After Hours Summary: PINS +4.2% higher as Google exec will become new CEO; XAIR +20.6% jumps on FDA approval; AVAV -9.1% lower on earningsAfter Hours Gainers:
Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: None
Companies trading higher in after hours in reaction to news: XAIR +20.6% (FDA approves LungFit PH to treat neonates with hypoxic respiratory failure), FTDR +7% (to join S&P SmallCap 600), SNCY +6.7% (to join S&P SmallCap 600), LRN +6.6% (to join S&P SmallCap 600), ORA +6.5% (to join S&P MidCap 400), PINS +4.2% (CEO Ben Silbermann is stepping down; Google exec Bill Ready named new CEO), GATO +2% (names new CFO), ACHR +2% (says it is confident it will achieve its goal of flying full transition flights with Maker by year end), DDD +1.8% (enters into partnership with EMS-GRILTECH for materials development), CVS +1.1% (removes purchase limit on Plan B sales, according to CNBC), OYST +0.6% (to implement operating expense streamlining plan), PLTR +0.6% (awarded $36 mln US Army contract to build a prototype for TITAN), STT +0.3% (files mixed securities shelf offering), JNJ +0.3% (FDA advisers recommend inclusion of an Omicron component for booster vaccines this fall, according to Reuters), DIS +0.2% (to extend CEO Bob Chapek's contract for three years), WMT +0.2% (responds to FTC complaint involving money transfer services), GD +0.2% (awarded a $500 mln US Navy contract modification), CNNE +0.1% (completes repurchase of shares held by FNF), UNVR +0.1% (signs distribution agreement with Kalsec in Mexico), CPA +0.1% (expands share repurchase program by US$100 mln), MTW +0.1% (withdraws from the CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2023 trade show)
After Hours Losers:
Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to earnings/guidance: AVAV -9.1%, PRGS -1.1%
Companies trading lower in after hours in reaction to news: ASPN -22% (to offer $225 mln of common stock and $150 mln of green convertible notes in separate offerings), ICVX -16.9% (announces topline interim Phase 1/1b results for IVX-121), HUDI -4.8% (files for $300 mln mixed securities shelf offering), LYLT -3.6% (to be removed from S&P SmallCap 600), GLPI -3% (BALY announces sale-leaseback transaction with GLPI for two casinos for $1 bln; also commences 6.9 mln share offering), MARA -2.2% (Bitcoin mining ops in Montana currently without power), SWN -2.1% (moving to S&P MidCap 400 from S&P SmallCap 600), OBSV -1.2% (receives UK MHRA Marketing Authorization for Yselty for uterine fibroids), MRNA -0.8% (FDA advisers recommend inclusion of an Omicron component for booster vaccines this fall, according to Reuters), BALY -0.6% (BALY announces sale-leaseback transaction with GLPI for two casinos for $1 bln), BNTX -0.6% (FDA advisers recommend inclusion of an Omicron component for booster vaccines this fall, according to Reuters), IMO -0.3% (announces sale of interests in Montney and Duvernay assets), OMCL -0.3% (moving to S&P MidCap 400 from S&P SmallCap 600), OCN -0.2% (to purchase mortgage servicing rights), SONY -0.2% (plans to launch a PC gaming gear brand called Inzone, according to WaPo), PFE -0.1% (FDA advisers recommend inclusion of an Omicron component for booster vaccines this fall, according to Reuters), TSLA -0.1% (has laid off hundreds of workers on its Autopilot team, according to Bloomberg), LH -0.1% (expands lab in Japan), AGI -0.1% (plans to expand Island Gold mine)
Closing Stock Market SummaryThe stock market opened mostly higher after a few pieces of relatively positive news. Beijing and Shanghai reported zero COVID cases for the first time since February, fueling hope of fully reopening China's economy. In addition, several banks increased their dividend and/or share repurchase plans after the Fed's stress test. Shortly after the open, the Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 gained 1.3%, 1.0%, 1.2%, respectively.
A reversal of trading mentality took hold after the weaker-than-expected Consumer Confidence Index for June at 10:00 a.m. ET. That report conjured stagflation worries with the Expectations Index dropping to its lowest level (66.4) since March 2013 and the year-ahead inflation expectations increasing to 8.0% from 7.5%.
The three main indices couldn't keep the bounce effort going and sold off steadily after that, ultimately finishing near their worst levels of the day. The S&P 500 for its part closed a fraction below Friday's low.
The mega caps did not help sentiment today, showing strong downside leadership that seemingly weighed on most stocks. The Vanguard Mega Cap Growth ETF (MGK) closed down 3.4% versus the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (RSP) which closed down by 1.5%. The Russell 2000 was down 1.9% and S&P Mid Cap 400 was down 1.4%.
In addition, market breadth saw a complete turnaround from where it started the session. Earlier, advancers led decliners at the NYSE by a 2-to-1 margin. By the close, decliners led advancers by a greater than 2-to-1 margin at the NYSE and the Nasdaq.
Ten of the 11 S&P 500 sectors closed in the red with losses ranging from 0.4% (utilities) to 4.0% (consumer discretionary). The lone holdout in the green was energy, up 2.7%.
The energy sector, which closed with all components in the green, benefitted from higher oil prices ($111.96, +2.26, +2.4%), which stemmed from the reopening push in China and a Reuters report indicating Saudi Arabia and the UAE have limited spare capacity to boost output.
The consumer discretionary sector was dragged down by its mega cap components, Amazon.com (AMZN 107.40, -5.82, -5.1%) and Tesla (TSLA 697.99, -36.77, -5.0%), but also Nike (NKE 102.78, -7.72, -7.0%) which reached a new 52-week low following its fiscal Q4 earnings report and soft fiscal Q1 revenue guidance. The few standouts in the sectors included Wynn Resorts (WYNN 59.49, +1.80, +3.12%) and Las Vegas Sands (LVS 34.51, +1.34, +4.0%), which drafted off the China reopening sentiment.
Reviewing today's economic data:
- The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index dropped to 98.7 in June ( consensus 101.0) from a downwardly revised 103.2 (from 106.4) in May. This is the lowest reading since February 2021 and compares to 128.9 in the same period a year ago.
- The key takeaway from the report is the sharp drop in consumers' expectations, which was driven primarily by inflation concerns. The Expectations Index sits at a level that is a likely portent of weaker growth in the second half of the year and raises the risk of recession by year end.
- The Advance report for International Trade in Goods in May showed a deficit of $104.3 billion, versus a revised $106.7 billion (from $105.9 billion) in April. The Advance report for Retail Inventories in May rose 1.1% versus the prior month's increase of 0.7%. The Advance report for Wholesale Inventories in May rose 2.0% versus April's revised increased of 2.3% (from 2.1%).
- The S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index for April was 21.2% (Briefing.com consensus 21.1%) compared to the prior revised reading of 21.1% (from 21.2%). The FHFA Housing Price Index for April was 1.6% compared to the prior revised reading of 1.6% (from 1.5%).
Looking ahead to Wednesday, the weekly MBA Mortgage Applications Index (prior 4.2%) will be released at 7:00 ET. The Q1 GDP Third Estimate (Briefing.com consensus -1.5%; prior -1.5%) and Q1 GDP Deflator Third Estimate (Briefing.com consensus 8.1%; prior 8.1%) will be released at 8:30 ET. The weekly EIA Crude Oil Inventories will be released at 10:30 ET.
- Dow Jones Industrial Average: -14.8% YTD
- S&P 500: -19.8% YTD
- S&P 400: -18.8% YTD
- Russell 2000: -22.6% YTD
- Nasdaq Composite: -28.5% YTD
Marc Jacobs gets political, nostalgic and artistic at surprise show
The influential designer addresses the US abortion ruling in a ‘Choice’ message while showing his new ways to distress fabric and play with proportions
After weathering the dizzying highs and exhausting lows of more than three decades in the fashion business, Marc Jacobs remains a singular creative force in fashion — and one of its most ambitious showmen. Usually, he takes the opportunity of each runway outing to explore a new narrative, taking inspiration from the history of hip hop for one reason or from rave culture for another. But for his latest runway collection, staged Monday night inside Manhattan’s stately New York Public Library, Jacobs mined his most recent ideas as material.
He iterated on the elongated and oversized shapes, distressed denim and giant paillette chain mail that first appeared on the runway in a surprise show last summer, when the pandemic seemed to be finally ending. Then, his models were initially so cocooned against the elements that their eyes were not visible, before they removed an outer later. This season, however, the models were mostly bareheaded, sporting dramatic undercut hairstyles (achieved with the help of prosthetics) that made them look more like futuristic survivors, equipped with platform boots and oversized tote bags or exuberant coated Tyvek ball gowns and opera-length leather gloves.
Several of the opening looks resembled soft leather medical scrubs, which drew to mind the many American healthcare workers who will no longer be able to provide abortions following the Supreme Court’s controversial decision to overrule Roe vs Wade on Friday.
In a note to the audience entitled “Choice,” Jacobs wrote, “We share our choices in contrast to the ongoing brutality and ugliness of a world beyond our insulated but not impermeable walls.” He finished by quoting Friedrich Nietzsche: “We have art in order not to die of the truth.”
For decades, and as his peers experimented with different presentation styles, Jacobs’ elaborate shows remained the highly anticipated conclusion to every New York Fashion Week. Now, Jacobs is embracing a more thoughtful and independent approach, showing once a year with little advance notice during the summer in New York, in the few days between the conclusion of the spring 2023 men’s shows and the start of couture week in Paris.
The collection will be sold exclusively at luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman this autumn, continuing a relationship established last year. Meanwhile, less expensive versions of many of the pieces will be sold by the brand online and in its own stores alongside a range of handbags, like the cute and colourful Snapshot crossbody, that have become newly dependable sellers with a wider network of retailers.
That’s all in addition to a third line, Heaven, that has enthralled Gen-Z shoppers with its 90s and early 2000s nostalgic baby tees and sweater vests designed by the young Australian designer Ava Nirui at a contemporary price point.
The main Marc Jacobs line is capitalising on the nostalgia trend, too. A new advertising campaign out now, starring actress Winona Ryder — who was once convicted for shoplifting, among other things, a Marc Jacobs cashmere sweater from Saks Fifth Avenue — spotlights the bags. In recent years, the brand also re-released Jacobs’ spring 1993 grunge collection for Perry Ellis, a now seminal collection that was so unpopular at the time he lost his job.
Those identifiable handbags and the buzzy Heaven line were nowhere to be seen on the runway on Monday. It was an opportunity for Jacobs to do what he does best — like finding new ways to distress fabric and playing with proportions — without needing to seek commercial appeal. Such concerns can come later, as he did this spring when the brand released an all under-$500 collection of oversized pieces and accessories covered in a bold monogram.
The multi-tiered and digitally focused strategy is part of a turnround effort at the LVMH-owned brand that is bearing fruit after years of decline and short-lived hires. After Jacobs stepped down from his historic run as the creative director for womenswear at Louis Vuitton at the end of 2013 — during which he pushed LVMH’s crown jewel, still mostly known for classic leather goods, into the centre of fashion, doubling revenues in the first four years — he aimed to focus solely on growing his own label. It was then generating reportedly close to $1bn in revenue, with LVMH reportedly considering spinning it out via an initial public offering.
But that didn’t happen. Instead, the brand folded its popular contemporary line Marc by Marc Jacobs, leaving customers wanting, and struggled to find effective leadership after co-founder Robert Duffy exited in 2015. These challenges coincided with a period of disruption across the fashion industry triggered by the rise of ecommerce and fast-fashion and the decline of department stores and print media. Brands like Jacobs were forced to rethink their approach to making, selling and marketing their wares.
Under former Kenzo chief executive Eric Marechalle, who LVMH brought to Marc Jacobs in 2017, the brand has found a new streamlined way forward.
While LVMH does not break out the earnings of its smaller brands like Marc Jacobs, chief financial officer Jean-Jacques Guiony previously reported the brand was profitable in 2020 for the first time in five years, and recently praised its performance in ecommerce in an earnings call with analysts. Perhaps the greatest indication of LVMH’s renewed faith in Marc Jacobs’ future is in its store plans. Last year, the brand opened 15 new locations. This year, it plans for an additional 20.
Joe Biden unwittingly helped finance Hunter's trysts with Russia-linked escorts
President Joe Biden apparently unwittingly financed his son’s participation in an escort ring tied to Russia, records from a copy of Hunter Biden's abandoned laptop show.
Hunter Biden spent over $30,000 on escorts, many of whom were linked to ".ru" Russian email addresses and worked with an “exclusive model agency" called UberGFE during a 3 1/2 month period between November 2018 and March 2019.
He managed to do so thanks in part to Joe Biden committing to wiring him a total of $100,000 to help pay his bills from December 2018 through January 2019.
In one instance, Joe Biden wired his son $5,000 while he was actively engaged with an UberGFE escort. In another, texts indicated Hunter Biden convinced his father to wire him $20,000 to finance his stay at a New York City drug rehabilitation program that he never checked into.
"What's wrong with you?" Hunter told the Washington Examiner shortly after this story was published.
There is no suggestion in these messages that Joe Biden knew what his son was spending his support payments on.
Hunter Biden's text exchange with "Eva," his primary point of contact for the Russian-linked escort agency UberGFE on Feb. 27, 2019.
Hunter Biden disclosed in text messages with a woman named Eva, the go-between who served as his primary point of contact for UberGFE, that his accounts were temporarily frozen at one point because his attempted payments to her "girls" with Russian email accounts were too much of a "red flag" for his bank. Eva refers to him as Robert in the messages, which is his birth name.
A 2020 Senate report by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) said: “Hunter Biden paid nonresident women who were nationals of Russia or other Eastern European countries,” and records note some of these transactions are linked to what “appears to be an Eastern European prostitution or human trafficking ring.”
The report said Hunter Biden “sent thousands of dollars” to people either involved in “transactions consistent with possible human trafficking” or “potential association with prostitution.” Some of the women “subsequently wired funds they have received from Hunter Biden to individuals located in Russia and Ukraine.”
Grassley and Johnson sent a 2019 letter to the director of the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network requesting “all Suspicious Activity Reports” tied to Hunter Biden and his businesses.
Many of the previously unreported records cited in this story, including Hunter Biden's communications with his father, were located in a password-protected iPhone XS backup found on a copy of his abandoned laptop. The iPhone was saved to Hunter Biden’s computer on Feb. 6, 2019. Konstantinos "Gus" Dimitrelos, a cyber forensics expert commissioned by the Washington Examiner, located the password to the iPhone backup during his examination of the hard drive.
In one instance, Joe Biden wired his son $5,000 less than three hours before he filmed a dispute with an escort over a $10,000 payment at a cottage in Boston, Massachusetts.
Hunter Biden's text exchange with "Eva," his primary point of contact for the Russian-linked escort agency UberGFE on Jan. 18, 2019.
Hunter Biden requested Eva send one of her escorts to his cottage during the early hours of Jan. 18, 2019. A few hours after the escort arrived, he texted Eva asking how much it would cost for another 8 hours of the escort’s time.
Eva said the total charge for 16 hours would be $9,500. At 5:17 p.m. that day, Eva directed that he wire the funds to a bank account linked to a woman with a Russian email address.
Less than 90 minutes later, at 6:31 p.m., Hunter Biden received an email informing him that "Joseph R Biden Jr." had sent him $5,000 through Cash App. Joe Biden's then-assistant Richard Ruffner texted Hunter Biden that same minute informing him he "was only able to do $5000 because the weekly limit is $7,500."
Left: Hunter Biden text exchange with Joe Biden (Junior) on Jan. 17 and 18, 2019. Right: Email Hunter Biden received on Jan. 18, 2019.
Ruffner did not respond to a request for comment.
Joe Biden texted his son at 9:52 p.m. asking if the payment came through. But he didn't receive a response that evening.
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Hunter Biden, however, exchanged messages with Eva beginning at 9:21 p.m. in what appears to be a dispute over payment.
Hunter Biden's text exchange with "Eva," his primary point of contact for the Russian-linked escort agency UberGFE on Jan. 18, 2019.
In an 83-second video retrieved by the Washington Examiner that Hunter Biden filmed and sent to Eva, he can be heard having a conversation with the escort, asking if he had ever hurt her.
“Is anything hurt on you? Anything? I was literally saying I’m sorry that it took so long to give you $10,000,” he can be heard saying. “Do you have any bruise? Anything? Have I ever touched you in a bad way? Ever? Have I asked you every time if I could touch you? Every time.”
“Sweetheart, look at me. You cannot talk to me that way and say things like that. Because I’m more respectful than anyone you’ve ever met. Are you OK?” he asked.
Hunter Biden added after he sent the video that the woman speaks no English and that she was “frustrated.”
Eva responded: “All good.”
Hunter Biden text exchange with his sister-in-law Hallie Biden on Jan. 17, 2019.
Hunter Biden claimed he was so broke he couldn’t afford to rent a pair of skis in a text to his sister-in-law Hallie Biden one day before he filmed the video with the escort.
Eva chased Hunter Biden for payments over the following six weeks. He told her on Feb. 27, 2019, that he was unable to make any payments to people with Russian email addresses because they were too much of a “red flag” for his bank.
"That is what got my accounts frozen and reviewed by bank,” he said before arranging to meet one of Eva’s escorts in Queens and pay her in cash.
Hunter Biden spent over $30,000 with Russian escorts linked to Eva and UberGFE between Nov. 26, 2018, and March 10, 2019, according to Wells Fargo wire receipts, Zelle receipts, PayPal notices, and pictures of cashier checks located on his abandoned laptop. Eva directed him to make payments to bank accounts linked to Russian email addresses 11 times during that time frame.
Hunter Biden said a $6,000 payment he made to an UberGFE escort on Dec. 29, 2018, was for "Detox," according to a Wells Fargo wire transfer receipt located on the laptop.
Hunter Biden also performed a Google search for "dc russian escorts" and visited the UberGFE website to search for escorts in Boston from his iPhone XS, according to the backup located on a copy of his abandoned laptop.
The real names of the escorts he hired through UberGFE are not clear. He and Eva referred to the women with English names such as “Jessie,” “Glenda,” “Grace,” “Darla,” and “Kirsten” when they arranged services over texts.
When it came time to pay, Eva directed Hunter Biden to wire funds to bank accounts linked to women with distinctly Eastern European names.
Former federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy told the Washington Examiner: “We can all sympathize with Biden’s love for his troubled son while recognizing that he was shoveling prodigious sums of money to Hunter Biden when the neon lights were flashing that Hunter was compromised and using the money to become ever more compromised — and with Russia, of all places.”
Left: Hunter Biden text exchange with "Eva" on Dec. 12, 2018. Right: Hunter Biden authorizing PayPal make a $3,000 payment to a Russian email account on Dec. 12, 2018.
“Joe Biden is a textbook example of why applicants with family members who maintain shady ties with foreign actors, particularly those connected to authoritarian anti-American regimes with highly capable intelligence services, get rejected when applying for a security clearance,” he said.
It is not clear who runs UberGFE. The group is not registered as a business entity anywhere in the United States, according to a Nexis public records search. The group claims on its website that it has staff in Ukraine, its site was created by developers from Kyiv, and its “head office of operators” is in that country.
Hunter Biden's text messages with Richard Ruffner on Jan. 18, 2019.
The UberGFE website was a “.net” site, which dubbed the organization “RealGFE” as early as 2014, but it began to redirect to the current “.com” site around August 2016. It still called itself “RealGFE” until sometime after September 2017, after which it embraced its current “UberGFE” name. From 2014 until the summer of 2016, the group listed apparent locations in “Moscow - St. Petersburg - Kiev.”
UberGFE did not respond to requests for comment sent to the phone numbers and email addresses listed on its website.
Hunter Biden appeared broke for much of the time between November 2018 and March 2019. He owed $37,000 in alimony each month, was being hounded by his ex-wife to resolve a $112,805 IRS tax lien, and was in and out of costly rehabilitation programs to treat his addiction to crack cocaine.
The $41,500 Hunter received each month for his work as a director for the Ukrainian gas company Burisma was not enough to cover his obligations — one of his personal bank accounts posted negative balances during this period. He had insufficient funds to make payments on his Porsche, he had accumulated over $800,000 in unpaid bills, and he was reduced to begging his friends and family to transfer him cash so he could afford simple luxuries such as cab rides.
Hunter Biden text exchange with Joe Biden (Junior) on Dec. 5 and 6, 2018.
Hunter Biden texted his father on Dec. 5, 2018, asking him to help pay for his monthly alimony and his daughters’ rent, tuitions, healthcare, and other day-to-day costs.
“75 being wired today,” Joe Biden texted his son the following day.
Hunter Biden confirmed his father’s wire made it to his account on the evening of Dec. 7, 2018. He lamented that he was draining his father's savings during the first time in his life he was able to build up a nest egg.
Hunter Biden text exchange with Joe Biden (Junior) on Dec. 7, 2018.
Federal tax returns filed by Joe Biden, when he was no longer in public office, show an adjusted gross income of $4.58 million in 2018 and $985,233 in 2019. The July 2019 public disclosure form listed him as president of CelticCapri, where he received a $425,000 salary, and as a University of Pennsylvania professor, where he was paid $540,484. He also listed “speaking and writing engagements” totaling $2.78 million.
Hunter Biden solicited another $20,000 from his father on Jan. 2, 2019, to fund his stay at a New York City detox program and sober house. He had urged his father a few days prior to ignore members of their family who “invariably will criticize and doubt me (and you the ‘enabler’).”
Joe Biden texted his son at 1:07 p.m. on Jan. 2, 2019: “Just called Mel he will get 20 to your account this afternoon tomorrow morning at latest. He will contact me when transfer goes through."
Hunter Biden acknowledged he received the funds from his father at 7:09 p.m. that evening: “It went through dad- thank you it means a lot to me and I am very grateful.”
It does not appear Hunter Biden ever checked into the New York City recovery program. A little over two hours after Joe Biden committed to wiring $20,000 to his son, Hunter Biden made plans to leave New York City and stay at a Massachusetts cottage owned by his Boston-based psychiatrist, Keith Ablow.
Left: Hunter Biden text exchange with Joe Biden on Jan. 2, 2019. Right: Hunter Biden text exchange with Keith Ablow on Jan. 2, 2019.
Hunter Biden’s former assistant Katie Dodge said in a Jan. 17, 2019, email that Joe Biden would be covering his son’s bills “in the short-term as Hunter transitions in his career.”
Dodge included a document in the email showing Hunter Biden had accumulated $819,000 in unpaid bills, including business expenses, legal fees, unpaid taxes, credit card debt, and other personal expenses.
Hunter Biden had lamented in a text message to Eva that he just spent $3,000 on a ”disappointing” UberGFE escort who “did absolutely nothing” just hours before he requested $20,000 from his father on Jan. 2, 2019.
One of his last known contacts with Eva came on March 9, 2019, when he offered to wire her $2,500 to spend five hours with a woman he referred to as Julia.
“I don’t have Julia,” Eva responded. “She left. To her country.”
Hunter Biden text exchange with "Eva" on Jan. 2, 2019.
Hunter Biden also had an iMessage exchange on Oct. 28, 2018, with a woman named “Vicky,” whom he eventually apparently blocked. The woman used a couple of Russian words and claimed she had been deported after allegedly attempting to visit him.
He first told her they did not seem to understand each other, adding, “I understand you want to come see me. I said I would live [sic] that. You said send me money. I said where. ... You give you name but no exact location. … You say buy ticket but never explain what airline and when.”
“I understand your Reports, but you do not understand me. I had the weak internet, and I practically could not catch вай фай [Russian for “Wi-Fi”] and then my account blocked in general,” Vicky replied. “Sitting there expecting you, I was taken away in separations, I was very напуганна [Russian for “scared”] and I cried constantly. after 6 hours I was deported back.”
Hunter Biden text conversation with "Vicky" between Oct. 25, 2018 and Oct. 28, 2018.
The 2021 bookThe Bidens said that “Hunter’s payments to a number of Eastern European women” had “drawn the interest of the FBI’s counterintelligence division” due to “concerns that they could be used to compromise him with evidence of embarrassing activities.”
Hunter Biden references prostitution during this general time frame in his memoir, Beautiful Things.
"I exchanged L.A.’s $400-a-night bungalows and their endless parade of blingy degenerates for the underbelly of Connecticut’s $59-a-night motels and the dealers, hookers, and hard-core addicts — like me — who favored them," he wrote.
Hunter Biden was married to Kathleen Buhle Biden from 1993 until their divorce in 2017, and they had three daughters. He has since married South African filmmaker Melissa Cohen.
Kathleen Buhle Biden pointed to her ex-husband "spending extravagantly" on prostitutes and strip clubs in a February 2017 court filing.
In July 2019, the New Yorker wrote Hunter Biden “denied hiring prostitutes and said he hadn’t been to a strip club in years.”
“The context here is that Democrats put the country through two years of anxiety on the false, Democrat-fabricated claim that Biden’s predecessor was an agent of the Kremlin,” McCarthy said. “And of course, when compelling evidence arose that Biden is actually entangled in his son’s foreign business dealings, despite having denied even discussing them, Biden apologists responded with their standard deceptive deflection — it’s all Russian disinformation.”
McCarthy added: “Now, however, we learn that it was Russian information — Hunter’s reckless payments of thousands of dollars he'd received from his willfully blind father to sordid businesses with Russian email accounts — that Biden apologists were suppressing in the weeks before the 2020 election.”
Hunter Biden recorded himself in early December 2018 boasting that his father will adopt political positions at his command.
“My dad respects me more than he respects anyone in the world, and I know that to be certain,” Hunter said, adding that his father “thinks I’m a god.”
"We have great confidence in our son. I am not concerned about any accusations made against him. It used to get to me. I think it's kind of foul play," he said. "But look, it is what it is, and he's a grown man. He is the smartest man I know — I mean from a pure intellectual capacity. And as long as he's good, we're good."
Report suggests bright future for central bank digital currencies
Plus, fintech’s easy money runs out and an interview with open banking fintech Yapily
Central bank digital currency pilots gather speed
Nine out of ten of the world’s central banks are working to create a digital version of their currency. Some have already completed the task. The Bahamas has the Sand Dollar, Nigeria launched the eNaira last October and China is close to launching the digital renminbi, or e-CNY, after trialling it at February’s winter Olympics.
Alongside this innovation, some large central banks have also been working together to examine whether they can make cross-border payments using these new digital currencies faster, cheaper and more efficiently.
The cost and time involved in moving money around the world is staggering. The process often requires money to pass through a chain of correspondent banks, with each carrying out its own checks and charging its own fees before it reaches its final destination.
There were $23.5tn of cross-border corporate transactions in 2020, costing $120bn in fees and taking an average of two to three days to complete, according to a recent report by Oliver Wyman and JPMorgan.
The situation is equally frustrating for individuals sending money across borders. The cost of sending $200 to low- and middle-income countries added up to $12 on average in the fourth quarter of last year, according to the World Bank.
The G20 and Financial Stability Board have both made it a priority to tackle inefficiencies in cross-border payments.
The Bank for International Settlements, the central bank for central banks, thinks it has a solution. It published a report last week detailing the results from a number of experiments to transfer central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) across borders.
“The projects show that platforms with two or more CBDCs are technically feasible and offer a range of benefits that can lead to faster, cheaper and more transparent payments across borders,” the BIS said.
In one project, known as mBridge, the central banks of China, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong and Thailand created a system for turning their digital currencies into tokens that could be exchanged between commercial banks of the various countries.
The French and Swiss central banks teamed up with a private sector consortium in a similar project called Jura to swap euros and Swiss francs in the form of digital tokens between commercial banks.
In the Dunbar project, the Australian, Malaysian, Singaporean and South African central banks allowed commercial banks to have direct access to the digital currencies of each country and to transact with each other.
“These experiments worked,” said Hyun Song Shin, head of research at the BIS. “Now we need to make sure we can build it to scale and it can stand the test of real world use.”
Not everyone is convinced, however. Zennon Kapron, who runs an Asian fintech research company, said privacy concerns could be a big barrier — at least for consumers. “Would you use a CBDC wallet from a different country? It is meant to be private, but is it really?”
Besides, Kapron thinks the private sector is already making swift progress on improving the efficiency of cross-border payments, giving the example of Thai consumers using QR codes to make cheap, instant payments in Singapore.
On top of these concerns, the BIS said there are still a number of “policy, legal, governance and economic questions” over multi-CBDC systems.
The biggest is whether they could expose a “vulnerability of the broader financial system”, it said, adding: “For example, participants’ access to liquidity and credit in one currency (or lack of it) could spill over to other currencies or markets at significant speed.”
Chanel Price Hike Speculation Causes Online Frenzy in China
News circled on Chinese social media that the French luxury brand will increase prices again by 10 percent this July.
SHANGHAI — Is Chanel going to increase its prices again?
It appeared that items from Chanel’s Classic Flap and Classic Mini Square Flap Handbag Collection temporarily increased prices by 10 percent on the brand’s Hong Kong website, according to posts shared on the popular Chinese social commerce platform Xiaohongshu.
A website glitch was the reason for the price hike, the brand explained, and prices returned to normal soon after.
According to screenshots viewed by WWD on the platform, the Black Classic Flap handbag rose almost 7,000 Hong Kong dollars, or $892, to 76,560 Hong Kong dollars, or $9,756, after the supposed hike.
Customers rushed to confirm the news — one netizen quoted an anonymous salesperson saying that the price hike will likely happen this year, but the store hasn’t received a notice yet.
The French luxury house raised prices for its four core handbag styles and spring ready-to-wear collection this March. Prices were increased by 5 to 6 percent in Europe and 2 percent in Hong Kong, but prices in the U.S and China remain unchanged.
The rise follows three price increases in 2021 and the sixth since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020.
Bruno Pavlovsky, president of fashion and president of Chanel SAS, attributed the increase to a price harmonization policy that started in 2015, designed to guarantee that retail prices among different markets do not vary by more than 10 percent.
“That’s our choice as a brand. But what that means is that if we let prices slip between Europe, for example, and Asia, we know that we are directly or indirectly feeding a parallel market, which is not very satisfactory for our point of view with regard to our local customers,” Pavlovsky said during an interview with WWD in March.
With some signature styles priced twice as much as pre-pandemic levels, Chanel handbags are now considered a top investment product to combat inflation, according to a recent report published by the Credit Suisse Research Institute in collaboration with Deloitte.
Other luxury players have done the same since the pandemic, to protect margins and brand equity. LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton-owned Louis Vuitton, Dior and Celine both raised its prices early this year. The French luxury conglomerate attributed price increases to changes in production costs, raw materials, transportation and inflation.
According to local news outlets in China, a sales associates at Shanghai’s Plaza 66 Dior boutique confirmed to the publication that the brand would reveal its second price adjustment early July.