Several industry organizations have recently published AI guidelines, including the Digital Medicine Society (DMS), in partnership with Google and the Mayo Clinic. The DMS playbook includes both a strategy guide and an ROI...more
On April 17, 2023, S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI) announced a major change to its inclusion criteria. Effective immediately, all companies with multi-class share structures will be eligible for inclusion in the S&P 1500...more
On December 9, 2022, S&P Dow Jones Indices (DJI) announced the results of its 2022 Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) Annual Review. The top five worldwide additions by market capitalization added this year are:...more
Prompted by concerns over privacy, “government investigation, a class-action lawsuit and regulatory woes,” Facebook is planning to “shut down its decade-old facial recognition system this month, deleting the face scan data of...more
More good economic news in the U.S. this week, with first-time jobless claims falling to 613k, a decrease of more than 150,000 from a week earlier and the lowest level of the pandemic. ...more
With Wednesday’s passage in the House, the $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill is heading to President Biden’s desk for an anticipated Friday signature, “cementing one of the largest injections of federal aid since the Great...more
With Vice President Harris acting as the tiebreaker (and following a 15-hour amendment vote-a-rama), the Senate voted on Thursday to move forward with the White House’s $1.9 trillion Covid relief measure....more
U.S. Developments - Legislation - Congress Members Introduce Stablecoin Legislation - On December 2, 2020, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (MI-13), Congressmen Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04) and Chairman of Task Force on...more
In Washington: The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is finalizing new guidelines to shorten its recommended coronavirus quarantine period from 14 days to between 7 and 10 days. The agency hopes more people...more
The official transition to a new administration and early Cabinet selections helped drive Wall Street to new highs on Tuesday, with the Dow topping 30,000 for the first time and the S&P 500 up 1.6% to another new high, too....more
As we thought, stocks rallied on Monday thanks to Moderna’s news of promising results for its Covid-19 vaccine, with the Dow and S&P 500 hitting new record highs....more
The European Union has unveiled a new antitrust probe and accompanying charges against Amazon over alleged the “use of non-public business data from independent sellers on its marketplace that could benefit the company’s own...more
Microsoft made a huge gaming move on Monday with its $7.5 billion acquisition of ZeniMax Media, the “parent company of gaming studios like Bethesda,” and maker of titles like “The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Doom, Quake and...more
New figures from the Congressional Budget Office predict that U.S. government debt will, thanks to the pandemic recession, just about eclipse the size of the nation’s GDP—a level not reached since just after World War II....more
Despite an earlier White House promise to postpone, American and Chinese trade negotiators met via videoconference on Monday to discuss “the status of the trade deal both nations signed in January, a pact that continues to...more
Consumer spending at stores and auto dealerships increased in June, the second straight month, but the recent uptick in coronavirus cases could slow future growth....more
In Washington: Congressional leaders will soon name the chair of the coronavirus oversight commission, which was created by the CARES Act to increase transparency and oversight of the coronavirus relief funds. Retired...more
The Federal Reserve has “temporarily restricted shareholder payouts by the biggest banks,” preventing stock buybacks and barring increases in dividend payments in the third quarter. ...more
In Washington: Democrats are pushing to add funding in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and policy changes affecting police departments in next year’s appropriations bills, threatening to further push back the...more
In Washington: The House will now require masks during committee hearings, per new guidance issued by the Capitol physician last night. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) had discussed the idea with Democrats during a conference...more
In Washington - The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) urged organizers of large gatherings that involve shouting, chanting, or singing to “strongly encourage” attendees to use cloth face coverings to lower...more
In Washington: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin testified before the Senate Small Business Committee and said unemployment was too high and that administration officials wanted to work on further economic incentives. ...more
In Washington: White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Monday said that President Trump is “open” to another coronavirus stimulus package and that he still wants a payroll tax cut, which many Republicans do not...more
In Washington - Senate lawmakers are now saying they won’t pass another coronavirus relief package before the August recess. Previously, members said they were aiming to have something finalized for the 4 July recess but...more
Google cut costs by rescinding offers to more than 2,000 contract workers due to the strains of the pandemic....more