Even before taking office, a second Trump administration is already moving the macro-financial needle and raising downside risks for the global economy. The degree of ultimate policy implementation is a key unknown. Our preliminary policy read on the new U.S. administration is that positive growth effects will be minimal, inflation pressures will rise, and the Fed is likely to stop cutting rates earlier. This will lead to tighter financial conditions, a stronger dollar, and a more complicated macroeconomic picture elsewhere. Owing to a “wait and see” approach, our GDP growth forecasts have not moved much since the previous publication, other than incorporating changes related to base effects. Risks include the full implementation of the proposed U.S. agenda on taxes, trade, and immigration; the end of resilient consumer spending and labor demand; and bond market stress. AI is an upside. The global macroeconomic outlook is hostage to the policy implementation of the new U.S. administration. The recent macro pattern featuring an outperforming U.S. economy continues. But potentially large changes in fiscal, trade, and immigration policy from the U.S. are significant unknowns at this juncture. Specifically, it is unclear to what extent campaign promises will translate into policy, and when. Given the size of the U.S. economy, policy action on any of these fronts can move the global needle, affecting some economies more than others. For now, S&P Global Ratings has taken a probabilistic approach and is assuming partial implementation of U.S. campaign promises. Of course, to the extent that U.S. policy actions spill over to the rest of the world, other countries may respond in kind. We plan to update our forecasts, narratives, and risks as the picture becomes clearer. Recent Macro Pattern Continues While Markets Are Moving The recent pattern of real performance in the three largest economies is carrying on. The U.S. continues to outshine its peer group. GDP rose by 2.8% year on year in the third quarter (Q3), down fractionally from the second quarter (Q2), since services spending and labor demand remain strong. The eurozone economy continues its modest rebound from a borderline recession centered on Germany. GDP growth reached 1.6% quarter on quarter in Q3, also accompanied by strong services spending and labor demand. In China, growth is running below the official 5% target for the year, reflecting the ongoing effects of the property sector overhang. The policy response remains measured and consumer confidence and spending are still weak. Inflation continues to trend toward central bank targets in the major economies, but with emerging divergence. Progress in lowering inflation has stalled in the U.S., with the most recent readings for sequential inflation moving sideways. Services inflation in particular remains persistent. A similar story prevails in Australia and to a less extent in the U.K. Canada has seen the sharpest drop in inflation, which now stands below the central bank’s target. Elsewhere, the eurozone has seen an uptick in core inflation, which is currently tracking on target. Central banks continue to reduce their policy rates, mostly gradually. The Bank of Canada was first out of the gate and leads the pack with an accumulated 125 basis points (bps) of cuts since the middle of 2024. The European Central Bank (ECB) and the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) have both cut rates by 75 bps to date, while the Bank of England has cut by 50 bps. The Reserve Bank of Australia is the outlier, with no cuts to date. As expected, central banks are lowering policy rates at a much slower pace than they raised them in 2022 and early 2023, with only two 50 bps cuts in this group so far. Markets have significantly increased expectations that the Fed will stop cutting rates versus only a few months ago. This is most clear in forward pricing for the October 2025 meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee. Seen through this lens, market expectations for the Fed funds rate have moved higher by about 100 bps in the past two months to 3.9% from 2.9%. The movement reflects concerns over potential inflation pressures from tariffs, tax cuts, and restrictions on labor supply (as a consequence of immigration policy changes) that would require a forceful response from the Fed. Importantly, market views of policy rates for other major central banks have not shown this pattern. For example, the gap between the expected Fed funds rate and ECB deposit rate for October 2025 has more than doubled to over 200 bps in the past two months. Roughly in parallel with Fed funds rate expectations, U.S. 10-year yields have moved higher in recent months. From a trough of about 3.8% in September, yields have climbed to almost 4.5% in late November. In addition to higher inflation pressures, higher yields at the long end also reflect expectations about the supply of Treasuries. Supply is likely to be higher, given an estimated increase in the size of fiscal deficits under the Trump administration. Again, other major economies have not seen similar movements in their longer-term government yields. The yield on 10-year German bunds has been flat over the same period. The U.S. dollar rebounded before and after the election. This was in line with interest rate market moves and continued expected outperformance of the U.S. economy. According to the benchmark DXY index, the U.S. dollar has risen 7% since late September and is near levels last seen in the early 2000s. In bilateral terms against other major currencies, the moves since late September have been broadly consistent. Higher bond yields and a stronger currency both point to tighter financial conditions in the U.S., which have historically been a strong determinant of a slower expansion of output. Our Broadly Unchanged Forecasts Have Widening Confidence Bands Our new baseline growth forecasts are broadly in line with our previous quarterly Credit Conditions Committee (CCC) forecast (see table 1). U.S. GDP growth will slow gradually to 2% or below starting next year, consistent with a soft landing, before rising back to potential. The eurozone will continue its gradual recovery in 2025 to reach its potential growth rate. China’s growth will slow toward 4% as the U.S. tariffs weaken exports and investment. Elsewhere, the picture is mixed. In the advanced economies, Japan will rebound next year and settle at about 1% growth, with the U.K. following a similar pattern toward its trend growth of 1.5%. In the major emerging markets, India retains the global growth baton, where the rate of expansion should stay just below 7% over the next few years. Elsewhere in emerging markets, Brazil and Mexico should eventually converge to about 2% growth (with Mexico having a weaker 2025), while South Africa should pick up to about 1.5% growth in the next few years. United States: Uncertainty Looms As Trump Takes Office We forecast the economy will expand 2.0% in the next two years–incorporating a partial implementation of proposed Trump policies–following 2.7% GDP growth in 2024. We expect the Fed to reduce its policy rate more gradually than considered in our September forecast update and reach an assumed neutral rate of 3.1% by fourth-quarter 2026–from fourth-quarter 2025 previously. Uncertainty around our forecasts is high given unknowns about the extent President-elect Trump’s campaign promises will materialize. Trump’s policy proposals, at face value, could result in higher inflation in the near term and lower growth in the medium to long term. And the probability of a disruption to the Fed’s easing bias over the next two years has risen. Europe: Interest Rate Cuts To Accelerate We project eurozone GDP growth of 0.8% in 2024 and 1.2% in 2025, with Germany lagging its peers and Spain continuing to outperform. Changes to our previous forecast largely reflect revisions of past data. Due to a more pronounced drop in energy prices, we expect inflation will be marginally lower in 2025 than we anticipated. A long period of very stable macroeconomic forecasts might come to an end because new leaders in the U.S., EU, and Germany may take decisions early next year on tariffs, defense, and general spending that could reshape the economic outlook. We anticipate the ECB will cut interest rates more quickly than we previously expected due to persistently weak confidence and better visibility on the disinflation trajectory. That said, we do not expect the cuts will exceed our previous forecast. We now project that the main policy rate will reach 2.5% before summer {May?) 2025, compared with our previous expectation of September 2025. For our full report on the eurozone economy, see “Next Year Will Be A Game Changer,” published Nov. 26, 2024. Asia-Pacific: Slower Global Demand Hits Growth While China’s stimulus measures should support growth, we expect its economy to be hit by U.S. trade tariffs on its exports. In all, we now project 4.1% GDP growth in 2025 and 3.8% in 2026; that’s 0.2 percentage points (ppts) and 0.7 ppt lower than our forecast in September. Asia-Pacific’s growth will be impeded by slower global demand and U.S. trade policy. But lower interest rates and inflation should ease their drag on spending power. In emerging markets, robust domestic demand growth is also buoying GDP growth. Swings in capital flows driven by shifts in expectations about U.S. interest rates and trade policies require central banks to be vigilant and cautious. In turn, we expect Asia-Pacific central banks to take their time bringing policy rates down. For our full report on the Asia-Pacific economies, see “U.S. Trade Shift Blurs The Horizon,” published Nov. 25, 2024. Emerging Markets: Trade Protectionism Adds To Risks A likely increase in protectionist trade policies among major economies will hurt GDP growth in most emerging markets in the next couple of years. However, the magnitude of the effect will depend on the details, which will become clearer in the coming months. For now, we assume only a modest increase in tit-for-tat tariffs between the U.S. and China in 2025 and no new tariffs for the rest of the world, which would produce a relatively modest net impact on GDP in most major emerging markets outside China. However, downside risks to our forecast are high, and potential tightening in financial conditions because of trade-related uncertainty adds another hazard. For our full report on the emerging market economies, see “Trade Uncertainty Threatens Growth,” published Nov. 26, 2024. Risks Shift To Near-Team U.S. Policies The main risk to our baseline is the exact policy implementation of the incoming U.S. administration on tariffs, taxes, and immigration. In our current forecast round, we have assumed only partial implementation of campaign promises. Once the new administration takes office, actual policy implementation will become clearer. Let’s look at a scenario in which the U.S. imposes a 60% tariff on all imports from China plus new tariffs on other trading partners, cuts personal and corporate taxes, and deports millions of illegal immigrants. If that happens, we anticipate lower U.S. output, higher inflation pressures, and increased volatility and rates along the yield curve. These effects will spill over to other economies–very asymmetrically–in terms of activity, trade, and key financial variables. The durability of the nexus of strong services spending and labor demand also constitutes another downside risk. While in our baseline scenario we assume continued resilience, services spending could begin to crack, given still-high interest rates and rising uncertainty about U.S. policy. Should services spending slow and labor demand begin to fall, we would likely enter into a sharp slowdown/recession scenario. Another downside risk is the end of quiescence in the U.S. bond market. While 10-year yields rose before and after the election, the market has so far remained orderly. Stress in the bond market cannot be ruled out, given that deficits under the Trump administration are projected by the U.S. government as being higher than under a Harris administration, plus the uncertainties discussed above. A failed auction or a spike in yields could lead to higher volatility and spreads, closed access for parts of the market, and tighter financial conditions. On the upside, recent productivity gains in the U.S. could broaden and deepen. These gains have come from investments and new technologies around the energy transition, as well as AI, and have boosted potential growth by 40 bps-50 bps. While energy transition gains might be limited elsewhere, given the specific characteristics (subsidies) of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, AI capabilities are more widespread and only at a very early stage. This could boost productivity across a range of economies. Global Macro 2025: Fasten Your Seatbelts The global economy will start 2025 in a relatively good position. Macro resilience has been a key theme over the past few years. Higher interest rates in response to an unexpectedly sharp rise in post-pandemic inflation have not caused the sharp slowdown feared by most forecasters. Services spending has remained strong and labor demand robust. Losses in output and employment have been modest. Asset prices have risen and volatility has been low. Central banks are now cutting interest rates and a normally elusive soft landing appears within reach and remains our baseline scenario. Central to this positive global macro story has been the U.S. The world’s largest economy has continued to outperform and steady the global macro picture. That could be about to change. The new administration looks to “juice up” an economy that is already running at or above potential, raising the specter of higher inflation pressure, higher U.S. rates along the curve, and a stronger dollar. This tightens U.S. financial conditions and will spill over to a swathe of other economies, mainly emerging markets. More critically, U.S. trade policy could turn much more disruptive if implemented along the lines promised in the campaign. As we have shown in “How Would China Fare Under 60% U.S. Tariffs?,” published Nov. 17, 2024, maximum U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports could significantly damage that economy. And, like before, China is almost sure to retaliate. Tariffs on other trading partners are likely to cause commensurate damage to their economies, with the risk of retaliation as well. On balance, we think tariffs will be growth destroying and further contribute to ongoing economic (and political) fragmentation. Moreover, none of this will help narrow the U.S. trade and current account deficit, which reflects a lack of U.S. savings relative to investment. How much of the proposed policy agenda was campaign bluster versus actual intent remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: volatility will be a feature, not a bug. Buckle up. Source:NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks rose Monday, with those benefiting the most from lower interest rates and a stronger economy leading the way. The S&P 500 climbed 0.3% to pull closer to its all-time high set two weeks ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 440 points, or 1%, to its own record set on Friday, while the Nasdaq composite rose 0.3%. Treasury yields also eased in the bond market amid what some analysts called a “Bessent bounce” after President-elect Donald Trump said he wants Scott Bessent , a hedge fund manager, to be his Treasury Secretary. Bessent has argued for reducing the U.S. government’s deficit, which is how much more it spends than it takes in through taxes and other revenue. Such an approach could soothe worries on Wall Street that Trump’s policies may lead to a much bigger deficit, which in turn would put upward pressure on Treasury yields. After climbing above 4.44% immediately after Trump’s election, the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell back to 4.26% Monday, down from 4.41% late Friday. That’s a notable move, and lower yields make it cheaper for all kinds of companies and households to borrow money. They also give a boost to prices for stocks and other investments. That helped stocks of smaller companies lead the way, and the Russell 2000 index of smaller stocks jumped 1.5%. It finished just shy of its all-time high, which was set three years ago. Smaller companies can feel bigger boosts from lower borrowing costs because of the need for many to borrow to grow. The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks the market’s expectations for what the Federal Reserve will do with overnight interest rates, also eased sharply. The Fed began cutting its main interest rate just a couple months ago from a two-decade high, hoping to keep the job market humming after bringing inflation nearly all the way down to its 2% target. But immediately after Trump’s victory, traders had reduced bets for how many cuts the Fed may deliver next year. They were worried Trump’s preference for lower tax rates and higher spending on the border would balloon the national debt. A report coming on Wednesday could influence how much the Fed may cut rates. Economists expect it to show that an underlying inflation trend the Fed prefers to use accelerated to 2.8% last month from 2.7% in September. Higher inflation would make the Fed more reluctant to cut rates as deeply or as quickly as it would otherwise. Goldman Sachs economist David Mericle expects that to slow by the end of next year to 2.4%, but he said inflation would be even lower if not for expected tariff increases on imports from China and autos favored by Trump. In the stock market, Bath & Body Works jumped 16.5% after delivering stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. The seller of personal care products and home fragrances also raised its financial forecasts for the full year, even though it still sees a “volatile retail environment” and a shorter holiday shopping season this year. Much focus has been on how resilient U.S. shoppers can remain, given high prices across the economy and still-high interest rates. Last week, two major retailers sent mixed messages. Target tumbled after giving a dour forecast for the holiday shopping season. It followed Walmart , which gave a much more encouraging outlook. Another big retailer, Macy’s, said Monday its sales for the latest quarter were in line with its expectations, but it will delay the release of its full financial results. It found a single employee had intentionally hid up to $154 million in delivery expenses, and it needs more time to complete its investigation. Macy’s stock fell 2.2%. Among the market’s leaders were several companies related to the housing industry. Monday’s drop in Treasury yields could translate into easier mortgage rates, which could spur activity for housing. Builders FirstSource, a supplier or building materials, rose 5.9%. Homebuilders, D.R. Horton, PulteGroup and Lennar all rose at least 5.6%. All told, the S&P 500 rose 18.03 points to 5,987.37. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 440.06 to 44,736.57, and the Nasdaq composite gained 51.18 to 19,054.84. In stock markets abroad, indexes moved modestly across much of Europe after finishing mixed in Asia. In the crypto market, bitcoin was trading below $95,000 after threatening to hit $100,000 late last week for the first time. AP Business Writer Elaine Kurtenbach contributed.
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NoneChildren of the wealthy and connected get special admissions consideration at some elite U.S. universities, according to new filings in a class-action lawsuit originally brought against 17 schools. Georgetown’s then-president, for example, listed a prospective student on his “president’s list” after meeting her and her wealthy father at an Idaho conference known as “summer camp for billionaires,” according to Tuesday court filings in the price-fixing lawsuit filed in Chicago federal court in 2022. Although it’s always been assumed that such favoritism exists, the filings offer a rare peek at the often secret deliberations of university heads and admissions officials. They show how schools admit otherwise unqualified wealthy children because their parents have connections and could possibly donate large sums down the line, raising questions about fairness. Stuart Schmill, the dean of admissions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, wrote in a 2018 email that the university admitted four out of six applicants recommended by then-board chairman Robert Millard, including two who “we would really not have otherwise admitted.” The two others were not admitted because they were “not in the ball park, or the push from him was not as strong.” In the email, Schmill said Millard was careful to play down his influence on admissions decisions, but he said the chair also sent notes on all six students and later met with Schmill to share insight “into who he thought was more of a priority.” The filings are the latest salvo in a lawsuit that claims that 17 of the nation’s most prestigious colleges colluded to reduce the competition for prospective students and drive down the amount of financial aid they would offer, all while giving special preference to the children of wealthy donors. “That illegal collusion resulted in the defendants providing far less aid to students than would have been provided in a free market,” said Robert Gilbert, an attorney for the plaintiffs. Since the lawsuit was filed, 10 of the schools have reached settlements to pay out a total of $284 million, including payments of up to $2,000 to current or former students whose financial aid might have been shortchanged over a period of more than two decades. They are Brown, the University of Chicago, Columbia, Dartmouth, Duke, Emory, Northwestern, Rice, Vanderbilt and Yale. Johns Hopkins is working on a settlement and the six schools still fighting the lawsuit are the California Institute of Technology, Cornell, Georgetown, MIT, Notre Dame and the University of Pennsylvania. MIT called the lawsuit and the claims about admissions favoritism baseless. “MIT has no history of wealth favoritism in its admissions; quite the opposite,” university spokesperson Kimberly Allen said. “After years of discovery in which millions of documents were produced that provide an overwhelming record of independence in our admissions process, plaintiffs could cite just a single instance in which the recommendation of a board member helped sway the decisions for two undergraduate applicants." In a statement, Penn also said the case is meritless that the evidence shows that it doesn't favor students whose families have donated or pledged money to the Ivy League school. “Plaintiffs’ whole case is an attempt to embarrass the University about its purported admission practices on issues totally unrelated to this case," the school said. Notre Dame officials also called the case baseless. “We are confident that every student admitted to Notre Dame is fully qualified and ready to succeed,” a university spokesperson said in a statement. The South Bend, Indiana, school, though, did apparently admit wealthy students with subpar academic backgrounds. According to the new court filings, Don Bishop, who was then associate vice president for enrollment at Notre Dame, bluntly wrote about the “special interest” admits in a 2012 email, saying that year's crop had poorer academic records than the previous year's. The 2012 group included 38 applicants who were given a “very low” academic rating, Bishop wrote. He said those students represented “massive allowances to the power of the family connections and funding history,” adding that “we allowed their high gifting or potential gifting to influence our choices more this year than last year.” The final line of his email: “Sure hope the wealthy next year raise a few more smart kids!” Some of the examples pointed to in this week's court filings showed that just being able to pay full tuition would give students an advantage. During a deposition, a former Vanderbilt admissions director said that in some cases, a student would get an edge on the waitlist if they didn’t need financial aid. The 17 schools were part of a decades-old group that got permission from Congress to come up with a shared approach to awarding financial aid. Such an arrangement might otherwise violate antitrust laws, but Congress allowed it as long as the colleges all had need-blind admissions policies, meaning they wouldn't consider a student’s financial situation when deciding who gets in. The lawsuit argues that many colleges claimed to be need-blind but routinely favored the children of alumni and donors. In doing so, the suit says, the colleges violated the Congressional exemption and tainted the entire organization. The group dissolved in recent years when the provision allowing the collaboration expired. The Associated Press’ education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org .
Prediction: Celsius Holdings Will Soar Over the Next 3 Years. Here's 1 Reason Why.
NoneSome elite US universities favor wealthy students in admissions decisions, lawsuit alleges
Louisiana judge halts state police plans to clear New Orleans homeless camps before Thanksgiving
Blowout loss to Packers leaves the 49ers on the playoff brinkUpper Whanganui River iwi Ngāti Hāua has initialled its Deed of Settlement for historical Treaty of Waitangi claims, describing it as an historic step forward. The milestone comes after "a long seven years" of negotiations with the Crown. It now goes before iwi members in a formal, two-month ratification process. If accepted by the iwi, Ngāti Hāua and the Crown will sign the Deed of Settlement next year in Taumarunui. Key elements of the settlement are statutory pardons for tūpuna whose wrongful convictions in 1846 remain a source of historical pain, the iwi said. It said the initialling at Parliament on Thursday of Te Pua o Te Riri Kore was a significant milestone that acknowledged the grievances endured by the iwi and set a foundation for reconciliation, restoration and a revitalised future. Ngāti Hāua Iwi Trust chair, Graham "Tinka" Bell, said the moment was profoundly significant. "In 1866, our tūpuna erected a niu pou called Riri Kore to mark the end of hostilities with the Crown. However, we continued to be labelled and stigmatised as hauhau, as rebels. "Since that time our leaders have fought to retain our mana motuhake and our ability to protect and provide for our people, our kāinga and our whenua." In the 1840s, the Crown negotiated on behalf of the New Zealand Company with another iwi to purchase land in Heretaunga (the Hutt Valley), where some Ngāti Hāua hapū had settled. The hapū were ordered to leave under threat of military force. When fighting broke out, the Crown captured and court-martialled Ngāti Hāua tūpuna. Formal pardons will be granted for Mātene Ruta Te Whareaitu, who was sentenced to death and executed by hanging, and Te Rangiatea, who was sentenced to confinement for the rest of his life and died soon after in prison. Another five tūpuna were exiled to Australia. Historical information points to these events as a catalyst to further fighting between Ngāti Hāua and the Crown in Whanganui in 1847. These events and others will be formally acknowledged in the settlement and the Crown will apologise for the impact of its breaches of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Ngāti Hāua, whose traditional lands extend north and west from Mt Ruapehu and include the upper reaches of the Whanganui River, has negotiated financial redress of $20.4 million and a $6m cultural revitalisation fund to support the return of cultural sites and initiatives in language, marae, and cultural heritage preservation. The settlement also includes the return of 64 culturally significant sites, among them Ngā Huinga and Whakapapa Island Scenic Reserve. Fifteen original Māori place names will be restored and 12 conservation sites will be transferred in fee simple without reserve status. The extent of Ngāti Hāua's loss of land through confiscation and the Native Land Court in the 19th and early 20th centuries meant that the iwi's economic base was eroded, along with the ability to sustain itself. "Consequently, Ngāti Hāua have suffered poor housing, low educational achievement and a lack of opportunities for social and economic development," information from Ngāti Hāua and the Crown states. "This, in turn, has led to a dispersal of the Ngāti Hāua population to urban centres, and a loss of community, te reo Māori skills, and traditional cultural practices. "The extensive loss of Ngāti Hāua lands has eroded tribal structures, created severe poverty, and damaged the physical, cultural and spiritual health of generations of Ngāti Hāua people and left them unable to exercise katiakitanga over their forests, waters, kāinga and wāhi tapu." Bell said the settlement would provide Ngāti Hāua with a foundation to better provide for kaumātua and mokopuna, marae, hapū and whenua. "This settlement finally bears the fruits of the peace that our tūpuna sought with the Crown. "We look forward to taking the settlement to our people and will leave it in their hands to decide whether this settlement is enough for us to move forward and rebuild our tribal nation, for us and those to come." The ratification process asks iwi members aged 18 and over to vote on whether to accept the settlement package and approve the establishment of Te Whiringa Kākaho o Ngāti Hāua, a governance entity to manage settlement assets on behalf of the iwi. Information hui will be held across the motu, providing opportunities for iwi members to learn about the settlement and ask questions. The voting period will run from 9 December 2024 to 31 January 2025. LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
Kohl's names Michaels CEO Ashley Buchanan to assume top job, effective Jan. 15First Lady Jill Biden said she supports the pardon for her son, Hunter Biden when asked during a holiday event at the White House on Monday. Radio host Charlamagne tha God argued that Democrats’ recent controversies have lost them their claim to the "moral high ground" as a party. President Biden issued a sweeping pardon for his son Hunter on Sunday after he had repeatedly said he would not do so. The first son had been convicted in two separate federal cases earlier this year. He pled guilty to federal tax charges in September, and was convicted of three felony gun charges in June after lying on a mandatory gun purchase form by saying he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs. The president argued in a statement that Hunter was "singled out only because he is my son" and that there was an effort "trying to break Hunter" in order to "break me." On The Breakfast Club radio show, Charlamagne argued instead, "Hunter was singled out because he broke the law," adding further that "he was singled out because he had an illegal gun and tax evasion charges, not because he was the president's son." Radio host Charlamagne tha God suggested that Democrats’ recent scandals have compromised their claim to the "moral high ground" compared to Republicans. (Breakfast Club Power 105.1 FM YouTube channel) TRUMP ASKS ABOUT ‘J-6’ HOSTAGES IN RESPONSE TO BIDEN'S PARDON OF HUNTER: ‘SUCH AN ABUSE’ The podcast host argued further that pardoning one’s son in such a way destroys the Democratic Party’s self-image as the party of democratic norms and ethical rule. "I honestly don't care, I just want Democrats to stop acting like they are on this moral high ground politically when they have shown us they're not, you know whether it's skipping the primary process when Biden stepped down and things like Biden pardoning his son. Stop acting like y'all the pure party and Republicans aren't," Charlamagne said, before concluding, "it also shows me elected officials can do whatever they want as long as they have the political will and courage to do it." In Biden’s statement about Hunter’s "Full and Unconditional Pardon," the president argued that his role as both "a father and a president" influenced his choice. President Joe Biden and son Hunter Biden stepping out of a bookstore while shopping in Nantucket, Massachusetts, on November 29, 2024. Biden on Sunday issued an official pardon for his son Hunter, who is facing sentencing for two criminal cases related to tax evasion and the purchase of a firearm. (MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images) HUNTER BIDEN SAYS HIS MISTAKES WERE ‘EXPLOITED’ FOR POLITICAL SPORT, SAYS HE WON'T TAKE PARDON FOR GRANTED "For my entire career I have followed a simple principle: just tell the American people the truth. They’ll be fair-minded. Here’s the truth: I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice – and once I made this decision this weekend, there was no sense in delaying it further. I hope Americans will understand why a father and a President would come to this decision." CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Fox News’ Kristine Parks contributed to this report. Alexander Hall is an associate editor for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to Alexander.hall@fox.com.
Black Friday is fast approaching, and shoppers are gearing up. The National Retail Federation expects more than 183 million people to shop over the weekend spanning Thanksgiving to Cyber Monday this year. But fraudsters are preparing for Black Friday too, looking for opportunities to steal your money or personal information. Before you dive into holiday shopping, learn how to spot common scams and protect yourself. Fraudsters commonly send phishing emails and text messages impersonating delivery services or popular retailers like Amazon. These messages, which typically claim there’s an issue with processing or delivering the order, may request payment information or include malicious links. A message might say something like, “Part of your address is missing. Please click on this link to complete the address,” says Raj Dasgupta, senior director of global advisory at BioCatch, a fraud prevention firm. If you get a similar message when you’re not expecting a package, that should raise doubts, Dasgupta says. But even if you have ordered something, don’t overlook warning signs. It's unusual for delivery services to hold up packages or seek payment, because shipping costs are almost always charged to the shipper, not the receiver, says Cliff Steinhauer, director of information security and engagement at the nonprofit National Cybersecurity Alliance. Avoid clicking on links in texts or emails, and don’t share personal or payment details. To verify whether an order update is genuine, “go back to your original order on the site,” Steinhauer says. You can log in and check the order status and reach out to customer service directly if there's a problem, he says. When shopping online, carefully scrutinize sellers and products to avoid winding up with counterfeit items — or nothing at all. Sponsored ads on social media sites and search engines aren’t always vetted enough, Steinhauer says, which means you may come across scams. Fraudsters buy Google ads for popular search terms like “Black Friday deals” or desirable products, such as exercise equipment, Dasgupta says. When people click on these ads, they might land on a “sophisticated-looking fake website” that mimics a well-known site, such as Macy’s, or on a made-up company’s page, he says. Shoppers never receive the product they’re attempting to purchase, or they get an inferior product. Ignore “sponsored” links, and read URLs closely. There will usually be “something off,” Steinhauer says, such as a slight misspelling or dashes in the website name that aren’t normally there. “The best thing is to go to the legitimate website or app that you know is the right one, and just shop there,” he says. Watch for third-party seller scams on legitimate websites, too. Some companies, such as Walmart and Target, allow outside vendors to sell merchandise through their platforms — and the reliability can vary. Reading seller reviews before you buy can help you avoid bad actors. Be wary of sellers who ask for gift cards or peer-to-peer payments . If a service like Venmo or Cash App is the only payment method accepted, that’s an immediate red flag, Dasgupta says. And if a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is. A QR code, or quick response code, is a barcode that usually leads to a website when scanned with a smartphone camera. “Quishing” is when scammers create QR codes that link to fraudulent websites or install malware on devices. These codes may show up on parking meters, in mysterious packages delivered to your physical address or in your email inbox. For example, a scammer posing as your bank might email you a code and instruct you to update your login credentials. Email services often filter out known malicious links or domains and send them to your spam folder, Steinhauer says, but a QR code can get past these filters because it’s an image. Don't scan codes you receive unexpectedly, and closely inspect QR codes in public places for signs of tampering. Heed the advice above, and follow these additional steps to guard against fraudsters. More Black Friday content from NerdWallet Lauren Schwahn writes for NerdWallet. Email: lschwahn@nerdwallet.com . Twitter: @lauren_schwahn. The article Holiday Shoppers Beware: 3 Traps to Avoid as Scammers Prepare originally appeared on NerdWallet. Get local news delivered to your inbox!
WAISL Launches State-of-the-Art Digital Twin-Powered Integrated Airport Predictive Operations CentreTrump calls Biden pardon a ‘Miscarriage of Justice’