FT : New boss seeks to make H&M even faster at fashion

New boss seeks to make H&M even faster at fashion
Daniel Ervér says rise of Chinese competitors ‘requires us to react quicker’ to new trends

H&M’s new boss has pledged that the Swedish fast-fashion chain will invest more in reacting quicker to new trends, including by bringing some of its manufacturing from Asia closer to its main markets.

Daniel Ervér, the 42-year-old company veteran who became chief executive on Wednesday, told the Financial Times that H&M would use improvements in profitability and cash flow last year to invest in its customer offering.

“One part is being faster to market,” he said. “We are digitalising processes. We are developing nearshoring capabilities — being quicker to react to new trends. We also want to leverage data from customers to be more precise in how we run our supply chain.”

The family-controlled group has been under pressure for more than a decade, losing its crown as the world’s largest fashion retailer to Spain’s Inditex — the owner of Zara — as well as suffering from a decline in profit margins.

H&M spent last year prioritising profitability over sales growth by closing stores and raising prices. But its full-year results, released on Wednesday alongside news of Ervér’s appointment, showed its profit margin missed analysts’ expectations in the fourth quarter, prompting a 10 per cent drop in its share price.

Analysts and investors have pointed to the Swedish group’s large manufacturing footprint in Asia and its relative inability to react fast to breaking fashion trends compared with Inditex, which has many factories closer to its main European markets. It has also been hit by the rise of lower-price retailers such as China’s Shein and Temu, as well as Primark before them.

Ervér said the new competition “requires us to react quicker” but that “really nailing price and fashion” is “doing something that lower-cost can’t”.

He added that after several years of closing more stores than it opened, H&M had “great opportunities” in 2025 and 2026 to increase the number of its shops. This year it is likely to close more stores than it opens in numbers, but to open more in terms of revenue. It had 4,369 stores at the end of November, down from 5,076 in 2019.

“We have had a big focus on profitability, especially over the last year. It was necessary to start to generate cash flow. It allows us to invest in the customer offering,” said Ervér, who started at the Swedish group as a summer trainee 18 years ago and most recently was head of the H&M brand.

Some analysts and investors have urged the group, whose shares are three-quarters controlled by its founding Persson family, to appoint an outsider to shake up the retailer and its strategy.

“Nothing radical will be done with insider after insider in charge,” said one shareholder.

Ervér said his appointment was a matter for the board but that he was confident “that we have a very good direction for where we’re heading” and argued H&M’s strength was its “core business model”.

The company’s operating profit margin fell from more than 20 per cent in 2010 to just 3.2 per cent in 2022, before rebounding to 6.2 per cent last year. Its target for this year is 10 per cent.

The new chief executive said his leadership style was to set a “clear and compelling direction”, then “be daring to make some bold decisions and choices” as well as be “inclusive and empowering”.

He added: “Creating long-term value for customers, employees and also the shareholders is tremendously important. Our focus will be on profitable growth.”

FT : Novo Nordisk ‘surprised’ by high European demand for weight-loss drugs

Novo Nordisk ‘surprised’ by high European demand for weight-loss drugs
Chief executive says customers very willing to pay for Wegovy from their own pockets

Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk has been “surprised” by the readiness of European consumers to pay for weight-loss drugs from their own pockets, as the region’s largest company invests in new supply to meet runaway demand.

The company’s weight-loss drug Wegovy and diabetes treatment Ozempic powered it to record sales in 2023 and a current market capitalisation of $508bn.

Wegovy’s effectiveness — participants lost an average 15 per cent of their body weight in a trial lasting more than a year — and a string of celebrity endorsements have made it very popular.

Chief executive Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen said the company had found “a very high willingness” among Europeans to pay for weight-loss drugs personally, even where they were not used to doing so.

“The uptake we see has surprised us initially. We wondered, was that only a US phenomenon? We tested it out in Denmark and Norway, we saw more or less the same,” he told the Financial Times. “It’s perhaps the first time that you see a large population willing to pay out of pocket for medicine.”

Wegovy and Saxenda, another older weight-loss drug, made $4.7bn in sales in the US last year, an increase of 193 per cent from 2022. But sales also doubled in Europe and the Middle East to almost $1bn in 2023 after Wegovy was made available in the UK, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Germany, Iceland and the United Arab Emirates.

In Europe — where Wegovy is not yet generally available in public health systems — 80 per cent of sales are paid for personally by consumers, with the remainder reimbursed by health insurance or states. In the US, more than 90 per cent of sales are completely or partially covered by health insurance, the company said.

The willingness to pay upfront is because people “have tried all kinds of interventions” to lose weight, Jørgensen said. “When there’s finally something that works and brings improved health and quality of life for the individual, there’s very high willingness to pay.”

In Jørgensen’s native Denmark, he said that about 1.5 per cent of the adult population, just under 100,000 Danes, are paying for the drug. In the UK, Wegovy is available in limited supply on the NHS but patients using private healthcare can pay up to £300 for a month’s supply. Costs are similar in Denmark and Germany.

High demand has led to supply problems, with the company committing $6.5bn in capital spending this year to increase production. Jørgensen said that private patients exhausting supplies were “a concern”. He added that: “Vulnerable patients . . . have an opportunity of getting care via the healthcare system. Obviously, that means the healthcare system has to acknowledge obesity as a disease. That’s not yet the case in all countries.”

To help convince healthcare providers and to increase take-up, Novo Nordisk is in talks with healthcare systems about contracts that allow them to spread the costs of Wegovy over many years.

But healthcare providers must also decide whether weight-loss drugs represent value for money. The UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has recommended Wegovy for people with a BMI of at least 35, or 30-35 if they have other health conditions. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines a BMI of 30 and over as obese.

A Novo Nordisk trial published in November studied more than 17,600 people aged above 45 with obesity who had cardiovascular disease, but not diabetes, comparing Wegovy with a placebo. About 458 patients taking the placebo died during the trial, compared with 375 people taking Wegovy, an 18 per cent reduction in the risk of death.

However, modelling by healthcare data company Airfinity based on the trial data estimated that to prevent one heart attack, stroke or cardiovascular-related death, 67 people would need to take Wegovy for 3.3 years on average, at a cost of $1.3mn.

Jørgensen said: “I think most healthcare systems would acknowledge that if you cater for BMI with a certain level of comorbidities, there is a very strong case.”

FT : Private equity group EQT revives plans for $20bn Galderma IPO

Private equity group EQT revives plans for $20bn Galderma IPO
Listing of skincare group spun out of Nestlé in 2019 would be one of Europe’s largest listings of recent years

Private equity group EQT is reviving plans for an initial public offering of dermatology company Galderma as investors hope Europe’s market for new listings may finally be reopening.

Galderma, spun out of Nestlé in 2019, is preparing for an IPO in Switzerland that could come as soon as the first half of this year, said people familiar with the matter. Bankers have said the unit could be valued at roughly $20bn.

The people cautioned that the deal’s timing and size had not been finalised and were subject to change. EQT declined to comment.

A listing for Galderma would mark one of the biggest European IPOs in recent years, and come after performance last year slumped to the lowest level since the 2008 financial crisis.

The company’s growth has been driven by specialist skincare products such as Cetaphil, brands that treat issues including acne, rosacea and sensitive skin. It has also had success with so-called “injectible aesthetics”, products like botox and filler.

Last year Galderma received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration for two new injectibles — one that targets cheeks, the other “under-eye hollows”. The company has set out to develop the largest injectibles business in the market, taking on competitors such as AbbVie and Merz.

It reported record net sales of $3bn in the first nine months of 2023, according to its latest results, a rise of about 9 per cent on the same period in 2022 when currency fluctuations are eliminated.

Stockholm-based EQT has previously looked at listing Galderma, but private equity groups have had a challenging time selling their portfolio companies on public markets as interest rates have risen and post-IPO performance has been patchy. This issue has been particularly acute with large assets such as Galderma, which are too big to sell to their buyout peers.

Last June, Galderma raised about $1bn in a private placement from existing and new shareholders to strengthen its balance sheet and fund expansion.

While EQT had previously targeted raising up to €3bn in an IPO, the private placement helped lower Galderma’s borrowing levels and may allow the company to target a smaller offering this time, the people said.

Private equity executives are expecting more activity in 2024, as investors in buyout funds have begun increasing pressure on the groups to sell long-held investments and start returning cash.

Other private equity-owned companies that could list in Europe this year include Italian luxury sports shoe brand Golden Goose, owned by Permira.

Consumer goods giant Nestlé sold Galderma for $10bn five years ago to an EQT-led consortium that included Singapore’s GIC and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

The company accelerated its IPO planning after the Covid-19 pandemic helped turbocharge the market for so-called “tweakments” like fillers and botox.

>>> Barron’s Weekend Summary

Barron’s Weekend Summary: Over 3,000 real estate professionals attended the annual Inman Connect New York conference in Midtown Manhattan

Cover:
-Over 3,000 real estate professionals attended the annual Inman Connect New York conference in Midtown Manhattan, marking the largest gathering since a Missouri court penalty against select brokerage firms and the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the industry's top lobbying group. The verdict has put brokers in an uncomfortable role of pushing for reform of the same organization that helps safeguard their golden goose, an industry-standard 5%-plus commission. NAR, founded in 1908, is part standards body, part Realtor advocate, and part industry lobbyist. It owns the trademark to the word Realtor and sets standards for the regional databases known as Multiple Listing Services (MLS). Membership in NAR is almost required for anyone looking to market a home.

Interview:
-Barron’s interviewed Jonathan Curtis, the chief investment officer of Franklin Equity Group and lead portfolio manager of the Franklin Technology fund. He has over 30 years of experience in the tech sector. He started his career as a software developer and test engineer and has been picking tech stocks for Franklin since 2008. Franklin Technology, a Luxembourg-based fund, returned over 54% in 2023 due to bets on most of the Magnificent Seven, a group of top-performing tech companies. Curtis sees more gains ahead for both the stock and the sector due to his bullish view on artificial intelligence. In a recent interview with Barron's, Curtis discussed his favorite stocks and the future of AI, predicting that the strength in the Magnificent Seven will broaden out this year, as he believes this is the start of a new business cycle in tech.

Tech Trader:
-The tech sector's top five companies, with a combined market value of $10T, reported earnings within 48 hours of each other. The week's earnings race was a draw, with Meta Platforms and Amazon.com up, Apple down, and Microsoft flat. The tech giants' results offered key insights into the outlook for technology, markets, and the planet. Microsoft posted a beat-and-raise quarter, besting Wall Street estimates in every category, with 28% growth in its Azure cloud business on a constant-currency basis. Microsoft's Copilot software for Office adoption was double the September-quarter rate. Meta, a more under-the-radar AI play, holds significant promise for targeting advertising and content to Facebook and Instagram users. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has committed to increasing his bet on AGI, or artificial general intelligence, which could magically solve all the world's troubles if it doesn't wipe out humanity.

The Trader:
-Philip Morris International's stock has fallen 1.1% since the start of 2024, lagging behind the Consumer Staples Select Sector SPDR's 3.1% rise. The stock is stabilizing in the low $90s, and earnings could be the catalyst for the shares to head higher. Sales for the quarter are expected to grow 10.5% to $9B, and the increased adoption of the company's smokeless products, including its IQOS heated tobacco, and should offset declines in traditional cigarette sales. Smokeless tobacco products are growing at an annual clip of just under 5% globally and could hit $124B by 2029.
-Copper is rallying, up 8% to $3.87 a pound since mid-October. The market is expecting increased demand for auto makers, consumer-goods manufacturers, and copper due to the better-than-expected economy. The Federal Reserve is likely to cut interest rates, and China is releasing $140B in monetary stimulus. As copper approaches the low-to-mid $3.90s, a breakout could signal confidence in the economic outlook and potentially lead to prices reaching $4.20, a level briefly touched in January 2023. Copper, closely associated with China, is testing resistance of a 'coil' developing for the past year.

Features:
-Demand for travel outside of China has been significantly reduced due to Covid-19, with the capacity of flights leaving and entering China reaching just over half of the same period in 2019. Domestic flights made up 92.6% of domestic flights last month, while flights into or out of China made up only 7.4%. Analysts are now more realistic about the recovery of Chinese leisure spending, including overseas travel, compared to their highly optimistic forecasts. The pessimism is based on the continued failure of consumer spending to rise. Morgan Stanley analysts predict that demand may take longer than expected to recover from 70-80% of pre-Covid levels.
-GE has published its final annual report on February 2, with the company splitting into GE Aerospace and GE Vernova in the coming weeks. Aerospace is GE's aviation business, while Vernova includes GE's power-generation businesses. GE Healthcare Technologies was spun out in 2023. The company will no longer be known as General Electric since its inception in 1892. CEO Larry Culp, who joined the board in 2018 amid significant business turmoil, believes that the company's financial health is in good shape. GE's industrial businesses generated free cash flow of $5.6 billion in 2017, $4.5 billion in 2018, and $3.9 billion in 2019. However, things have improved, with GE generating $5.2 billion in 2023 and expected to generate more than $6 billion in 2024.

Europe:
-Ferrari's stock has risen after the sports car maker reported a solid fourth quarter, with earnings per share of €1.62 ($1.75) on sales of €1.52B ($1.64B). Despite lower deliveries, sales rose 11%. Ferrari expects 2024 earnings per share of more than €7.50 on sales of €6.4B, in line with Wall Street projections. Shares were up 11.6% at $387.08, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were up about 0.7% and 0.8%, respectively. Ferrari stock is on pace for the largest percent increase in more than three years, with a 2% year-to-date increase and a 37% increase over the past 12 months. However, this is more akin to luxury brand than maker-like stock performance: BMW shares are down about 3% this year and Mercedes-Benz Group shares are up about 1% in 2024, but down 9% over the past 12 months.

Emerging Markets:
-“On a zero-to-10 scale, Brazil today is a seven,” says Daniel Gewehr, head of Latin American equity strategy at Itaú BBA. Brazil's central bank has reduced interest rates from 13.75% to 11.25% due to easing inflation, with an expected 9% increase later this year. This could drive listed company earnings up 14% year-on-year at an index level. Domestic-related stocks, such as car-rental leader Localiza and jewelry chain Vivara, are seen as the most attractive. Emerging markets portfolio manager Verena Wachnitz believes the market is cheap due to earnings growth. Localiza is the only top-10 Brazilian stock in the index, while B3, parent company of the Bolsa exchange, is seen as a potential beneficiary. However, the effect on big banks like Itaú Unibanco Holding and Banco Bradesco is less clear, as lower rates may lead to lower interest margins, fewer nonperforming loans, and potential loan growth.

Commodities:
-A drone attack by Iran-backed militants in Syria and Iraq killed three US troops in Jordan, leading to retaliatory strikes and concerns about a tipping point in the Mideast conflict. Despite this, crude prices have barely budged and US gasoline prices have fallen since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7. Traders are hesitant to attribute much risk premium to oil prices, as barrels of oil are still being transported worldwide despite heated rhetoric, attacks, and blockades. In 2019, Iranian-backed forces attacked assets in the Persian Gulf, causing oil prices to spike 10% in a day. RBC Capital Markets analyst Helima Croft sees a "very real risk of a return to the 2019 playbook."

Streetwise:
-Allen Media Group's $14.3B offer for Paramount Global is likely to appear more generous as time passes, according to a bearish investment bank's buyout math. The $30B offer, including debt, works out to $21.53 per nonvoting share and more for voting shares. Investors are betting that Shari Redstone, Paramount's controlling shareholder, is unlikely to accept the offer. Just three years ago, BofA Securities valued Paramount at $53 a share. However, by early last year, BofA had marked down its value for Paramount to $32 a share and lowered its price target to $9, believing that Paramount was overly resistant to a sale. This week, BofA remains with $9, stating that Paramount is an attractive takeover target.

FT : European airlines prepare for record summer passenger numbers

European airlines prepare for record summer passenger numbers
Ryanair, easyJet and Wizz Air point to signs of strong demand despite economic gloom and high ticket prices

European airlines are preparing for record passenger numbers this summer as people rush to book flights despite the economic gloom and high ticket prices.

Ryanair, easyJet and Wizz Air, the region’s three big low-cost airlines, all pointed to early signs of strong summer demand, as well as rising fares, in their most recent results.

Indications that consumers are prioritising travel have spurred airlines to increase flights over summer: European airlines will have 817.5mn seats available between April and October, according to travel data company OAG, the highest number on record.

“Demand remains very strong across the board,” said Wizz Air chief executive József Váradi.

Airlines are on course for a second consecutive bumper summer, after reporting healthy profits thanks to high fares last year.

Adjusted operating profits for the six largest European carriers are expect to hit €10.5bn in 2024, according to consensus estimates from FactSet, up from €9.2bn last year.

EasyJet said it had been filling two planes a minute during its busiest booking periods since the start of this year, while Ryanair said this week that bookings were about 5 per cent higher than at the same time last year, and prices were up “by a low single-digit percentage”.

EasyJet said prices were “well ahead” of the same time last year, while Wizz Air also pointed to strong fares.

Industry optimism extends beyond airlines. Saga said this week that it expected passenger numbers in its travel business to rise 20 per cent this year, while package holiday company On the Beach said the value of bookings in its peak January period was up 27 per cent year on year.

January is one of the busiest holiday booking periods, providing insights on trading for the rest of the year.

“We see positive booking momentum for summer 2024 with travel remaining a priority for consumers,” said easyJet boss Johan Lundgren.

Average air fares across Europe were between 20 and 30 per cent higher over summer 2023 compared with 2019, according to EU data published in October.

Demand for travel has shot up since pandemic restrictions ended but the supply of aircraft remains limited because of problems including delayed deliveries from Boeing and the grounding of some Airbus planes for checks on their engines.

While Ryanair and Wizz Air have both expanded aggressively since 2019, other airlines are keeping their schedules close to, or even below, pre-pandemic levels.

“It’s absolutely supply against demand. People still want to travel and — notwithstanding the cost of living challenges — consumers are prioritising experiences,” said Andrew Lobbenberg, head of European transport research at Barclays.

Analysts at Bernstein said in a recent note that current European airline capacity was “well below its pre-pandemic growth path”, forecasting a 15 to 20 per cent shortfall in seats compared with demand.

“The real issue is that we think there is a lot more demand than what we are able to deliver,” said Váradi.

>>> Weekend Papers Summary

Weekend Papers Summary

FINANCIAL TIMES
-The US has launched a series of retaliatory strikes against Iranian-linked forces in Iraq and Syria, identifying 85 targets at seven facilities. The strikes, which include those associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and Iranian-backed militia, are part of President Joe Biden's escalating campaign in the region. The strikes are the first time the US has targeted the Quds Force directly in its campaign. The US officials have signaled that these strikes are the first in a phased response, with additional action planned to put an end to the attacks. Despite Biden's stance on not wanting to get involved in a wider war, he has indicated that the US would continue to strike back if Iran and its proxies do not cease.
-The Democratic campaign is considering endorsements from global pop star Taylor Swift to win votes in the upcoming Super Bowl. Swift, a culturally significant figure who has previously endorsed Democratic candidates, has a significant impact on the US economy and has a romantic relationship with a star player. The campaign is considering whether Swift's endorsement could boost Biden's chances in the upcoming election.
-Turkey's central bank governor, Hafize Gaye Erkan, has resigned just months into her tenure, citing weeks of smears against her in local media. Erkan, appointed in June as the bank's first female chief, will be replaced by deputy governor Fatih Karahan, who will be President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's sixth central bank chief in five years. Erkan, a former Goldman Sachs banker, has been a central architect of a sweeping economic policy overhaul since Erdogan's re-election in May and has been praised by foreign investors.
-The US economy added 353,000 jobs in January, nearly double the forecast, causing investors to lower expectations for an interest rate cut in March. The figures, compared to 180,000 expected for last month, bolster the Federal Reserve's stance that it may be too soon to cut interest rates.
-Over 40% of surveyed participants at a US bank session on Chinese equities believed the country was "uninvestable," following the vice-premier's call for more measures to stabilize the market and boost investor confidence. The poll results highlight the difficulties facing China's stock market, which has experienced three years of grinding losses after a decade of steady foreign inflows. Traders, asset managers, and hedge funds have reported that global investor confidence has been shaken by these losses.
-Donald Trump has expressed his desire to replace Jay Powell as the Federal Reserve chair, citing his political stance and his prediction of cutting interest rates to "help the Democrats" this year. Trump, who was critical of Powell from 2017 to 2021, believes Trump is trying to lower interest rates for the sake of getting people elected. Trump has not offered another four-year term to Powell in 2026, despite his nomination in 2018. Despite nominating Powell in 2018, Trump later turned against the US central bank, accusing it of keeping interest rates too high during trade wars with China and Europe.
-Panama's former president, Ricardo Martinelli, will not be able to run in the May elections despite leading the polls by double digits, according to experts. The Supreme Court threw out a final appeal over his money laundering conviction, confirming his conviction and making him constitutionally barred from running. Martinelli had been filing legal challenges to overturn the final decision.
-Tesla must update the software of over 2M US vehicles, marking its third major safety update in three months. The update covers all Tesla models and the new Cybertruck, as warning lights on the instrument panel are too small, according to federal safety standards. The small font size can make critical safety information difficult to read, increasing crash risk.
-US oil giants ExxonMobil and Chevron have achieved their second-biggest annual profits in a decade, despite a decline in prices. The oil giants increased output in 2023, doubling down on oil and gas, despite concerns over their commitment to emissions reduction. Exxon's full-year net income was $36B, its biggest profit since 2012.

THE NEW YORK TIMES
-The Biden administration has warned that US military strikes targeting Iranian forces and Iran-backed militia sites in Syria and Iraq will not be the last. The country's defense ministry reported that civilians and soldiers were killed in Syria, while at least 18 members of Iran-backed groups were killed in strikes on 26 sites. US officials are confident that the strikes on 85 targets at seven sites in the two countries have hit "exactly what they meant to hit," but analysts will make a closer assessment in daylight.
-The Biden administration has imposed sanctions and criminal charges on Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, its premier military force, for threatening water utilities and manufacturing Iranian drones. The sanctions were unsealed, and nine people were charged with selling oil to finance militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah. The timing was intended to pressure the Revolutionary Guards and its elite unit, the Quds Force, during a time of extraordinary Middle East tension. The sanctions have been brewing for some time, but the region has been in turmoil for months.
-Israel's defense minister has announced that ground forces will advance towards Rafah, a city in the southern Gaza Strip, which has become a refuge for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced by the 13-week war. Rafah, a hub for humanitarian aid, is a sprawl of tents and shelters along the border with Egypt, housing about half of Gaza's 2.2 million residents.
-Judge Tanya Chutkan has scrapped the trial date for the Trump Election Subversion case, which was scheduled for March 4, as an appeals court considers Donald Trump's immunity argument. -Prosecutor Faian Willis admitted a personal relationship with Nathan Wade, but said it shouldn't hinder her prosecution. District attorney Fani T. Willis has admitted to a "personal relationship" with a prosecutor she hired to manage the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump. However, she argued that this is not a reason to disqualify her or her office from the case. The admission came after allegations of an "improper, clandestine personal relationship" between the two surfaced in a motion from one of Trump's co-defendants.
-The Supreme Court won’t block use of race in West Point admissions for now. The court rejected an emergency request to temporarily bar the military academy from using race in admissions while a lower-court lawsuit proceeds.
-As Inflation Fades Globally, Growth Is Resilient, Especially in the US. Economies all over the world are lowering inflation while avoiding serious recession — but growth in the United States stands out.
-The US has quietly resumed deportation flights deep into Mexico. The flights, which had been paused for nearly two years, are designed in part to discourage migrants from repeatedly trying to cross into the US.
-Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Ackman, head of Meta, and one candidate backed by Zuckerberg, have failed to secure enough petition signatures to be on the Harvard Board of Overseers' ballot for election. The candidates, a slate of four backed by Ackman and one by Zuckerberg, said they were disappointed but appreciated the support. The failure raises questions about the support for Ackman's campaign against Harvard's leadership over the past few months. The candidates are looking forward to trying again next year.
-Vice President Kamala Harris has urged supporters in South Carolina to not ignore the Democratic presidential nominating contest, which is expected to be uncompetitive. Harris, who is the first primary in the nation, urged the state to make their voices heard and fight for freedom, democracy, and opportunity for all. The rally, which was Harris's ninth trip to South Carolina and her third of the year, demonstrates the importance she and Biden's campaign have placed on a dominant performance to begin their party's presidential nominating season. The rally was held at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg.
-Taylor Swift has sparked a wave of political conspiracy theories, with Fox News, Trump surrogates, and the MAGA universe circulating these theories. Some suggest Swift is secretly working for the US government and her relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce is part of a political scheme. The theory suggests that Swift's involvement with Kelce and the NFL could lead to the Chiefs winning the Super Bowl and Swift supporting President Biden in the upcoming election.
-The secret text of a bipartisan Senate immigration bill may be released soon, with a vote expected next week. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas has been actively involved in the negotiations, despite former President Donald Trump's attempts to derail them. Meanwhile, Mayorkas has become the target of a partisan impeachment effort in the House, with Republicans accusing him of breaking the law by not more forcefully stopping migrants from crossing illegally into the US. Mayorkas has been cautious about the political repercussions of the immigration crisis, stating that the system is broken and that he will not use the term "crisis."

THE NEW YORK POST
-Mayor Eric Adams' administration is set to begin handing out pre-paid credit cards to migrant families staying in Big Apple hotels. The $53M pilot program, run by New Jersey-based Mobility Capital Finance, will provide cash to help asylum seekers buy food at the Roosevelt Hotel. The cards can only be used at bodegas, grocery stores, supermarkets, and convenience stores, and migrants must sign an affidavit stating they will only spend the funds on food and baby supplies. The Immediate Response Card initiative is similar to the state's food stamp program, SNAP, which provides lower-income New Yorkers with credit cards to cover meal costs.
-President Biden's administration is urging grocery chains to lower prices on goods like milk, eggs, and bread. The president's message is that companies with lower input prices should pass these savings on to consumers. Walmart, Kroger, and Albertsons are currently booking 20-plus percent gross profit margins, similar to their pre-COVID-19 levels. The message is aimed at companies that have not passed these savings on to consumers.