First flying car approved by FAA now available for preorder - USA TODAY

Under experimental status, the first flying car has officially been cleared for take off.

This week, Alef Aeronautics revealed its flying car “Model A" was granted legal permission from the Federal Aviation Administration to test run the vehicle on the road and in the sky − a move needed before it can be released to the public.

Alef is the first company to receive a Special Airworthiness Certification from the FFA, the company said in a news release. The certification limits the locations and purpose for which the vehicle is allowed to fly.

The vehicle will also need to meet National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration safety standards before taking flight.

But the company's CEO Jim Dukhovny says the company is "hopeful" the certification "will be our next step."

"The historical significance of this cannot be overstated," Dukhovny told USA TODAY Friday. "While there have been pioneers like Terrafugia, Paul Moller, and Henry Ford, this is the first time a vehicle, in the traditional sense (parks and drives like a car, functions like a car, looks like a car), has received permission to fly. It's also important that Alef is the first electric car which received permission to fly. And, last but not least, the ability for vertical takeoff is central to most people's conception of a 'flying car.'"

Under the Code of Federal Regulations, Alef is required to report any issues including malfunctions or defects to the U.S. government agency during "Model A" development and testing.

Available for preorder

The flying car is now available for preorder, the Santa Clara, California-based company posted on its website. Carrying one or two occupants, the vehicle will sell for about $300,000.

The "Model A" is 100% electric, drivable on public roads and has vertical takeoff and landing capabilities, the company wrote in its release.

The car will be a Low Speed Vehicle, meaning it won’t go faster than about 25 miles per hour on a paved surface. If a driver needs a faster route, they will be able to use the vehicle's flight capabilities, according to Alef.

As of Friday, presales were open, with interested customers able to pay a $150 deposit to get on the waiting list, or $1,500 for a priority spot on the list's queue.

Four years of test flying

The company, founded in 2015 by Dukhovny, Konstantin Kisly, Pavel Markin, Oleg Petrov in Palo Alto, California, has been test driving and flying the car's prototype since 2019.

The version customers could receive has a driving range of 200 miles and a flight range of 110 miles.

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"We’re excited to receive this certification from the FAA. It allows us to move closer to bringing people an environmentally friendly and faster commute, saving individuals and companies hours each week. This is a one small step for planes, one giant step for cars."

Alef CEO Jim Dukhovny

Marty McFly influence

The idea to get the vehicle on the road and into the air happened the same year Marty McFly, a character from “Back To The Future”, traveled to the “future” of October 2015, according to the company.

"During one of the Science Fiction lectures, Jim Dukhovny talked about how flying cars are finally possible in 2015," Alef wrote in a testament on its website.

He and his fellow founders soon met, and the first real flying car was drawn on a napkin in a cafe, the company said.

"The constraints were: it has to be a real car (driving in driving lanes, parking in parking spaces), it has to have a vertical takeoff (otherwise it is not a real flying car), it has to be affordable for most people (not just the rich)," Alef said.

The following year, the first sub-scale prototype was built, and in 2018, the first full-size “skeleton” took to the skies.

Is July 4th a good day to travel by car? Here are the best and worst times to drive.

Delivery slated to start in late 2025

Buyers will be able to complete their configuration as production nears, the company, backed by a Tesla investor, said.

The company said it plans to start delivering the vehicles to customers by late 2025.

For more information about the "Model A" visit https://alef.aero.

Natalie Neysa Alund covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.

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Watch: Dylan Mulvaney speaks out for first time after Bud Light controversy - CNN

Dylan Mulvaney says what Bud Light did after controversy is worse than not hiring her

Dylan Mulvaney broke her silence about the fallout that occurred after the trans influencer made two Instagram posts sponsored by Bud Light earlier this year. Bud Light's sponsorship of an April 1, 2023 Instagram post by Mulvaney set off a firestorm of anti-trans backlash and calls for a boycott. Mulvaney herself also faced a wave of hate and violent threats.

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Bud Light boycotters decimating sales over Dylan Mulvaney promotion should think about employees Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth says - Yahoo Finance

Brendan Whitworth wants Bud Light boycotters to blame him for the fateful Dylan Mulvaney promotion and not punish the 65,000 people whose livelihoods depend on Anheuser-Busch.

Speaking to CBS on Wednesday, the former U.S. Marine and CIA spy turned CEO of America’s largest beer brewer said the buck stopped with him when it came to the disastrous promotion with transgender influencer Mulvaney.

“One thing that I’d love to make extremely clear is that impact is my responsibility. As the CEO, everything we do I’m accountable for,” he said in the interview, which he reposted to LinkedIn, but not before disabling comments on the post.

Asked what troubled him the most, he said it was his 18,000 workers and the additional 47,000 people employed by its distributors. That number doesn’t count the farmers he said were also affected by the boycott.

“It’s the impact honestly on the employees that weighs the most on me,” he continued, urging people to drink Bud Light during the upcoming July 4th weekend.

While Anheuser-Busch has sought to minimize the role Mulvaney played in its strategy, Whitworth reaffirmed the company would not change its stance towards its partnerships.

“Bud Light has supported LGBTQ since 1998, so that’s 25 years, and as we’ve said from the beginning we’ll continue to support the communities and organizations that we’ve supported for decades,” he said.

He may have sought to shield his staff from the fallout of the promotion, but he did not explicitly apologize for partnering with Mulvaney either. A number of consumers had claimed this official acknowledgment of a mistake was a prerequisite for winning back their business.

Analysis by Deutsche Bank suggests that while 21% of Bud Light consumers are buying more, another 18% have scaled back their purchases. Roughly a quarter have stopped buying the beer altogether due to the promotion with the transgender social media figure.

Whitworth and brand head Todd Allen are now hoping a new campaign will resurrect sales after demand dropped like a rock amid the controversy. As part of it, investments for the brand are set to triple this year, including spending across sports, primetime and cable television.

Whether that will be enough is questionable.

"It’s insulting that you think an ad about summer will make us forget our principles. The boycott continues," wrote conservative podcaster Liz Wheeler last week, demanding an official apology.

The CEO admitted dealing with the boycott was causing him more gray hairs, but said he loved working for an “institution” like Anheuser-Busch that is “one degree of separation away from the American flag.”

Whitworth may be under intense pressure to rectify the situation that risks getting out of control, but he certainly isn’t the only one in the firing line.

Alissa Heinerscheid, the first woman to lead Bud Light in its 40-plus years of history, became a much bigger target of angry consumers after she partnered with transgender influencer Mulvaney to expand the reach of the beer.

Many took offense at her comments that the in-decline beer brand was “out of touch” due to what she called a “fratty” brand of humor in dire need of a makeover if it was to survive.

Together with Anheuser-Busch's global vice president of marketing, Daniel Blake, she was put on administrative leave.

“Given the circumstances, Alissa has decided to take a leave of absence, which we support,” said a company spokesperson, adding that was also true of Blake. “In the interest of our employees’ safety and privacy, we’re not providing any additional information.”

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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Bud Light boycotters decimating sales over Dylan Mulvaney promotion should think about employees, Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth says - Yahoo Finance
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Are UPS workers going on strike? News updates on Teamsters talks - USA TODAY

Earlier this month, the Teamsters union representing UPS workers voted to authorize a strike if no agreement is reached by July 31, when the existing contract will expire. 

A UPS strike would be historic. If the 340,000 UPS Teamsters decided to strike, it would be the largest single-employer strike in U.S. history. The last time UPS workers decided to strike occurred over 25 years ago when 185,000 workers conducted a 15-day walkout, crippling delivery services. 

A strike authorization does not mean a strike is imminent. Although 97% of unionized workers voted to authorize a strike, this gives negotiators leverage and the option to strike if demands are not met. 

Negotiations between the Teamsters and UPS began April 17. The current contract between UPS and the Teamsters union representing its rank-and-file workers will expire at midnight July 31.

UPS employees authorize strike. What that means for you.

How would a UPS strike impact deliveries? 

Since the 1997 strike, UPS has grown to become a crucial part of the U.S. economy. A strike would have far-reaching implications on the economy. 

The company says it delivers the equivalent of about 6% of the nation’s gross domestic product. UPS delivers around 25 million packages a day, representing about a quarter of all U.S. parcel volume, according to the global shipping and logistics firm Pitney Bowes.

Larger companies could be better prepared to navigate a strike than smaller ones said John Haber, formerly a part of UPS’ corporate finance office to CNN. There will be some empty shelves, higher prices, and slower package deliveries for customers if the strike lasts longer than a week, experts told the outlet. 

Additionally, competitors such as FedEx and the U.S. Postal Service lack the capacity to absorb the nearly 20 million packages that UPS would stop delivering daily if a strike occurred, according to Bloomberg. FedEx and USPS already handle 16.5 million and 23.8 million daily packages, respectively, according to their websites.

How likely is a strike?

On Tuesday, the Teamsters unions told UPS “you've got one week.” 

“The Teamsters want a powerful tentative agreement within the next week — or the union will demand UPS present its last, best, and final offer,” said the union in a tweet. 

While UPS has until the end of the month to finalize a deal, any agreement would need the approval of the Teamsters' national committee and voted on by union members before the current contract expires.

Negotiations are ongoing, and the Teamsters have made some progress on their demands. On June 13, the Teamsters and UPS announced a deal to bring air conditioning to UPS delivery vehicles. 

The agreement would mandate that UPS brown package cars purchased after Jan. 1, 2024 include in-cab air conditioning systems. Regular package cars, which make up the majority of the company’s 93,000-vehicle fleet, will be outfitted with two fans.  

However, not all of the Teamster’s demands have been met. 

"The odds of a strike are as high as they have been since 1997, but they're still less than 50%," Alan Amling, a fellow at the University of Tennessee's Supply Chain Institute and a former UPS executive, told CNN. 

What are the demands of the UPS drivers?

According to Teamsters Local 89, the demands from the union include no more excessive overtime, no more two-tier pay, higher part-time pay, more full-time jobs, job security for feeders and package drivers, and video camera and harassment protection. 

According to UPS, the company believes the union will bargain over job creation and opportunities, pay and benefits, paid time off, part-time jobs, two-tier drivers, overtime, personal vehicle drivers, heat safety, and vehicle cameras. 

'Practice picket'

In Louisville, many of Teamsters Local 89 members began practicing a picket line Wednesday morning at Worldport, the largest sorting and logistics facility in America.

The UPS Teamsters held signs that read "Just practicing for a just contract," and as vehicles drove past the practice picket, many cars honked their horns to show support.

The Louisville action comes days after the International Brotherhood of Teamsters General President Sean O'Brien called for practice pickets nationwide after claiming UPS presented an "appalling economic counterproposal" to the Teamsters during national negotiations for a new labor contract.

When will we know if UPS drivers will strike? 

The current contract expires on July 31. A strike could be triggered on August 1 if no agreement is reached. 

Contributing: Olivia Evans, Donovan Slack, The Associated Press

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Are UPS workers going on strike? News, updates on Teamsters talks - USA TODAY
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Are UPS workers going on strike? News updates on Teamsters talks - USA TODAY

Earlier this month, the Teamsters union representing UPS workers voted to authorize a strike if no agreement is reached by July 31, when the existing contract will expire. 

A UPS strike would be historic. If the 340,000 UPS Teamsters decided to strike, it would be the largest single-employer strike in U.S. history. The last time UPS workers decided to strike occurred over 25 years ago when 185,000 workers conducted a 15-day walkout, crippling delivery services. 

A strike authorization does not mean a strike is imminent. Although 97% of unionized workers voted to authorize a strike, this gives negotiators leverage and the option to strike if demands are not met. 

Negotiations between the Teamsters and UPS began April 17. The current contract between UPS and the Teamsters union representing its rank-and-file workers will expire at midnight July 31.

UPS employees authorize strike. What that means for you.

How would a UPS strike impact deliveries? 

Since the 1997 strike, UPS has grown to become a crucial part of the U.S. economy. A strike would have far-reaching implications on the economy. 

The company says it delivers the equivalent of about 6% of the nation’s gross domestic product. UPS delivers around 25 million packages a day, representing about a quarter of all U.S. parcel volume, according to the global shipping and logistics firm Pitney Bowes.

Larger companies could be better prepared to navigate a strike than smaller ones said John Haber, formerly a part of UPS’ corporate finance office to CNN. There will be some empty shelves, higher prices, and slower package deliveries for customers if the strike lasts longer than a week, experts told the outlet. 

Additionally, competitors such as FedEx and the U.S. Postal Service lack the capacity to absorb the nearly 20 million packages that UPS would stop delivering daily if a strike occurred, according to Bloomberg. FedEx and USPS already handle 16.5 million and 23.8 million daily packages, respectively, according to their websites.

How likely is a strike?

On Tuesday, the Teamsters unions told UPS “you've got one week.” 

“The Teamsters want a powerful tentative agreement within the next week — or the union will demand UPS present its last, best, and final offer,” said the union in a tweet. 

While UPS has until the end of the month to finalize a deal, any agreement would need the approval of the Teamsters' national committee and voted on by union members before the current contract expires.

Negotiations are ongoing, and the Teamsters have made some progress on their demands. On June 13, the Teamsters and UPS announced a deal to bring air conditioning to UPS delivery vehicles. 

The agreement would mandate that UPS brown package cars purchased after Jan. 1, 2024 include in-cab air conditioning systems. Regular package cars, which make up the majority of the company’s 93,000-vehicle fleet, will be outfitted with two fans.  

However, not all of the Teamster’s demands have been met. 

"The odds of a strike are as high as they have been since 1997, but they're still less than 50%," Alan Amling, a fellow at the University of Tennessee's Supply Chain Institute and a former UPS executive, told CNN. 

What are the demands of the UPS drivers?

According to Teamsters Local 89, the demands from the union include no more excessive overtime, no more two-tier pay, higher part-time pay, more full-time jobs, job security for feeders and package drivers, and video camera and harassment protection. 

According to UPS, the company believes the union will bargain over job creation and opportunities, pay and benefits, paid time off, part-time jobs, two-tier drivers, overtime, personal vehicle drivers, heat safety, and vehicle cameras. 

'Practice picket'

In Louisville, many of Teamsters Local 89 members began practicing a picket line Wednesday morning at Worldport, the largest sorting and logistics facility in America.

The UPS Teamsters held signs that read "Just practicing for a just contract," and as vehicles drove past the practice picket, many cars honked their horns to show support.

The Louisville action comes days after the International Brotherhood of Teamsters General President Sean O'Brien called for practice pickets nationwide after claiming UPS presented an "appalling economic counterproposal" to the Teamsters during national negotiations for a new labor contract.

When will we know if UPS drivers will strike? 

The current contract expires on July 31. A strike could be triggered on August 1 if no agreement is reached. 

Contributing: Olivia Evans, Donovan Slack, The Associated Press

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Travelers spend night at Newark Airport while delays cancelations stretch into another day - CBS New York

Flight delays continue for another day at Newark Airport

Flight delays continue for another day at Newark Airport 02:14

NEWARK, N.J. -- Major disruptions continue for a third day at airport across the Tri-State Area. 

CBS2's John Dias spoke with travelers at Newark Liberty International Airport, where crowds and long lines were already growing early Tuesday morning. By noon at Newark, 567 flights had been canceled in the past 24 hours and 63 flights were delayed Tuesday alone, according to Flightaware.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said Monday's weather compounded Sunday's delays, creating a domino effect for flyers. Officials warn this could only be the beginning, as they predict more will come in the next few days.

Many people spent the night at the airport, sleeping in waiting rooms or the hard floor. They say area hotels are booked solid.  

✈️Traffic Report: Low ☁️ and ⛈️ may impact flights in DC, @EWRairport, @JFKairport, @LGAairport, @flyTPA, @MCO, @FLLFlyer, @iflymia, @BostonLogan, @CLTAirport, @DTWeetin and @fly2midway. 🌬️ reported at @LASairport. Low ☁️ at @flySFO. https://t.co/teUeDe1gXx pic.twitter.com/2SuEV9MlFy

— The FAA ✈️ (@FAANews) June 26, 2023

CBS2's John Dias spoke with one woman from Long Island who got lucky and managed to get on a flight Tuesday, but already missed a whole day of her vacation. 

"Terrible. I am so sad. I work seven days a week, I want to be on a beach," she said. "We were going to Orlando straight flight. Now, we are going to North Carolina and then to Orlando... And they're not giving vouchers for anything, because it's weather-related."

Another woman said her flight was canceled after waiting for hours on the tarmac. Now, she and her family can't fly out until Friday, but can't check into their hotel until Tuesday afternoon.

"I am really annoyed, pissed, I'm hungry, I'm tired. I never in a million years thought -- I have traveled all over the world for the last 40 years, I never have slept on an airport floor. But today may be the day," she said. 

The Port Authority advises all travelers to plan ahead and check the status of their flight with their air carrier before heading to the airport. At last check, LaGuardia and JFK also reported more than 100 cancelations each.

Check your flight status

John Dias

John Dias is an Emmy-nominated reporter. He joined CBS2 News in November 2017.

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Nasdaq S&P and Dow rise after a raft of economic data - Seeking Alpha

Carl Court/Getty Images News

Major market averages opened trading on Tuesday higher following a decline to start the week, with growth stocks rebounding a little.

Early on and the Nasdaq Composite (COMP.IND) advanced by 0.5%, the S&P 500 (SP500) gained 0.3%, and the Dow (DJI) rose 0.3%.

Tech stocks also continued to struggle in the previous session. The Nasdaq (COMP.IND) and FANG+ index (FNGS) fell to a 2-week low, "with the latter seeing its sharpest daily fall since February," Deutsche Bank noted. "The FANG+ decline came as all 10 stocks were lower."

The 10-year Treasury yield (US10Y) was higher by 3 basis points to 3.74% and the 2-year yield (US2Y) gained 5 basis points to 4.72%.

ECB President Christine Lagarde remained hawkish at her Sintra speech this morning.

"The president repeated the message from last month’s policy meeting that the central bank is all but certain to raise rates in July, but otherwise noted that: 'My intention is not to signal any future decisions, but rather to frame the issues that monetary policy will face in the period ahead,'" Pantheon Macro said. "In other words, the president refuses to get pinned down on the decision in September. Judging by the tone of today’s speech more generally, however, we are sticking with our view that the ECB will increase its key policy rate by 25bp in September."

Back in the U.S., May durables good orders arrived at +1.7% above the economists expected 1% decline, with core durables good orders coming in at +0.6%.

"US May durable goods orders data has a very wide forecast range, so the consensus number is not a reliable measure," UBS' Paul Donovan said. "The surge in demand for consumer durable goods has faded, pushing that sector of the US economy into deflation. However, the balance between goods and services demand may be stabilizing."

Additionally, the S&P Case Shiller April home price index rose more than expected. hits. Seasonally adjusted HPI Composite for 20 cities was +0.9% versus the expected +0.5%.

The Conference Board's June consumer confidence index came in at 109.7 compared to the anticipated 104 figure.

At the same time May new home sales figures surged. May new home sales jumped +12.2% to 763K versus the forecasted 675K number.

Among active stocks, Lordstown Motors (RIDE) plunged after filing for Chapter 11.

More on the markets

• The Market Is Running Out Of Fuel
• Oil Can Still Hit $100 Per Barrel

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Stock Market Today: Dow S&P Live Updates for June 27 - Bloomberg

[unable to retrieve full-text content]

1. Stock Market Today: Dow, S&P Live Updates for June 27  Bloomberg
2. Stock market today: Asia mixed after Wall St drifts lower following run-up  The Associated Press
3. Asian stocks, yuan perk up on brighter China prospects  Yahoo Finance
4. Asia Morning Bites  ING Think
5. Hong Kong stocks halt losses on earnings hopes as New World jumps on debt plan  South China Morning Post
6. View Full Coverage on Google News

Stock Market Today: Dow, S&P Live Updates for June 27 - Bloomberg
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Chael Sonnen defends Dana White confident Zuckerburg vs. Musk fight could do up to 25 million PPV buys - MMA Fighting

Chael Sonnen is all-in on the would-be battle of the billionaires.

“The American Gangster” is well versed in the ingredients that make for a blockbuster pay-per-view, dating all the way back to his two-fight spectacular with UFC Hall of Famer Anderson Silva. And Sonnen is confident that if Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, and UFC President Dana White are all serious about staging a Zuckerberg vs. Musk fight on the UFC’s platform, it will become the highest-grossing pay-per-view in the history of fight promotion.

“You could for sure do 10 million-plus [pay-per-view buys],” Sonnen said Monday on The MMA Hour. “But you could be closer to 20 and 25 [million pay-per-view buys], because what I would predict is both of their companies would start some kind of a digital arm. So all of a sudden, I believe that Twitter would be hosting pay-per-views, and I believe Facebook would, as well. Now you’re talking 25 million views here. That’s insane, what I just said. You could do that if the business shifted and changed a little bit. Sure you could.”

The chatter between Zuckerberg and Musk gained steam this past week after the Musk challenged the Meta CEO to a “cage match” on social media. Zuckerberg quickly accepted, channeling Khabib Nurmagomedov with a simple response: “Send me location.” White immediately jumped into the fray and threw the UFC’s backing behind the potential bout.

Sonnen views that as a brilliant move by the UFC boss.

“The fact that one billionaire wants to fight another billionaire and somebody will call a third billionaire for permission — like, I don’t really know where that comes from, but I’ve got to give Dana credit here,” Sonnen said. “There’s no other promoter that can even come to the table now. It’d be weird. Those two either fight in UFC or they don’t fight at all, I think we can agree on that. And that really was a strategic move by Dana.

“I mean, they could film this on their iPhone, they could put it on Twitter, they could put it on Instagram, they could put it on Facebook. Wow, what a thought. And it’s one of these things where, ‘No, we’re going to go here and do it.’

“They don’t need Dana. They didn’t need permission. They didn’t need this third party. They could do it on their [platforms] and it would be — if there’s 6 billion people on Earth like they speculate, 5.5 billion would see that fight, right? Just through their platforms. So I just share that with you, that if it is something fun and he has an opportunity and he wants to bring it to us, it’d be very nice of Dana. It would be rude of him to not bring it to us.”

White’s enthusiasm has not dimmed since. He recently predicted the matchup would be “the biggest fight in the history of the world” and espoused how serious both men would take it, touting Zuckerberg’s passion for Brazilian jiu-jitsu and fandom for MMA.

White has faced criticism for his eagerness to get involved with an obvious circus fight between two middle-aged tech CEOs with no backgrounds in professional fighting, especially given his recent comments about how the UFC doesn’t do “gimmick” matches when asked about former heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou’s desire to box a major heavyweight star.

However, at least in this situation, Sonnen gives White a pass.

“I am extremely interested in it,” Sonnen said. “I’m interested from a standpoint of being silly. We get to have fun in the UFC about every 10 years. Dana White is extremely stuck in his [ways] — I mean, we didn’t used to get to do champ-champ. We didn’t used to get to see women fight. There was a very stuck-in policy. And about every 10 years, we would get a James Toney or we’ll get a CM Punk. We could have fun.

“Not very often. We get serious business and the integrity of the sport, but every now and then, we get to have fun. We get to see a Conor [McGregor] versus Floyd [Mayweather Jr.]. And we’re at that point. We’re at that, you know, X amount of time has gone by, and we’re about to have some fun. So yeah, I’m interested in it. I’m very interested in it.”

“I would tell people, ‘I don’t rob banks,’ but I have robbed a bank before,” he continued. “And all I mean by that is, like, in a broad stroke — four banks, five banks — but if you understand that. I don’t rob banks. I think in a broad stroke, Dana’s being very serious. Let me tell you something. I’ve worked for Dana White, I’ve worked for Scott Coker. And so many people, including yourself, ask me, ‘Hey, what’s the difference between those two?’ And it was very hard for me to answer, because there are so many similarities, but there is one — you pitch a fight to Scott Coker, the words you want him to say back to you is, ‘Fun, that would be fun.’ If you pitch a fight to Dana White, the word you’re looking for is, ‘Interesting.’

“It Dana looks at you and he says, ‘Interesting,’ you’re going to get it. If Coker says, ‘Fun,’ you’re going to get it. No, [White] doesn’t do gimmicky fights, that’s true. He doesn’t do gimmicky. He doesn’t bring in a 500-pounder and the 180-pounder. Now, that doesn’t mean that, to my point, every now and then we get to have fun. Sure we do.”

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Chael Sonnen defends Dana White, confident Zuckerburg vs. Musk fight could do up to 25 million PPV buys - MMA Fighting
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Lilly's next obesity drug just cut an average of 58 poundsprompting an all-out phase 3 blitz - FierceBiotech

[unable to retrieve full-text content]

1. Lilly's next obesity drug just cut an average of 58 pounds—prompting an all-out phase 3 blitz  FierceBiotech
2. A new weight-loss drug dubbed the 'triple G' could be stronger than Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro — and as powerful as bariatric surgery  Yahoo Life
3. Eli Lilly (LLY) Weight-Loss Shot Gives Company's Strongest Results in Trial  Bloomberg
4. Tirzepatide once weekly for the treatment of obesity in people with type 2 diabetes (SURMOUNT-2): a double-blind, randomised, multicentre, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial  The Lancet
5. Triple–Hormone-Receptor Agonist Retatrutide for Obesity — A Phase 2 Trial | NEJM  nejm.org
6. View Full Coverage on Google News

Lilly's next obesity drug just cut an average of 58 pounds—prompting an all-out phase 3 blitz - FierceBiotech
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Amazon will use small businesses to help deliver packages in the US - Engadget

A local shop might deliver your next Amazon order. The company tells Axios it's launching an Amazon Hub Delivery system that uses small businesses in 23 states (including California, New York and Washington) to complete shipments to customers. Those businesses need secure storage areas and must deliver an average of 30 packages every day outside of major holidays. However, Amazon isn't fussy about business types for this program — bodegas, coffee shops, florists and other locations can all qualify.

Hub Delivery is ultimately an expansion of previous initiatives. Amazon debuted an "I Have Space" system in India in 2015, and expanded it to both Japan and Spain. An American pilot program began in late 2020, although it focused on improving delivery for rural customers. The new approach covers over 20 major cities, including Boston, New York City and Los Angeles.

The incentives are clear. Amazon gets more reliable deliveries by offloading "last mile" shipments to small businesses rather than relying solely on dedicated couriers. Partners in turn can grow their businesses and supplement their income, Amazon VP Beryl Tomay says. Axios estimates that, at $27,000 in earnings per year, Amazon is paying about $2.50 per package. The online retailer hopes to team with 2,500 small business drivers by the end of 2023.

The strategy comes months after Amazon announced mass layoffs as the pandemic recovery and a rocky economy ate into profits. It also comes amid labor complaints that include past allegations of misusing Flex drivers' tips. Hub Delivery theoretically helps Amazon not only trim costs, but minimize the labor disputes that might come with using its own workers for shipping. Not that the tech giant is completely averse to using its own staff. It's still committed to buying about 100,000 Rivian delivery vans that will bring packages to customers.

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H&M workers strike for higher pay across Spain shutting down stores - AOL

JENNIFER O'MAHONY

June 26, 2023 at 3:39 PM

MADRID (AP) — Hundreds of retail workers on Monday walked off the job across Spain in a new round of strikes against the fashion giant H&M Group, extending a series of store closures in the middle of the summer sales season.

More than 4,000 Spanish employees at the Swedish multinational's brands including H&M, Other Stories and Cos are seeking pay rises in line with the higher cost of living and are protesting increased workloads linked to layoffs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Monday's walkout was the third day of strikes by H&M Group employees this month. Flagship stores in Madrid have closed, with hundreds of workers gathering in front of the city's largest H&M location to demand better conditions as online sales increasingly fracture the retail industry.

Union leader Ángeles Rodríguez Bonillo told The Associated Press that workers had lived with “salaries that have been frozen for many, many years” but now have found their situation untenable “with the economic situation and the high cost of living.”

Inflation is high in Europe and around the world following the global economy's rebound from the pandemic and Russia's war in Ukraine, forcing people to spend more on food, utility bills and other purchases. Consumer prices rose 7.1% in the European Union in May from a year earlier, though Spain's inflation rate is one of the lowest in the 27-nation bloc, at 2.9%.

The price pinch has led to months of disruptive strikes and protests by workers across Europe who are pressing for wages that keep pace with inflation.

In Spain, monthslong negotiations between the main UGT and CCOO unions and H&M Group broke down on June 19, leading to a series of strikes that began on June 20 and have now been extended into the first two Saturdays of July.

Mediation efforts would begin this week, Rodríguez Bonillo said.

A 24-hour strike on Thursday was observed by 80% of H&M Group's workforce in Spain, the unions said in a statement, leading to the closure of 100 stores.

European service workers union UNI Europa said the strikes reflected a “problematic change of attitude at H&M” toward more precarious, part-time contracts in larger stores that also receive online orders.

“This move by management in Spain is not an isolated example. Even in the company’s home country of Sweden, workers are being pushed into the precarity of zero-hour contracts,” said Oliver Roethig, regional secretary of UNI Europa.

H&M Group did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Ford Explorer recall under investigation by feds after complaints - USA TODAY

Ford Motor Co.’s recall of almost 300,000 Explorer SUV’s is under investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration after two complaints the vehicles behaved erratically after undergoing repairs. 

In April of 2022, Ford issued a recall of 2020-2022 Explorers with 2.3-liter engines, as well as 3-liter and 3.3-liter hybrids and the 3-liter ST. 

The problem stems from the fractures in the rear axle mounting bolt, which can result in the drive shaft disconnecting. This occasionally resulted in the car moving while in park. According to documents obtained by the Associated Press, Ford had 235 warranty claims because of the problem

Ford claims to have remediated the issue after updating the vehicle software. However, two owners of repaired recalled cars filed complaints with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about losing control over their cars.

In one case, the Explorer slammed to a complete stop while the car was driving at speeds of 30 to 40 mph. In another case, the car started moving while the passenger was trying to disengage the electronic break. 

No injuries were reported in their cases, although one car struck a utility pole. A Ford representative said the company is working with the NHTSA on the matter.

Contributing: The Associated Press

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As fuel taxes plummet states weigh charging by the mile instead of the tank - Arizona's Family

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Evan Burroughs has spent eight years touting the virtues of an Oregon pilot program charging motorists by the distance their vehicle travels rather than the gas it guzzles, yet his own mother still hasn’t bought in.

Margaret Burroughs, 85, said she has no intention of inserting a tracking device on her Nissan Murano to record the miles she drives to get groceries or attend needlepoint meetings. She figures it’s far less hassle to just pay at the pump, as Americans have done for more than a century.

“It’s probably a good thing, but on top of everybody else’s stress today, it’s just one more thing,” she said of Oregon’s first-in-the-nation initiative, which is run by the state transportation department where her son serves as a survey analyst.

Burroughs’ reluctance exemplifies the myriad hurdles U.S. states face as they experiment with road usage charging programs aimed at one day replacing motor fuel taxes, which are generating less each year, in part due to fuel efficiency and the rise of electric cars.

The federal government is about to pilot its own such program, funded by $125 million from the infrastructure measure President Biden signed in November 2021.

So far, only three states — Oregon, Utah and Virginia — are generating revenue from road usage charges, despite the looming threat of an ever-widening gap between states’ gas tax proceeds and their transportation budgets. Hawaii will soon become the fourth. Without action, the gap could reach $67 billion by 2050 due to fuel efficiency alone, Boston-based CDM Smith estimates.

Many states have implemented stopgap measures, such as imposing additional taxes or registration fees on electric vehicles and, more recently, adding per-kilowatt-hour taxes to electricity accessed at public charging stations.

Last year, Colorado began adding a 27-cent tax to home deliveries from Amazon and other online retailers to help fund transportation projects. Some states also are testing electronic tolling systems.

But road usage charges — also known as mileage-based user fees, distance-based fees or vehicle-miles-traveled taxes — are attracting the bulk of the academic attention, research dollars and legislative activity.

Doug Shinkle, transportation program director at the nonpartisan National Conference of State Legislatures, predicts that after some 20 years of anticipation, more than a decade of pilot projects and years of voluntary participation, states will soon need to make the programs mandatory.

“The impetus at this point is less about collecting revenue than about establishing these systems, working out the kinks, getting the public comfortable with it, expanding awareness around it,” he said.

Electric car sales in the U.S. rose from just 0.1% of total car sales in 2011 to 4.6% in 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. S&P Global Mobility forecasts they will make up 40% of the sales by 2030, while other projections are even rosier.

Patricia Hendren, executive director of the Eastern Transportation Coalition, said figuring out how to account for multistate trips is particularly important in the eastern U.S., where states are smaller and closer together than those in the West. Virginia’s program, launched in 2022, is already the largest in the nation and will provide valuable lessons, she said.

Hendren’s organization, a 17-state partnership that researches transportation safety and technology innovations, participated in one of the earliest pilot projects and eight others since. The biggest hurdle, she said, is to inform the public about the diminishing returns from the gas tax that has long paid for roads.

“This is about the relationship between the people who are using our roads and bridges and how we’re paying for it,” Hendren said. “We’ve been doing it one way for 100 years, and that way is not going to work anymore.”

Eric Paul Dennis, a transportation analyst at the Citizens Research Council of Michigan, said the failure of states to convert years of research into even one fully functional, mandatory program by now raises questions about whether road usage charging can really work.

“There’s no program design that I have seen that I think can be implemented at scale in a way that is publicly acceptable,” he said. “That doesn’t mean that a program can’t be designed to do so, but I feel like if you can’t even conceive of the program architecture that seems like something that would work, you probably shouldn’t put too much faith in it.”

Indeed, a chicken-and-egg dispute over how to proceed in Washington state has stymied road usage charging efforts there.

Lawmakers passed a bill last month that would have begun early steps toward a program by allowing collection of motorists’ odometer readings on a voluntary basis. Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee vetoed the measure, though, arguing that Washington needs a program in place before starting to collect citizens’ personal data.

States also must grapple with the social and environmental implications of their plans for replacing the gas tax, said Asha Weinstein Agrawal, director of the National Transportation Finance Center at San Jose State University’s Mineta Transportation Institute.

The institute has conducted national surveys every year since 2010 and found growing support for mileage-based fees, special rates for low-income drivers and rates tied to how much pollution a vehicle generates, she said.

Weinstein Agrawal said public policy, and the way transportation is funded, often fails to reflect states’ growing emphasis on curbing carbon emissions as a way to deal with climate change.

“To switch over to a system that makes it cheaper to drive a gas guzzler and more expensive to drive a Prius,” she said, “seems both symbolically problematic and to be sending, in the most literal way, the wrong economic incentives to people.”

Evan Burroughs said his 85-year-old father, Hank, who drives an electric car, avoids paying significant vehicle registration fees by participating in Oregon’s program, while Burroughs himself has paid an extra dollar or two each month for his Subaru Outback.

“To me, that’s worth it to be part of the experiment,” he said, “and to know I’m paying my fair share for the roads.”

Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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How People in the Queer Community Think About Personal Finance - The New York Times

The cost of family planning and transition care — and other personal finance stories from L.G.B.T.Q. people.

I married my wife last October in a backyard wedding that my parents hosted and covered for $5,000. My wife’s mother gave us an equivalent honeymoon fund to fly us to France, and our guests were also generous, giving us — to our surprise — a few thousand dollars to start our new lives.

Of course, I knew people were given money for their weddings, but this seemed like an abstract, heterosexual concept to me: free money, for loving someone? In my experience, nothing about being a lesbian came without, at minimum, a metaphorical price tag.

But that’s just my experience. In June, which is Pride Month, many people honor the history, struggles and joys of L.G.B.T.Q. people. It’s also a time to celebrate the ways we are different and how we relate to the world around us — which got me thinking about money.

L.G.B.T.Q. people must navigate many systemic disadvantages: disproportionate student loan debt, a wealth and savings gap, less access to our blood relatives’ generational wealth, food insecurity, and incalculable losses related to housing, hiring and workplace discrimination. Marginalized identities like race, immigration status and disability compound the financial disadvantages.

Financial planners are overwhelmingly older, white men who may not be equipped to deal with the concerns of L.G.B.T.Q. people. Most bank accounts require a legal name, which can be difficult for L.G.B.T.Q. people who have different, chosen names.

I wanted to dig into how other L.G.B.T.Q. people think about personal finance. Money in the queer community can be fleeting, communal and scarce, which can have an impact on our financial planning decisions.

Carla, left, and Claire Sherman with their son, Linus. Monthly costs and inflation have made it hard for the family to build up savings.Chase Castor for The New York Times

Carla and Claire Sherman

Carla and Claire Sherman live in St. Louis with their 4-year-old son, Linus. Carla, 49, works at a warehouse, making $34 an hour, and Claire, 37, works in nonprofit fund-raising, earning $52,000 a year. Both spouses feel they should have more savings, but between high inflation and monthly costs of $1,200 for the mortgage, $1,400 for tuition at Linus’s Montessori program, $400 for two leased cars and $600 for groceries, the family is just staying afloat.

Carla, who already works six days a week, is considering taking a second job to pay off a credit card. “But the thought of her working the third shift six days a week and then taking care of Linus for a chunk of the day and then doing some other job seems insane to me,” Claire said.

The family receives financial support from Claire’s parents, who helped cover living expenses when Carla took off a year and a half during the pandemic to care for Linus. They also helped pay off Carla’s student loans. Carla has had a different experience with her parents. They have not given her the same level of support, and she believes they have iced her out because she is a lesbian.

“Back in the ’90s when I came out, it was so much different, and it seemed like it was still OK to not be OK with having a child who’s gay,” Carla said, adding, “They didn’t even offer to give any money for our wedding.”

Linus was born in 2018, and the couple estimate they spent $7,000 on six vials of sperm, a few hundred dollars on fertility testing and $250 to $500 (with insurance) on each of their three pregnancy attempts. They were unable to save ahead of time and used credit cards throughout the process.

Still, the Shermans got pregnant relatively cheaply through intrauterine insemination, which is usually the first and least expensive stop in assisted reproduction. With insurance, the birth was another $12,000 in out-of-pocket costs.

While in the hospital, Claire, who carried their child, was offered paperwork with no option for same-sex partners. On the form, she crossed out “father” and penciled in “second mother” before writing their names.

Mr. Adams said he felt “a moral responsibility to take care of other people in my life that are my chosen family, essentially.”Ariana Drehsler for The New York Times

Yassin Adams

“My grandma used to tell me that me and my dad had holes in our palms,” Yassin Adams, 36, said. Growing up in Egypt, he watched his father, nicknamed “the poor millionaire” by his mother, taking care of family, friends and neighbors. Mr. Adams has taken after his father, making sure the people in his life are looked after.

“It doesn’t matter if we are friend or foe, this is community work,” he said.

Mr. Adams graduated from an Egyptian medical school in 2010 before going to Ohio in 2015. He applied for political asylum in the United States as a former Muslim and a queer person, before coming out as transmasculine and nonbinary and starting his medical transition.

Mr. Adams now lives in San Diego and earns $90,000 a year as a clinical research associate for a private company. Even so, he lives paycheck to paycheck.

“Because I make that salary, I feel a moral responsibility to take care of other people in my life that are my chosen family, essentially,” he said.

Four members of his chosen family (close relationships that L.G.B.T.Q. people form apart from their biological relatives) currently depend on him, Mr. Adams said. It can be difficult for his friends to accept help — they don’t want to receive handouts or to feel like a burden — so he invites them to help him with small household tasks in exchange for money.

But Mr. Adams is also struggling. Alongside typical expenses like $1,500 in rent and $500 car loan payments, he owes tens of thousands of dollars to a rehabilitation facility he visited for addiction issues, has $5,000 in credit card debt and owes $4,000 in medical debt. Mr. Adams also pays $5,000 every three months for hormone care.

Health care is a big-ticket item for anyone, but it can be especially challenging for the L.G.B.T.Q. community, said Josh Andreasen, director of financial planning at Edelman Financial Engines.

“With such a patchwork of laws from state to state regarding health care, it can be extremely difficult locating and paying for the services you might need,” Mr. Andreasen said in an email. “Gender-affirming surgeries for trans individuals can be exceedingly expensive, costing upwards of $100,000.”

“I would pay all the money in order to be a trans queer person,” he said. “I have time to spend, you know what I mean?”

There’s a communal approach to money, and a responsibility to provide, that Mr. Adams feels is common in queer and transgender circles. It’s an insider’s joke, a little glib, but reflects fierce pride: Queer and trans people pass around the same few dollars back and forth, over and over again, to help one another out. Because, as Mr. Adams put it, who is going to fund trans people if not themselves?

Although Cheryna Guzman, left, and Bex Mui are ready to have children, they face financial obstacles.Nicholas Albrecht for The New York Times

Bex Mui and Cheryna Guzman

Bex Mui and her fiancée, Cheryna Guzman, are a lesbian couple living in Oakland, Calif. Ms. Mui, 38, is a self-employed equity consultant and L.G.B.T.Q. inclusion advocate, while Ms. Guzman, 31, works in event production as a video technician. Together, they make about $155,000 a year and want to start a family, but the financial barriers feel significant.

The couple struggle to come up with a realistic time frame for parenthood, Ms. Mui said. Mentally and emotionally, they’re ready for children, “but that’s not how we can bring a baby into this world,” she said.

Ms. Mui often reflects on how much easier it is for heterosexual couples to have children. Instead, for her and Ms. Guzman, trying looks like endless appointments and strategic planning: seeking a sperm donor, navigating legal fees and parental rights, fertility testing, and in vitro fertilization.

It’s a frustrating challenge, Ms. Mui said, because the pair believe they make less money as women of color. The couple don’t have any savings for family planning because they are saving for a wedding.

On average, intrauterine insemination can cost $300 to 1,000 per cycle, and in vitro fertilization costs an average of $12,400 per cycle; with medication, the cost can rise closer to $25,000. With either option, most people need multiple cycles of treatment, and it’s not unusual for families to spend tens of thousands of dollars.

In their worst-case scenario, Ms. Mui said, these financial barriers may prevent them from having a child.

Access to clinics and doctors with experience in L.G.B.T.Q. health also factors into the couple’s financial equation. “We’re very fortunate to live in California,” Ms. Mui said. Despite the cost of West Coast living — the couple pay $2,200 for their apartment and estimate another $1,000 a month for food, gas and other bills — family planning feels easier in a liberal state.

Mikah Amani would like to get gender-affirming surgery, but his finances keep his focus on “being in survival mode right now.”Ysa Pérez for The New York Times

Mikah Amani

Mikah Amani, 22, is a singer-songwriter living in Miami. His rent is just $500 a month, mostly because he lives in a queer house with four roommates. Mr. Amani had a full-time job as a barista, earning $13 an hour plus tips, but he left it last month because, he said, customers were constantly misgendering him and he had a racist encounter with a co-worker.

Black transgender people like Mr. Amani are particularly vulnerable to workplace harassment and economic insecurity. A report from the National LGBTQ Task Force, an advocacy group, found that Black transgender people had an unemployment rate of 26 percent, four times the national rate and twice as high as the rate for the general transgender population.

Leaving his job was a relief, but it left Mr. Amani with no income. He’s relying on support from his parents and grandparents.

Financial precarity has affected Mr. Amani’s access to gender-affirming care. He had a date scheduled for top surgery this month but knew even before quitting his job that he wouldn’t be able to afford it. Through crowdfunding — a strategy that many L.G.B.T.Q. people use while relying on their community — he raised about $1,400, but that money was diverted to immediate expenses. With insurance from his old job, the surgery would have cost about $5,600 out of pocket.

“Being in survival mode right now is kind of my focus,” he said. “I can’t latch on to the fact that I can’t get top surgery right now, because it’s just not practical.”

Noelle Soncrant, a financial adviser at Northwestern Mutual, said in an email that “financial planning is a critical component of closing the financial gap the L.G.B.T.Q.+ community faces.” But until homophobia and transphobia are dealt with systemically, financial savvy alone is unlikely to ever close the gap.

Transphobia has had a ripple effect on Mr. Amani — it’s why he left his barista job, losing his health insurance, and why he has had to pass on other opportunities. Mr. Amani was offered a paid gig playing music at an elementary school, but declined because of Florida’s anti-L.G.B.T.Q. legislation.

Mr. Amani does go to his mother, a midwife, and his father, a private equity consultant, for financial advice, but he’d also like to see a financial adviser who can relate to his experiences. He hopes a financial adviser can help him build the life he wants: full of music, gender euphoria, travel and the ability to support his younger siblings.

“I’d like to see someone who’s trans, someone who’s Black and someone who maybe has been in a similar position to me,” he said.

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Rebellion in Russia could trigger selloff in U.S. stocks and flight to safe assets analysts say. Here's what investors should know. - MarketWatch

Watch what happens over the next 36 hours.

That was the advice from one financial analyst as U.S. investors awoke on Saturday to news of an apparent armed rebellion against Moscow led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of the powerful Russian mercenary organization Wagner Group.

See: Wagner mercenary forces advance toward Moscow as Putin vows harsh punishment for rebellion leaders

Others speculated that the crisis in Russia could drive U.S. stocks lower, as some traders were already betting on a selloff once markets reopen on Monday due to this sudden spike in geopolitical risk.

“The developments in Russia are ultimately going to suggest President Putin’s leadership is weakening quickly and that resources may shift away from the war with Ukraine. It is too early to say how this will impact Wall Street, but the risk of desperate measures from Putin might make some investors nervous,” Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda, said Saturday.

A simmering feud between Prigozhin, the leader of the military contractor whose mercenary forces have been fighting alongside Russian military troops in Ukraine, and the Russian Defense Ministry came to a head early Saturday as Prigozhin led his troops to successfully overtake a Russian military outpost near the Ukrainian frontier, which the Kremlin has used as its command center for overseeing the war in Ukraine.

Amid the mixture of reliable information and unfounded speculation, market analysts have scrambled to make sense of the situation and what it might mean for financial markets and the global economy.

The main theme that has emerged so far is that U.S. stocks would suffer unless the Russian military managed to quickly suppress the rebellion, as may have occurred with reports late Saturday that Prigozhin had halted a Wagner advance on Moscow and, in fact, might be relocating to neighboring Belarus. But how would something that could potentially cut short the war in Ukraine — which has been a bugbear for markets since the full-scale invasion by Russian forces in February 2022 — be a negative for stocks?

The answer is that chaos leads to uncertainty, and that uncertainty is anathema to markets — especially when it could disrupt global oil and food supplies.

“I’d bet on this creating more uncertainty which is generally going to be negative for risk … in the short term at least you see higher geopolitical risk premia — longer term the risks are on both sides really: does this precipitate the collapse of the Russian front and the war ends?” said Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Finalto, in a note to clients on Saturday.

Others noted that the crisis is coming at a vulnerable time for U.S. markets, while Michael Antonelli, a market strategist at R.W. Baird & Co., suggested in a tweet that the crisis “has to be” bearish for U.S. stocks.

The S&P 500 index SPX, closed out its worst week since March on Friday as a series of interest-rate hikes in the U.K. and across Europe last week sparked fresh fears of a global recession. Some analysts noted that the pullback swiftly followed signs that investors are growing more bullish following a powerful rally that sent stocks to their highest levels in 14 months. There are concerns that this shift in sentiment could presage investors’ final capitulation.

Sven Henrich, founder and lead strategist of Northman Trader, noted that the Cboe Volatility Index VIX, , the market’s so-called fear gauge, which measures the stock market’s expectations for volatility over the next 30 days, managed to finish last week below 13.5, its lowest level since January 2020, even as stocks pulled back.

If stocks do continue to slide, that would mean new lows for the Vix have proved to be a reliable counterindicator, suggesting that investors had grown complacent before being walloped by a fresh shock.

Asian markets will be the first to react to ongoing developments by Sunday evening Eastern time, but derivatives traders using CME Group’s Globex platform to trade swaps tracking the value of U.S. equity indexes are already betting on a selloff.

Meanwhile, bitcoin BTCUSD, , an asset that does reliably trade 24/7, was down just 0.8% at $30,675, a slight pullback after achieving its highest level in a year late last week. By Saturday evening the leading cryptocurrency has reversed that earlier dip.

Where might investors turn for safety if markets do become chaotic?

Finalto’s Wilson said investors could seek shelter in the currency market, where the U.S. dollar DXY, , Swiss franc USDCHF, and maybe the euro EURUSD, and British pound GBPUSD, could benefit from a spike in demand. More “de-risking” could send investors into ultrasafe government bonds like U.S. Treasurys TMUBMUSD10Y, , which could help to push yields lower, as bond yields move inversely to prices.

Wilson anticipated that European indexes could be “more exposed to de-risking due to makeup and proximity to Russia and the war in Ukraine.” He also noted the possibility that this latest crisis could send the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite COMP, higher if investors decided to seek shelter in high-quality growth names like Apple Inc. AAPL, , Nvidia Corp. NVDA, or Microsoft Corp. MSFT, , which have helped to drive this year’s equity-market rally.

Whatever happens, the outcome of the crisis should be more clear within the next 35 hours, Wilson said.

“[H]ow the market opens after the weekend will depend on what happens in the next 36 hours. … [I]t could all be over by then,” Wilson said.

Regardless, one of the first to interpret the market’s reaction on Monday will be Melbourne-based Chris Weston, head of research at online broker Pepperstone.

Until then, he cautioned investors against reading too much into the Wagner situation, since analysts’ visibility into a very complicated geopolitical situation is “poor.”

“The humble market participant would simply say they have no edge in knowing how this plays out and our visibility to read this through to markets is currently poor — the information is often biased and it’s hard to truly know what is fact and what is fed to influence. … [W]ill this lead to genuine regime change, fail or perhaps inflame and lead to a market shock?” Weston said in comments provided to MarketWatch.

“At this point we simply don’t know, but it feels like we get enough clarity on potential outcomes and even timelines in the next 24-48 hours — at this point the prospect of modest downside risk on Monday is elevated and naturally we’ll be watching crude and EU assets most closely,” he said.

Terry Haines, founder of Pangea Policy, said in an email to clients that the ongoing uncertainty fueled by the Wagner rebellion reveals the fragility of the Putin regime, and might marginally boost chances of a Ukraine victory.

But Haines also conceded that it’s a “developing and unstable situation with various facets that on net add to geopolitical uncertainties, to which markets usually react negatively.” Investors must also consider that, should that rebellion fail, it could be “replaced by stronger Russian control” or create further instability as “Wagner disintegrates.”

In that same vein, Jim Bianco, head of Bianco Research, offered up a joke aimed at all the armchair geopolitical analysts suddenly flocking to Twitter.

Markets may take a look at this crisis and view it as a “bullish development after some initial volatility, the Kobeissi Letter’s editor in chief and founder, Adam Kobeissi, told MarketWatch in Saturday comments.

“After all, the end of the war in Ukraine is the market’s top geopolitical driver right now, and if this increases the odds of a peace agreement and/or Russia withdrawing from Ukraine, it is likely to be perceived as bullish over the next few weeks,” he said.

He recommended that investors keep an eye on prices of oil and gold, which could be particularly sensitive to any fresh developments.

“If this means more conflict,” he said, “then oil CL.1, , bonds TMUBMUSD10Y, and gold GC00, are poised to rally.”

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Rebellion in Russia could trigger selloff in U.S. stocks and flight to safe assets, analysts say. Here's what investors should know. - MarketWatch
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