Margaret Pomeranz: The 10 films you should watch, but probably haven’t
I have been inundated with timeslip reports from the public over the past few months, and here is just one of the reports. In August 1997, an irresponsible jet skier near the Gladstone Dock in Liverpool raced his machine under the Isle of Man catamaran - travelling between the twin hulls. Had he mistimed the manoeuvre, he would have been turned into mincemeat instantly by the powerful surf of the propellers. Over on the other side of the river, another incident took place involving a jet ski that month, and it is exceedingly hard to explain. On a warm evening in August 1997, an extraordinary and baffling incident unfolded. A 19-year-old small-time crook named Nathan was casing a house in Wallasey when he noticed a police car creeping along. Cautiously, he abandoned his plan and strolled towards Magazines Promenade, where the River Mersey shimmered under the moonlight. As he gazed out at the water, something bobbing at the edge of the tide caught his eye. It appeared to be some sort of souped-up jet ski. Scanning his surroundings and finding no sign of the patrolling police, Nathan clambered over the railings and made his way across the mossy rocks and sand to get a closer look. The craft was indeed a jet ski, though like none he had ever seen. Its sleek, modern design suggested a luxury model, but Nathan couldn’t fathom where it had come from or why it was there. No owner was in sight. The opportunist in him took over and he wondered if he could stash it further down the river and call his mate Terry, who owned a Transit van, to pick it up. Climbing onto the seat, Nathan inspected the controls. The dashboard featured a sophisticated touch-screen displaying a speedometer, fuel gauge, and other readouts he didn’t understand. Speaker grilles flanked the console, and the handlebars resembled those of a motorbike, complete with throttle and toggles for lights, neutral, reverse, and trim. Most intriguing of all was a blue plastic key already inserted in the ignition. Nathan’s pulse quickened as he turned it. ‘Power on,’ announced a synthetic voice from the console, startling him. The display lit up with a series of numbers and symbols that meant nothing to him. Then the voice spoke again: ‘Not enough water. Push the ski into deeper water.’ Nathan grinned nervously and, with some effort, managed to push the craft out into knee-deep water. ‘Ready to go,’ the voice said. Heart pounding, Nathan climbed aboard, twisted the throttle, and the machine surged forward in a burst of silent, breathtaking speed. The speedometer read 35 mph, though Nathan noted the maximum on the scale was an astonishing 700 mph. A typical jet ski tops out at 40 - 60 mph; 700mph was almost the speed of sound. As the craft cut through the waves, Nathan felt an intoxicating mix of adrenaline and euphoria. The quiet hum of the engine resonated in his chest as the world blurred into streaks of moonlit water and silver spray. His grin stretched wide as his heart raced, keeping pace with the machine. Each acceleration felt like a jolt of electricity through his veins. The ghostly white form of New Brighton Lighthouse flashed by in seconds, and only the moon seemed able to keep up. Laughing manically, Nathan aimed for open water, feeling (in his own words) like James Bond. He fumbled in his pocket for sunglasses, slipping them on to shield his stinging eyes from the wind. He twisted the throttle harder, but the voice warned, 'Helmet required for higher speeds.' Unperturbed, Nathan toyed with the idea of riding all the way to the Isle of Man, blissfully unaware that it was nearly 90 miles away. The notion of fuel or how this futuristic craft was powered never crossed his mind. Before long, a colossal vessel loomed on the horizon. Realising he must have entered the shipping lanes, Nathan decided to turn back. He discovered that the steering only worked properly when throttling, so he swung the craft around and spotted a helicopter tracking him. Panic set in. Assuming it was the police, he swore and sped towards the Wirral shore. The jet ski streaked across the water at over 200 mph, and soon the rocky beach of Wallasey came into view, gleaming in the moonlight. Frantically, Nathan searched for a way to brake but fumbled with the unfamiliar controls. Then the voice announced, ‘Autopilot mode,’ and the craft began to decelerate smoothly, sliding to a halt on the sand. Nathan leapt off and bolted. He stumbled, scrambled to his feet, and ran, the helicopter’s clatter echoing above him. Convinced the authorities were closing in, he sprinted until he reached Marine Promenade, where he ran into two gang members he'd had trouble with in the past. 'What were you riding out there?' one asked. Nathan, breathless and jittery, recounted the bizarre encounter, and the pair hurried to the beach to see for themselves. Nathan, however, slipped away, convinced the helicopter would soon lead the police to him. Strangely, no officers ever appeared, and the gang members found no trace of the futuristic jet ski. They’d seen Nathan streaking across the water, so they knew he hadn’t imagined it, but the craft itself had vanished without a trace. In the years since, Nathan has never seen anything remotely like it. Perhaps it was a prototype for a high-speed jet ski, designed for military use or as a cutting-edge experiment. Yet, the challenges posed by such a machine—capable of 700 mph—are almost insurmountable. The air resistance alone at that speed would generate catastrophic turbulence, tearing any human rider from the craft. G-forces from acceleration could cause loss of consciousness, and the environmental impact of such velocity would be extraordinary. Was this a one-off glimpse of experimental technology? Or could a timeslip have played a role that August night in 1997? Perhaps in the future, jet skiers equipped with specialised suits and helmets might indeed travel at such mind-boggling speeds. A craft like this would undoubtedly appeal to thrill-seekers, daredevils, and extreme sports enthusiasts, but for now, its origin remains a mystery. Nathan recounted the story years later during a radio interview, and his testimony was bolstered by another man’s claim that small, high-speed objects are occasionally detected on port radar. The helicopter that tracked Nathan that night remains unidentified, adding another layer to the enigma. What really happened on the Mersey that night in 1997? No one knows for sure, and Nathan himself can only wonder. All of Tom Slemen’s books and audiobooks are on Amazon.
Broncos can wipe away back-to-back heartbreakers and make playoffs by beating Kansas CityTrump says he can't guarantee tariffs won't raise US prices and won't rule out revenge prosecutions
How happy are workers? Answering this depends on a multitude of factors. To add to this, there will be national differences. Take the U.S. as an example, one poll finds that employees are more unhappy at work than they have been in years, and currently more than a quarter of U.S. citizens are looking to change roles. This is the highest in a decade. The data suggests that employees were happier and more satisfied at the height of the pandemic than they are today. In contrast to the ‘lockdown years’, over 80 percent of U.S. citizens are dissatisfied with the way things are going at work. To address this, flexible work appears to result in higher employee satisfaction amid increasing return to office mandates For those running a new small business, when hiring a new employee is an especially timely, costly, and pivotal practice, creating a culture of contentment has never been more important. To aid new business owners boost employee satisfaction, the firm Wix.com has provided to Digital Journal advice on how business owners can create a positive work environment, and how to spot when employees might be losing morale. How to create a positive work environment from your company’s inception In terms of strengthening the workplace environment, the data suggests to build a company based on trust, honesty and fairness. Regardless of company size, employees expect a work environment where: • People are held accountable for their actions, • Respect is shown for others’ ideas, values and beliefs, • There is overarching trust and a sense of community between staff and management, • Difficult situations are addressed efficiently and effectively Establish backend processes early on While startups often expect their first employees to wear many hats, failing to have processes in place around job roles and the specifics of what is expected of employees can ultimately create a negative working environment. Similarly, if firms are making fundamental changes within the business, managers need to make sure they have planned out a protocol to communicate this to your staff and keep them in the loop. Additionally, processes around mental health, dealing with difficult situations, and day to day operational procedures should also be in place so that you can deal with issues in a standardized way. Give hiring decisions the attention they deserve Hiring the right people is always important, but especially significant for newer businesses and startups, as they’re often the people that are going to drive your organization forward. Hire people that align with your mission and business values. In a smaller company, these are equally important to employees as it is to senior stakeholders. Hire for attitude as well as skill (it’s vital to have people who are respectful and easy to work with), and ensure applicants are aligned with the company and invested in its mission before signing on the dotted line. An aligned vision keeps employees happy, and as a smaller team, being on the same page and having the same end goal helps to avoid friction. Build a work environment that encourages support and developmen t Employees want roles that are both personally and professionally fulfilling, allowing them to receive fair compensation while working on projects that challenge them and align with their personal values. Creating an environment that supports this development – whether that’s through in-house training, budget allocation, or mentoring amongst colleagues -, – helps employees feel nurtured and respected in their role. Prioritise work-life balance from the beginning Expectations should be clear around working times, but as is often the case in work, employees will be expected to work beyond these times where required. Where there is adequate work-life balance in place, and employees are aligned with their company’s mission, staff often don’t resent working beyond their assigned hours (so long as this doesn’t occur week in, week out). Leaders should show respect for employees’ personal lives and passion projects by monitoring workloads, and if a member of staff is consistently working overtime, conversations should be had around whether there is too much work assigned, or whether there are other reasons why they cannot complete this within their usual working hours. Invest in good leadership While founders are typically excellent at what they do, leadership often doesn’t come naturally. Focus on investing in leadership training, promote those who lead by example, and be prepared to challenge instances where leadership could be improved or acted upon differently. Poor leadership is one of the greatest performance-killers for highly-motivated employees, and once this relationship diminishes, it can be easy for employees to lose morale. Dr. Tim Sandle is Digital Journal's Editor-at-Large for science news.Tim specializes in science, technology, environmental, business, and health journalism. He is additionally a practising microbiologist; and an author. He is also interested in history, politics and current affairs.Unlock a 4200% Return: BlockDAG’s Bold $1 Target; Exploring BONK's Rise and Dogecoin's Dip!
All three major US stock indexes scored record closing highs on Wednesday as technology shares rallied after upbeat results from Salesforce and as comments by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell gave a late boost to the market. or signup to continue reading The economy is stronger than it appeared in September when the central bank began cutting interest rates, allowing policymakers to potentially be a little more cautious in reducing rates further, Powell said at a New York Times event. Powell's comments overall along with a Fed economic activity report added to the upbeat tone in the market, said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities in New York. The Fed said in a summary of surveys and interviews from across the country known as the "Beige Book" that US economic activity has expanded slightly in most regions since early October. Powell "was very upbeat about economy, and he said we're making progress on inflation ... that's good news for stocks in general," Cardillo said. Investors expect a third consecutive interest-rate cut at the central bank's December 17-18 meeting. Salesforce jumped 11 per cent and hit an all-time high after the enterprise cloud company beat analyst estimates for third-quarter revenue and raised the lower end of its annual revenue forecast. Other cloud companies also advanced. The S&P 500 technology index hit a record closing high, along with the communication services and consumer discretionary indexes. Also in the tech space, Marvell Technology rallied 23.2 per cent and also hit a record high after the chipmaker forecast fourth-quarter revenue above analyst estimates. An index of semiconductors rose 1.7 per cent, while Nvidia was up 3.5 per cent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 308.91 points, or 0.69 per cent, to 45,014.44, the S&P 500 gained 36.59 points, or 0.60 per cent, to 6,086.47 and the Nasdaq Composite gained 254.21 points, or 1.30 per cent, to 19,735.12. Investors eagerly await monthly US jobs data due on Friday and jobless claims data on Thursday. Earlier Wednesday, US private payrolls data showed a modest increase in November. Separately, a survey from the Institute for Supply Management showed US services sector activity slowed in November after big gains in recent months. The final reading of the S&P services survey was revised lower to 56.1. "Recent economic data has pretty much confirmed the Fed will cut rates in December," said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research in New York. Friday's jobs report is "like the granddaddy of employment reports this week," he said. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.2-to-1 ratio on the NYSE. There were 367 new highs and 79 new lows on the NYSE. On the Nasdaq, 2,372 stocks rose and 1,930 fell as advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 1.23-to-1 ratio. Volume on US exchanges was 13.06 billion shares, compared with the 14.89 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days. DAILY Today's top stories curated by our news team. WEEKDAYS Grab a quick bite of today's latest news from around the region and the nation. WEEKLY The latest news, results & expert analysis. WEEKDAYS Catch up on the news of the day and unwind with great reading for your evening. WEEKLY Get the editor's insights: what's happening & why it matters. WEEKLY Love footy? We've got all the action covered. WEEKLY Every Saturday and Tuesday, explore destinations deals, tips & travel writing to transport you around the globe. WEEKLY Going out or staying in? Find out what's on. WEEKDAYS Sharp. Close to the ground. Digging deep. Your weekday morning newsletter on national affairs, politics and more. TWICE WEEKLY Your essential national news digest: all the big issues on Wednesday and great reading every Saturday. WEEKLY Get news, reviews and expert insights every Thursday from CarExpert, ACM's exclusive motoring partner. TWICE WEEKLY Get real, Australia! Let the ACM network's editors and journalists bring you news and views from all over. AS IT HAPPENS Be the first to know when news breaks. DAILY Your digital replica of Today's Paper. Ready to read from 5am! DAILY Test your skills with interactive crosswords, sudoku & trivia. Fresh daily! Advertisement AdvertisementBARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Tens of thousands of Spaniards marched in downtown Barcelona on Saturday to protest the skyrocketing cost of renting an apartment in the popular tourist destination. Protesters cut off traffic on main avenues in the city center, holding up homemade signs in Spanish reading “Fewer apartments for investing and more homes for living" and “The people without homes uphold their rights.” The lack of affordable housing has become one of the leading concerns for the southern European Union country, mirroring the housing crunch across many parts of the world, including the United States . Organizers said that over 170,000 had turned out, while Barcelona’s police said they estimated some 22,000 marched. Either way, the throngs of people clogging the streets recalled the massive separatist rallies at the height of the previous decade’s Catalan independence movement. Now, social concerns led by housing have displaced political crusades. That is because the average rent for Spain has doubled in last 10 years. The price per square meter has risen from 7.2 euros ($7.5) in 2014 to 13 euros this year, according to the popular online real estate website Idealista. The growth is even more acute in cities like Barcelona and Madrid. Incomes meanwhile have failed to keep up, especially for younger people in a country with chronically high unemployment. Protester Samuel Saintot said he is “frustrated and scared” after being told by the owners of the apartment he has rented for the past 15 years in Barcelona’s city center that he must vacate the premises. He suspects that the owners want him out so they can renovate it and boost the price. “Even looking in a 20- or 30-kilometer radius outside town, I can’t even find anything within the price range I can afford,” he told The Associated Press. “And I consider myself a very fortunate person, because I earn a decent salary. And even in my case, I may be forced to leave town.” A report by the Bank of Spain indicates that nearly 40% of Spaniards who rent dedicate an average of 40% of their income to paying rents and utilities, compared to the European Union average of 27% of renters who do so. “We are talking about a housing emergency. It means people having many difficulties both in accessing and staying in their homes,” said Ignasi Martí, professor for Esade business school and head of its Dignified Housing Observatory. The rise in rents is causing significant pain in Spain, where traditionally people seek to own their homes. Rental prices have also been driven up by short-term renters including tourists. Many migrants to Spain are also disproportionately hit by the high rents because they often do not have enough savings. Spain is near the bottom end of OECD countries with under 2% of all housing available being public housing for rent. The OECD average is 7%. Spain is far behind France, with 14%, Britain with 16%, and the Netherlands with 34%. “I think it’s impossible to make prices fall to what they were a few years back. It makes me cry,” said protester Laia Pizjuán. “It's so upsetting. I know so many people who are in a bad situation. I have relatives living together in crowded apartments because they can’t afford to live on their own.” Carme Arcarazo, spokesperson for Barcelona’s Tenants Union which helped organize the protest, said that renters should consider a “rent strike” and cease paying their monthly rents in a mass protest movement. “I think we the tenants have understood that this depends on us. That we can’t keep asking and making demands to the authorities and waiting for an answer. We must take the reins of the situation,” Arcarazo told the AP. “So, if they (the owners) won’t lower the rent, then we will force them to do it." The Barcelona protest came a month after tens of thousands rallied against high rents in Madrid. The rising discontent over housing is putting pressure on Spain’s governing Socialist party, which leads a coalition on the national level and is in charge of Catalonia’s regional government and Barcelona’s city hall. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez presided over what the government termed a “housing summit” including government officials and real estate developers last month. But the Barcelona’s Tenants Union boycotted the event, saying it was like calling a summit for curing cancer and inviting tobacco companies to participate. The leading government measure has been a rent cap mechanism that the central government has offered to regional authorities based on a price index established by the housing ministry. Rent controls can be applied to areas deemed to be “highly stressed” by high rental prices. Catalonia was the first region to apply those caps, which are in place in downtown Barcelona. Many locals blame the million of tourists who visit Barcelona, and the rest of Spain, each year for the high prices. Barcelona’s town hall has pledged to completely eliminate the city’s 10,000 so called “tourist apartments,” or dwellings with permits for short-term rents, by 2028.
Trump's FBI pick Kash Patel goes scorched earth on MSNBC guest in wild letter Kash Patel's lawyer sent a letter threatening legal action against Olivia Troye Sign up for the latest with DailyMail.com's U.S. politics newsletter By SARAH EWALL-WICE, SENIOR U.S. POLITICAL REPORTER FOR DAILYMAIL.COM IN WASHINGTON, DC Published: 22:47 GMT, 4 December 2024 | Updated: 22:52 GMT, 4 December 2024 e-mail 8 View comments The lawyer of Kash Patel, President-elect Donald Trump 's pick to lead the FBI , sent a letter to an MSNBC commentator threatening to take legal action unless she retracts her remarks about him on the network. Olivia Troye, who once served in the Trump administration before becoming a fierce critic of the president-elect, shared the letter by Patel's attorney on social media. 'Litigation will be filed against you if you fail to publicly retract defamatory statements you made about Mr. Patel on MSNBC on December 2, 2024,' the letter reads. It accuses her of making 'several false and defamatory statements' about Patel. During the MSNBC segment, Troye called Patel a 'delusional liar' and accused him of lying about intelligence. She accused him of 'making things up on operations' to the point where he was accused of putting 'the lives of Navy SEALs at risk in an operation when it came to Nigeria .' Troye also accused Patel of misinforming Vice President Mike Pence . President-elect Trump's pick for FBI director threatened legal action against Olivia Troye after she criticized him during an appearance on MSNBC She claimed she would have to double-check his work so she did not pass on misinformation to the vice president while working for him as a special adviser during the Trump administration. The letter from Patel's lawyer called her criticism of him a 'complete fabrication.' 'At no point did Mr. Patel ever lie about national intelligence, place Navy Seals at risk, or misinform the Vice President,' the letter reads. The letter accused her of not only having 'knowledge of the falsity of this smear' but doing so 'with the malicious intent of degrading his character and of cynical self-promotion.' The letter demanded she retract her remarks with a public statement on her X account within five days of receiving the letter. 'Unless this step is taken, Mr. Patel will take swift legal action to uphold his rights and reputation,' the letter stated. It also directed her to preserve documents related to Patel including emails, texts and other electronic messages, recordings, voice mails, drafts, notes communications, documents, data and electronically stored information. It asked for confirmation of receipt of the letter and intention to retract statements as well as confirmation she intends to retain documents and data. Olivia Troye called Patel a 'delusional liar' and accused him of lying about intelligence in Trump's first term during an appearance on MSNBC on December 2 But Troye decided to make the entire letter public on social media, positing it on X and the Bluesky social platform. ' This aligns with his threats against the media & political opponents, revealing how he might conduct himself if confirmed in the role, Troye wrote in her post. 'I stand by my statements—my priority remains the safety & security of the American people, she continued. 'I am not the only one who has expressed concerns about him. So why me? And so it begins,' she finished. Olivia Troye responded to threatened legal action by posting the letter and her response on social media The letter sent to Olivia Troye's lawyer from the law firm representing Trump's FBI pick Kash Patel threatening legal action Troye, who previously also served in the Department of Homeland Security during Trump's first term and the Defense Department during the Bush administration came out as a fierce critic of Trump after serving in his first administration. She was one of multiple former Trump officials to speak out against him during the 2024 campaign including from the state of the Democratic National Convention. Olivia Troye speaking at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August Troye with then-Vice President Mike Pence. she served as his homeland security and counterterrorism adviser Trump announced on Saturday that he intended to nominate Patel, a close ally and controversial pick, to be the next FBI director, cutting short the tenure of current FBI Director Christopher Wray. Patel served as chief of staff to the acting defense secretary during Trump's first term as well as on the National Security Council and as an adviser to the acting director of national intelligence. He is a 2020 election denier who has also been a vocal critic of the bureau he is being tapped to lead accusing the FBI of 'deep state' activities. Patel has also gone after the media claiming during a December 2023 podcast taping on Steve Bannon's show that they will 'come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens who helped Joe Biden rig presidential elections.' Patel would have to be confirmed by the Senate to become the next FBI director. In her appearance on MSNBC's The Reidout on Monday, Troye warned Patel is someone wh o 'openly has contempt for people in national security, for people especially at DOJ and the FBI.' She called it 'insane' if he becomes FBI director and said she fears for the law enforcement officers who will have to navigate working for him. Politics Share or comment on this article: Trump's FBI pick Kash Patel goes scorched earth on MSNBC guest in wild letter e-mail Add commentBlame it on the food and drink?
Arsenal held at Fulham in title race blowBusiness Don't miss out on the headlines from Business. Followed categories will be added to My News. There are two clear groups of Australians right now – those with the cash and those without it, and the cash holders are laughing all the way to the bank. The latest figures from financial regulator APRA show households stashed an extra $19.5bn into cash deposits in October, taking their total holdings to a record $1.54 trillion. Research group Canstar says household deposits have risen more than $272bn since the Reserve Bank began raising interest rates in 2022. Meanwhile, the victims of those rate rises – people with home loans – continue to struggle with repayments costing them 62 per cent more than they were paying in 2022, while the relief of potential RBA rate cuts keeps getting pushed further back into 2025. They are losing because others are winning, and the fact that a large chunk of the population continues to hoard cash suggests there is still plenty of money to be spent in the economy to fuel inflation – and that’s not good news for borrowers. Canstar insights director Sally Tindall says most people would not have predicted that deposits would surge at the same time the RBA cash rate remained at 4.35 per cent. “The recent tax cuts and savings from the energy bill rebates could have easily been spent at the shops, but it appears many Australians are far more focused on saving this extra cash than spending it,” Tindall says. The benefits of holding cash are clear, with interest rates near 5 per cent providing a decent income return that was not available for many years, plus your savings are government guaranteed. It’s a brilliant buffer to hold in uncertain times, and economic and political uncertainty may be a reason why people are stashing more cash. However, anyone with a home loan should avoid holding any cash because the numbers don’t stack up. It makes little sense to have money in a bank account paying you 5 per cent, which is then taxed at your marginal rate, when you can instead divert that to your mortgage through offset accounts or redraw facilities, which deliver an instant 7 per cent after-tax saving in interest. If people are following this golden rule of finance, it suggests that the vast majority of Australians’ $1.54 trillion in cash deposits belongs to households that don’t have home loans. That’s a lot of spending power, and could continue to keep Australia’s inflation higher for longer, which will keep the RBA sitting on the sidelines for longer. Bank deposits continue to climb as home loan customers struggle. Picture: iStock The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics monthly Consumer Price Index indicator showed headline inflation steady at an annual rate of 2.1 per cent, which is will within the 2-3 per cent target band the RBA seeks to achieve with its rate movements, as it was pushed lower by temporary government energy bill rebates. However, underlying annual inflation, which strips out the volatile stuff and is the preferred measure for the RBA when watching CPI, rose from 3.2 per cent in September to 3.5 per cent in October. That’s way above the 2-3 per cent target and heading in the wrong direction for borrowers seeking rate relief. Canstar’s Tindall says the latest inflation date points to a May 2025 RBA rate cut at the earliest, and bank forecasters are tipping at least three cuts next year. Borrowers have learned in the past year or two that these forecasts are rubbery at best. As savers continue cheering these ongoing high interest rates, the wealth gap grows. More Coverage CBA backs down on bank fees David Ross, Cliona O’Dowd Inflation and interest rates: how to stay financially afloat Anthony Keane Originally published as Bank deposits boom as mortgage borrowers battle – the gap widens Join the conversation Add your comment to this story To join the conversation, please log in. Don't have an account? Register Join the conversation, you are commenting as Logout More related stories Business Social licence the missing piece in green dream The head of renewables giant Enel’s Australian business says the absence of a social licence framework for developers is holding back the energy transition. Read more Business Costings cast cloud over Dutton’s nuclear dream The CSIRO has stepped up its attack on the price of Peter Dutton’s nuclear ambition, claiming the cost of large-scale power plants far exceeds firmed renewables over the long term. Read moreBloomberg and staff reporter Major investment banks are warning that the greenback, US stocks and crypto may have peaked. Yet, some say bitcoin could surge to above US$200,000 (HK$1.56 million). Morgan Stanley has shifted to a bearish outlook on the US dollar, despite its gains following Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election. It said the US economy remains strong, but the US dollar's positive factors are fully priced in. It also said that the market may overreact to trade policy changes and be overly conservative about Federal Reserve rate cuts while overestimating cuts by foreign central banks. The US stock market accounts for half of the global stock market capitalization, as global funds accelerate their flow into US stocks. A powerful rally in US stocks as well as cryptocurrencies has left the asset classes looking frothy, according to Bank of America's Michael Hartnett. The S&P 500's price-to-book ratio has surged to 5.3 times in 2024, approaching the record peak of 5.5 in March 2000 during the height of the technology bubble, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. BofA's Hartnett said there's a high risk of "overshoot" in early 2025 if the S&P 500 nears 6,666 points - about 10 percent above current levels. The bank's bull-and-bear indicator shows no sign of exuberance among global investors yet. The strategist took a more neutral tone on equities this year after remaining bearish in 2023. The S&P 500 has surged about 27 percent in 2024 and is tracking its best year since 2019 on optimism around artificial intelligence and wagers that president-elect Donald Trump's "America First" policies will boost domestic markets. His support for crypto also helped Bitcoin briefly rally past US$100,000 this week. Hartnett said that with a market capitalization of over US$2 trillion, bitcoin was comparable to the 11th largest economy in the world. Bernstein Research sees bitcoin reaching a cycle high of US$200,000 by the end of 2025, driven by regulatory certainty and increased institutional adoption.
Friday Local Scores (Nov. 22) And Saturday Schedule
Voice cloning is an emerging technology powered by artificial intelligence and it's raising alarms about its potential misuse. Earlier this year, New Hampshire voters experienced this firsthand when a deepfake mimicking President Joe Biden’s voice urged them to skip the polls ahead of the primary. The deepfake likely needed only several seconds of the president's voice to create the clone. According to multiple AI voice cloning models, about 10 seconds of an actual voice is all that is needed to recreate it. And that can easily come from a phone call or a video from social media. "A person's voice is really probably not that information-dense. It's not as unique as you may think," James Betker, a technical staff member at OpenAI, told Scripps News. Betker developed TortoiseTTS, an open-source voice cloning model. "It's actually very easy to model, very easy to learn, the distribution of all human voices from a fairly small amount of data," Betker added. How AI voice cloning works AI models have been trained on vast amounts of data, learning to recognize human speech. Programs analyze the data and train repeatedly, learning characteristics such as rhythm, stress, pitch and tone. "It can look at 10 seconds of someone speaking and it has stored enough information about how humans speak with that kind of prosody and pitch. Enough information about how people speak with their processing pitch and its weights that it can just continue on," Betker said. Imagine a trained AI model as a teacher, and the person cloning the voice to be a student. When a student asks to create a cloned voice, it starts off as white noise. The teacher scores how close the student is to sounding correct. The student tries again and again based on these scores until the student produces something close to what the teacher wants. While this explanation is extremely simplified, the concept of generating a cloned voice is based on bit-by-bit, based on probability distributions. "I think, at its core, it's pretty simple," Betker said. "I think the analogy of just continuing with what you're given will take you pretty far here." There are currently some AI models that claim to only need two seconds of samples. While the results are not convincing yet, Betker says future models will need even fewer voice samples to create a convincing clone.6 Asian cable car rides that will take you to new heights, from Japan to Singapore
Pneumatic line throwers hit safety aims without the pyrotechnicsCutting in line? American Airlines’ new boarding tech might stop you at now over 100 airports