New Sheriff in Town ...
Chicago residents went to the polls yesterday and Mayor Lori Lightfoot is OUT .. If no one wins 50% of the vote the top two have a run off on April 4... Lightfoot finished third. Head of Public schools Paul Vallas and Cook County Board member Brandon Johnson will face off in the runoff ..
Lightfoot blamed all sorts of things and people .. But, there is one reality. You SUKKK, Lori.. Crime SKYROCKETED when you were Mayor. Will someone else do better? Who knows.. but.. We're gonna find out .. (My favorite line from her critics, "Crime doesn't pay, Lori") ..
This crime surge has GOT to end. Every day you see a new video of someone else being beaten or shot in broad daylight. In St Louis yesterday a man casually walked up to a man on the street in the middle of the day and shot him in the back of the head.
The answer is simple. The criminals go back to being criminals instead of victims.. OVERFUND the police and let them do their job. Set up tent cities outside of the houses of the City Council people that make rules like "No Bail" .. Let the urban squalor and crime exist in THEIR front yards. Maybe THEN they will do something. ..and..
GREECE: A head-on collision between a passenger train and a freight train flattened carriages, killed at least 36 people and injured some 85. Multiple cars derailed and at least three burst into flames after the two trains ran into each other at high speed just before midnight Tuesday, near the town of Tempe in northern Greece. No answers about the cause, yet...
SCOTUS: Biden's $400 Billion student loan giveaway was before the court yesterday .. As expected, the Court was not buying the "President acted within his powers" line of reasoning. The Court (Rightly) questioned why CONGRESS wasn't making the decision since THEY are the one's with the authority.. Of Course, the woke mob that think they are OWED things from the rest of us are NOT happy. The ruling will likely come in June.
CNN got destroyed on social media for a story saying the Supreme Court Justices are a bunch of rich people that cannot understand the lived experience of the students with the big loan debt... That they are from Ivy league schools and "don't get it".. HAHAH.. HAHAHAH.. What a LOSER to write that..
Clarence Thomas was still paying off student debt in his 40's -- SEVERAL YEARS into his role as a Justice (according to the AP) .. and THAT is with a job in a career that PAYS MONEY.. He doesn't "GET IT"???.. Of COURSE he does, you DOLTS!!!
STOP TAKING LOANS TO GET DEGREES IN GENDER STUDIES.. STOP even GOING to college to get degrees that are worthless.. and most of all.. STOP PLAYING VICTIM all the time!! Take control of your life !!!
SPORTS:
The NCAA is soooooo Dopey ..The Cavinder Twins transferred from Fresno State to Miami. While in the transfer portal they had a dinner with a booster in Miami which is a violation of rules. They suspended the Miami coach for three games. The ordeal led to the first ever NIL-related infraction ruling by the NCAA. ...HAHAAH..HAHHA.. You DOPES !!!
These girls have MILLIONS of followers and promote women's basketball better that ANYONE at the NCAA can...and you're FINING them? You should be giving them BONUSES.. ..HERE..HERE.. Change your dopey rules.. If schools want to recruit 20 year old college girls with a dinner or even a trip to Chippendales .. HAVE AT IT !!! #FUtotheNCAA #GirlPower
NHL: The Blackhawks trade Patrick Kane to the NY Rangers for a second and fourth round pick. The Rangers top six is now pretty nasty. But, defense wins playoff games.. and the Bruins are REALLY good..
GOLF: The Arnold Palmer Invitational starts tomorrow .. The "Other PGA" event is in Puerto Rico.. Would LOVE to see Harry Higgs get his first win there..
NCAAF: Some sports reporters took issue with Neon Deion Sanders talking about recruiting players for college football. "For QB I want honor students from two parent families .. For defensive line, I want Big Boys from single mama homes" .. Ill say this to reporters .. Deion doesn't work for you. He is paid to WIN football games. Too bad if you don't like how he does it .. As long as he works within the rules..
CELEBRIDIOTS:
Vanessa Bryant ..HERE.. reached a settlement with LA County over pictures released of Kobe and their daughter. The other man, Chris Chester whose wife and daughter also died, received $21 million. .. I sure hope insurance covers that .. I hope taxpayers don't have to foot the bill for a few officers that shared crime scene photos..
"Influencer" Taylor Frankie Paul, ..HERE... who go famous for being part of a Mormon Swingers group was charged with Domestic Violence for throwing a play set and a folding chair at her boyfriend .. Geez.. What do you think he said to her? (HAHAH... Imagine if I asked that question when an NFL player was charged for domestic violence.) .. and..
A Reader asked why Emily Elizabeth has never been in the Rant .. Uh.. well.. I looked around.. she is mostly described as an "influencer and model" ... Which she definitely APPEARS qualified for .. HERE.. HERE.. but I can't find anything she models other than bikinis .. HERE.. .. I guess, "Stick with what you're good at" ??!?!?!?
From SeekingAlpha.com
To forgive, or not
SoFi Technologies (NASDAQ:SOFI) rose as much as 4% in afternoon trading on Tuesday following reports that conservative justices were skeptically questioning President Biden's plan to forgive billions of dollars of student debt. SoFi is a known player for refinancing student loans, with SA contributors like Data Driven Investing recently pointing out that growth at its lending arm should accelerate again when the student loan moratorium expires in the back half of the year. Other related stocks were less affected by the opening arguments at SCOTUS, such as Navient (NASDAQ:NAVI), Nelnet (NYSE:NNI) and SLM Corp. (NASDAQ:SLM), which closed the session around the flatline.
Snapshot: Chief Justice John Roberts led the conservative justices, who comprise a majority of the court, in examining whether the Biden administration has the authority to cancel federal student loans as a result of the COVID-19 emergency. Roberts, in his questioning of the White House's top Supreme Court lawyer, suggested that the administration had exceeded its authority. Roberts also contended that a program as large as Biden's student loan forgiveness plan, which is estimated to cost $430B over three decades, should be something that casual observers would expect Congress to take up. "If you're going to affect the obligations of that many Americans on a subject that's of great controversy, they would think that's something for Congress to act on," he said.
In addition to the debate over whether the Biden administration has the authority to forgive the debt, the court also must decide on whether the states and two individuals suing the government have the legal right, or standing, to sue (parties generally have to prove that they would suffer financial harm from the action). The administration has said it's acting in accordance with the Heroes Act, a 2003 law that allows the Secretary of Education to waive or modify terms of federal student loans in connection with a national emergency. The law was primarily intended to protect service members from financial harm while they were serving in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Outlook: The concept of student debt cancellation, even if it would pass through Congress, has divided the country. Some say it would benefit borrowers at a time of high inflation, or lead to financial stability and economic security. Others have flagged it as another contributor to higher prices, or an unfair measure for those that chose not to go to college because of the cost, don't have loans or already paid them off. The Federal Reserve estimated that Americans owed $1.76T in student loans in the fourth quarter of 2022, with the average student loan debt around $40,000 per borrower. (125 comments)
Love 'em or leave 'em?
Pay attention to Tesla (TSLA) shares after the bell as the EV leader holds its Investor Day at 4 p.m. ET. The third edition of Tesla's Master Plan (following Part 1 in 2006 and Part 2 in 2016) will be a major part of the event, which will likely detail the company's long-term expansion plans and a new Gigafactory in Mexico. Other announcements could touch on Project Juniper, the Cybertruck, autonomous driving, energy storage initiatives, charging network revenue potential and the Tesla Bot. In other recent news, Tesla paused its FSD Beta rollout until a software update is available, though the stock's monster 90% YTD rally restored Elon Musk's status as the world's richest person. (130 comments)
Consumer flop
Another high-profile investor day took place on Tuesday. Goldman Sachs (GS) CEO David Solomon took the podium, but ended up getting some flak over the Wall Street stalwart's foray into the consumer arena. The business has resulted in billions of dollars in losses over the past few years, and Goldman is now exploring strategic alternatives for its Platform Solutions unit. It's also in the process of selling some loans in its Marcus consumer bank portfolio, as well as evaluating the sale of installment lending platform GreenSky. Solomon had sought to diversify Goldman's revenue stream away from traditional businesses like investment banking, but his lack of answers saw the stock dive 4% by the end of his presentation. (5 comments)
Today's Markets
In Asia, Japan +0.3%. Hong Kong +4.2%. China +1%. India +0.8%.
In Europe, at midday, London +0.8%. Paris +0.7%. Frankfurt +0.6%.
Futures at 6:30, Dow +0.2%. S&P +0.3%. Nasdaq +0.5%. Crude -1% to $76.27. Gold +0.2% to $1841.10. Bitcoin +1.8% to $23,784.
Ten-year Treasury Yield +1 bps to 3.92%
Today's Economic Calendar
7:00 MBA Mortgage Applications
9:00 Fed’s Kashkari Speech
9:45 PMI Manufacturing Index
10:00 ISM Manufacturing Index
10:00 Construction Spending
10:30 EIA Petroleum Inventories
11:00 Survey of Business Uncertainty
Companies reporting earnings today »
What else is happening...
10 trades to get 10%+ yields from S&P 500 stocks without market exposure.
Target (TGT) sets cautious tone as investors eye rocky retail setup.
With earnings on tap, Salesforce (CRM) hears from another activist investor.
Uranium particles enriched to 83.7% found in Iran - IAEA.
China's factory activity expands at fastest pace in over a decade.
Paramount (PARA) said to turn down $3B offer for Showtime.
Virgin Galactic (SPCE) confirms launch date of commercial spaceflight service.
Widening losses and weak forecast seen at Norwegian Cruise Line (NCLH).
Rivian Automotive (RIVN) slumps after production guidance disappoints.
General Motors (GM) cuts jobs despite pledges to the contrary
Regards,
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