David Ehrlich in his review of the film.
He called “Black Adam” “exhaustingly derivative,” noting that the film felt like it had been “audience-tested within an inch of its life.”
Not even the main antagonist of the film could inspire critics.
“They team up to fight what might be the single-most forgettable villain in comic book movie history, which is a wild thing to say about a giant hell demon with a pentagram scar across its entire chest,” Ehrlich wrote.
Read the full review from IndieWire.

Dwayne Johnson is Black Adam in Warner Bros.’ newest DC film “Black Adam.”
Warner Bros.

Matt Singer, ScreenCrush

Johnson has been connected to the Black Adam character for at least 15 years, explained Matt Singer in his ScreenCrush review. The project has won and lost directors and writers for years, but the former WWE wrestler has always been attached.
“Alas, 15 years of work produced a pretty middling movie, one that does not seem to reflect what must have been hundreds of hours of writing and countless screenplay drafts,” he said.
“Instead, ‘Black Adam’ plays like a committee-made product designed to zhoosh up the stagnant DC Extended Universe with a massive star and a batch of new heroes to spin off into future movies,” Singer said. “After two hours of dour table setting, you’re left with a clear direction for DC’s cinematic future — and a lot less interest in actually watching it.”
Read the full review from ScreenCrush.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC. NBCUniversal owns Rotten Tomatoes.

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The IRS has increased the taxable income thresholds for the 0%, 15% and 20% long-term capital gains brackets for 2023.
With higher standard deductions and taxable income limits for capital gains, it’s more likely you’ll fall into the 0% bracket, experts say.

Getty Images

If you’re planning to sell investments or rebalance your taxable portfolio, you may be less likely to trigger a tax bill in 2023, experts say.
This week, the IRS released dozens of inflation adjustments for 2023, including higher income tax brackets, increased standard deductions, bigger estate tax exclusions and more. 

The agency also bumped up income thresholds for the 0%, 15% and 20% long-term capital gains brackets for 2023, levied on profitable assets held for more than one year.
More from Personal Finance:IRS bumps up estate tax exclusion to $12.92 million for 2023What a record 8.7% Social Security cost-of-living adjustment could mean for taxesIRS: Here are the new income tax brackets for 2023
“It’s going to be pretty significant,” said Tommy Lucas, a certified financial planner and enrolled agent at Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo in Orlando, Florida.

How to know your capital gains tax bracket

With higher standard deductions and income thresholds for capital gains, it’s more likely you’ll fall into the 0% bracket in 2023, Lucas said.
For 2023, you may qualify for the 0% long-term capital gains rate with taxable income of $44,625 or less for single filers and $89,250 or less for married couples filing jointly.

The rates use “taxable income,” calculated by subtracting the greater of the standard or itemized deductions from your adjusted gross income.

By comparison, you’ll fall into 0% long-term capital gains bracket in 2022 with a taxable income of $41,675 or less for single filers and $83,350 or less for married couples filing jointly.

The 0% bracket is a ‘really good tax planning opportunity’

With taxable income below the thresholds, you can sell profitable assets without tax consequences. And for some investors, selling may be a chance to diversify amid market volatility, Lucas said.
“It’s there, it’s available, and it’s a really good tax planning opportunity,” he added.
Whether you’re taking gains or tax-loss harvesting, which uses losses to offset profits, “you really have to have a handle on your entire reportable picture,” said Jim Guarino, a CFP, CPA and managing director at Baker Newman Noyes in Woburn, Massachusetts.
That includes estimating year-end payouts from mutual funds in taxable accounts — which many investors aren’t expecting in a down year — and may cause a surprise tax bill, he said.
“Some additional loss harvesting might make a lot of sense if you’ve got that additional capital gain that’s coming down the road,” Guarino said.
Of course, the decision hinges on your taxable income, including payouts, since you won’t have taxable gains in the 0% capital gains bracket.

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Caesars Entertainment and developer SL Green have announced a joint bid for a casino located in New York’s Times Square.
The proposed casino would be called Caesars Palace Times Square.
The bid faces competition from other real estate and gambling giants.

Video slot machines at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada.
George Rose | Getty Images

Developer SL Green Realty is working with casino operator Caesars Entertainment on a bid to bring a casino to New York’s Times Square, the companies announced Thursday.
The partners said the proposed project would redevelop Times Square building 1515 Broadway into Caesars Palace Times Square, which will include a Broadway theater that will be home to “The Lion King” and other entertainment attractions.

They also promised the development would “accelerate economic recovery for surrounding businesses” in Times Square, as well as “create good-paying union jobs for New Yorkers.”
In April, New York state approved up to three full-service casinos for the downstate New York area, with two licenses likely to go to existing casino operators — Resorts World racetrack casino in Queens and the Empire City Casino at Yonkers Raceway, north of the Bronx.
Now, competition for the third license that Caesar is aiming for is heating up amid a public bid for a casino in nearby Hudson Yards from Related Companies and Wynn Resorts.
“We believe that Times Square offers the best location for a new resort casino that can attract tourists and benefit local businesses. Our approach will ensure that under-represented communities benefit both in terms of employment and investment opportunities,” said Marc Holliday, CEO of SL Green, in a statement.
Holliday added that because the project will be a renovation instead of a new construction, the opening can happen quicker than other proposed facilities, and without changes to the law or disruption to local communities.

In 2013, New York voters approved a constitutional amendment that granted seven full-scale casino licenses for the state — four of which went to regions upstate and the remaining three allocated for the New York City area. The approval process is expected to be lengthy and costly, with licenses costing at least $500 million each.
Caesars Palace Times Square will be 100% privately funded, the SL Green and Caesars Entertainment said, with Caesars managing the casino’s operation and brand.

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Netflix is about to launch its new ad tier, something the company had long proclaimed it wouldn’t do.
But like its binge-release model for TV shows, the streaming giant appears willing to stick with only limited theatrical releases for its movies.
Still, some theater owners and industry analysts are wondering whether the streaming giant will rethink its resistance to the traditional movie release model.

Daniel Craig returns as Benoit Blanc in “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Story.”

Netflix backtracked on advertisements. Should theatrical releases be next?
Some theater owners and industry analysts are wondering whether the streaming giant will rethink its resistance to the traditional Hollywood movie release model as it looks for new ways to grow revenue.

This Thanksgiving, Netflix plans to release “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Story,” the sequel to the 2019 hit whodunnit “Knives Out,” in select theaters for a week before offering it to subscribers a month later.
The streamer reportedly shelled out $400 million for the rights to two sequels after the original “Knives Out” generated $312 million globally on a budget of just $40 million. The first film’s performance at the box office in turn provoked questions about why Netflix has limited the release of “Glass Onion” to just one week in only 600 theaters.
And with a thin pipeline of big movie releases this year, theater owners want more from Netflix.
“We are happy they are experimenting and giving us an exclusive time window,” said Brock Bagby, chief content and development officer for B&B Theatres, which has more than 50 locations in 14 states. “But we wish it was a longer run and we wish it was wider.”
Some executives within Netflix reportedly lobbied co-CEO Ted Sarandos earlier this year to consider longer stints in theaters and wider releases for some films, but Sarandos nixed the idea. Top brass at the company have said repeatedly that the future of entertainment is streaming.

Netflix could benefit with a more flexible approach to movie releases, according to some on Wall Street. That could help bring in more box office revenue and attract filmmakers with the prestige that can come with theatrical releases.
“If anything, this past year has shown that Netflix is open to and in need of new sources of revenue,” said Mike Proulx, vice president and research director at Forrester. “Incremental subscription revenue alone just isn’t going to cut it going forward.”
Read more: Netflix wants investors to focus on earnings, not subscriber numbers
That’s partially why Netflix is adding an advertising-supported tier to its service after so many years of resisting, he said.
Michael Pachter, analyst at Wedbush, said he understands Netflix doesn’t make films to profit from theatrical releases, and that the company’s priority is to satisfy its members. “But that ignores the fact that film creators strongly believe in theatrical exhibition as a measure of success,” Pachter said.
Netflix executives have stood firm by their decision to show “Glass Onion” in just 600 theaters for one week. The company’s strategy in the past with limited theatrical releases – such as with Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” – has been to build buzz for subscribers when the film arrives on its service. That’s the play here, too, the company said during Tuesday’s earnings video.
“We’re in the business of entertaining our members with Netflix movies on Netflix,” Sarandos said during the call.
He said that Netflix has brought films to festivals and gave them limited runs in theaters because filmmakers have demanded it.
“There [are] all kinds of debates all the time, back-and-forth, but there’s no question internally that we make our movies for our members and we really want them to watch them on Netflix,” he said.
Netflix declined to comment further.

Still tinkering

“One thing Netflix has been successful at historically is iterating, experimenting, and seeing what works best for its members and shareholders,” said Ralph Schackart, research analyst at William Blair. “It then leans into what’s successful and pulls away from what doesn’t work. ​We think part of Netflix’s historical success has been its willingness to be flexible and to try unconventional methods.”
He said Netflix isn’t likely to commit to a longer theatrical release window until it sees if that strategy can benefit its business.
Additionally, Dan Rayburn, a media and streaming analyst, said that there is no publicly available data that suggests Netflix would make more money from subscriptions, in the long run, if the company did place more of its film content in theaters.
Of course, theatrical releases come with marketing costs, and Netflix has been reluctant to spend on promoting features playing for limited engagements.
And while theatrical releases might open a new revenue stream for Netflix, Forrester’s Proulx noted that movie theaters might not be as relevant as they once were. According to Forrester’s Consumer Energy Index and Retail Pulse survey released in December 2021, 54% of U.S. adults who use a streaming service said they prefer to watch movie premieres on streaming.
Still, people are returning to cinemas after hunkering down early in the pandemic, particularly for action and horror films, as well as established franchises. “Halloween Ends” debuted to $41.25 million at the domestic box office over the weekend, despite also launching on Universal’s streaming service Peacock at the same time.
There’s also a argument to be made to make decisions on a case by case basis, particularly for a movie like “Glass Onion,” considering how well the first installment of the franchise performed in cinemas in late 2019 – especially considering there are so few big movies coming to theaters before the end of the year.
The original “Knives Out,” which carried a $40 million production budget, generated $26.7 million during its opening weekend and held audience attention for weeks, before seeing another boost in ticket sales for the holidays in December holidays. By the end of its theatrical run, it generated $165 million in domestic box office and $312 million worldwide.
“The pros of a longer theatrical run for Netflix would seem to outweigh any cons,” said Shawn Robbins, chief media analyst at BoxOffice.com. “This is not an unproven original film like the streamer has predominantly made for its platform in the past, but a sequel IP with star names and strong commercial potential.”
He also noted that Netflix put such a high value on filmmaker Rian Johnson’s sequels because of the success the original film enjoyed during a long and exclusive theatrical run under Lionsgate.
“Without that latter component, would Netflix have invested as much in ‘Glass Onion’ and its eventual follow-up, if at all?” Robbins said.
The deal for two sequels to “Knives Out” was announced in March 2021 and was said to be valued around $400 million. Johnson was to retain complete creative control and Daniel Craig, the star of the original film, would return for both films.
“Like the first film, the legs could be really strong,” B&B’s Bagby said of “Glass Onion.”
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of Universal, Peacock and CNBC.

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