China Slaps Sanctions on 13 U.S. Firms

It's time to throw over to Don Ma here to present the business news for us with Business Matters. Hi, Don. Yeah, hi. Pleasure. So, going to start off in the skies here with my first update. JetBlue Airways is cutting unprofitable routes and modifying flights. Its CEO said the airline is focusing on reducing costs. And some of the canceled routes included New York's JFK to Austin and Houston, Texas, as well as Miami and Milwaukee within Florida. Fort Lauderdale to Jacksonville and service to San Jose, California all ending here. As for international flights, JetBlue will drop its second JFK to Paris flight next summer and its summer-only New York to London's Gatwick Airport. Southwest Airlines raised its forecast for fourth quarter revenue today. The carrier hopes for a rebound in domestic travel demand this holiday season. Southwest added that it was encouraged by recent revenue trends and forward bookings. The airline rolled out a series of efforts over the past year to help revive demand, and those include partnerships, seats with more legroom, and aircraft sale leasebacks. Elsewhere in the industry, American Airlines lifted its fourth quarter adjusted earnings and total revenue. Shares were up more than 10 percent this morning. The Transportation Secretary Administration said it This is the highest number ever on a single day. Airlines for America had projected 31 million passengers would fly over the holiday period. An optimism over President-elect Trump's anti-regulatory agenda coming from Amazon's founder. During the annual New York Times Deal book summit, Jeff Bezos said he is very hopeful about the energy around reducing regulations. He said the country has too much regulation and is very optimistic that Trump is serious about its regulation agenda. Bezos added that he thinks the agenda has a good chance of succeeding and would like to help if he can. Anesthesiologists are calling on Anthem Blue Cross to immediately reverse its new anesthesia policy. The doctor's limits on anesthesia coverage could threaten the care of individual patients. Starting in February, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield Insurance will deny claims for anesthesia services that exceed specific time limits. Anthem said it used standards set by the American Society of Anesthesiologists to set the limits and that this is part of an effort to reduce overbilling. Anesthesiologists say the policy reflects a great misunderstanding of the operating room. Since some patients may need extra attention due to complications during surgery. The Food and Drug Administration says an animal testing laboratory at Musk's Neuralink brain technology company was found to have objectionable conditions or practices. FDA inspectors identified the issues at Neuralink's animal testing facilities in California in June 2023. The inspection came several weeks after the agency had given the company the green light for a small study of its brain implant in humans. The FDA was responding to concerns raised by Congressman Earl Blumenauer. The Democrat from Oregon has focused on animal welfare during his tenure in the House. The FDA said the issues found at Neuralink warranted voluntary remediation and were not considered severe enough to require regulatory action. Bitcoin catapulted above 100,000 for the first time today but just ended a smidge under that. It's a milestone hailed as a coming-of-age for digital assets. Here's a deeper dive into why. Bitcoin has finally hit $100,000. The landmark was reached amid expectations of a friendlier U.S. regulatory approach to cryptocurrencies under U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. Investors are betting that his administration will unleash a boom era for the asset class. It caps a year in which the cryptocurrency's price has more than doubled. Bitcoin was also up about 45% in the two weeks since Trump was voted the next U.S. president. A slew of pro-crypto lawmakers were also elected to Congress. Trump embraced digital assets during his campaign. That included promising to make the United States the crypto capital of the planet. He's also promised to accumulate a national stockpile of Bitcoin. Trump has said he'll set up a crypto advisory council and he and his sons also announced a new crypto business, World Liberty Financial, in September. Under President Joe Biden, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Treasury have cracked down on crypto companies for allegedly violating securities and anti-money laundering laws. Bank regulators discouraged lenders from dabbling in crypto and Congress failed to pass legislation that would help promote mainstream adoption. Under Trump, a softer regulatory stance is expected, and crypto executives say the industry is now pushing for a range of measures. That includes potential executive orders on access to banking services, as well as crypto-friendly picks in a range of roles, including a new SEC chair. Air travelers could soon be entitled to hundreds of dollars for disrupted travel plans. The Department of Transportation is proposing a new rule that would require airlines to pay cash to passengers who get stranded due to flight cancellations or changes. Those passengers would get at least $200 in cash. Airlines would also have to provide rebooking at no extra cost and cover meals and lodging as well. The DOT is also weighing a measure that would make airlines pay out even more for longer delays. Critics argue the rules would drive up ticket prices and affect operations, but an advocacy group for airline passengers called it a crucial step forward for passenger rights. This new proposal is in addition to other rules requiring airlines to pay cash refunds to customers whose flights were canceled. Have you checked your retirement account recently? More people are logging in and finding out they're now 401k millionaires. Fidelity Investments says the number of accounts with balances topping a million dollars increased by 9.5% in the third quarter, and their 401k provider says it's not just because of market gains. There's also been a strong savings rate, which includes employee contributions and an employer match. Despite the rise in 401k millionaires, many people are far below that number. Fidelity says the average balance for all participant accounts hit a record high in the The median balance was lower at just over $30,000. The United States Postal Service can pat itself on the back. Nearly 100% of completed mail-in ballots were successfully delivered to election officials within a week, and that's for this year's presidential election. This is according to the U.S. Postal Service's 2024 Post-Election Analysis Report. The report released this week outlines the agency's steps to process nearly 100 million ballots for the 2024 general election. The Postmaster General said postal workers met the goal despite facing challenges from Hurricane Celine and Milton just weeks before election day. The OPEC plus oil cartel is pushing back its timeline again to unwind deep cuts in oil production and exports. The initial plan to undo the cuts had already been delayed to January 1, but today OPEC announced it's postponing the gradual unwinding again, this time until at least April of next year. The group said this was in response to a rapidly evolving global market. Global crew demand rose this year, but at a slower pace than the organization anticipated. Airbus is cutting just over 2,000 jobs in its defense and space division. That's about 5% of the unit's headcount. More than half the cuts will come in its space systems business, which has been suffering heavy losses on satellites. However, the restructuring is less fierce than expected. Back in October, the aerospace giant had said 2,500 jobs could go. The cuts will be spread across the firm's four host nations, France, Germany, Spain, and the U.K. Airbus says the relevant governments have been briefed on the plan. Tensions between Washington and Beijing around Taiwan are escalating. Taiwan said today its President William Lai spoke with House Speaker Mike Johnson over the phone. China soon imposed sanctions on over a dozen U.S. military firms and multiple company executives. Starting today, Beijing warned the U.S. not to cross its first red line. Taiwan's presidential office said Lai called Johnson during his Pacific trip but did not give details. After Taiwan's statement, the Chinese foreign ministry announced sanctions on 13 U.S. defense firms plus six company executives. The ministry said that's in response to the recent $385 million arms sale Washington approved to Taiwan. Then the ministry held a press conference warning the U.S. not to cross the quote first red line. This is a reference to Taiwan's independence. Washington does not recognize Taiwan as an independent country, but it's bound by law to provide the island with weapons to defend itself. Beijing's ruling body, the Chinese Communist Party, has never ruled Taiwan but claims the island as part of China. This is a stance Taiwan's government rejects. A 15-year-old Chinese girl spotted picking coffee beans said to be sold to Nestle. A human rights group is releasing findings from an investigation on alleged labor violations focused on Starbucks and Nestle's Chinese supply chains. NTV's Juliet Song has more details. Working over 80 hours a week, paid a mere $420 a month, a New York-based human rights group says these are among the labor violations that have happened in Starbucks and Nestle's supply chains in China. The organization is called China Labor Watch. It sent undercover researchers to a Chinese city called Puerh to investigate. This region produces over half of China's coffee. The report says labor violations have been found in smaller farms that supply certified coffee farms that work with Starbucks and Nestle. Now because these smaller farms are not technically associated with Starbucks and Nestle, they can essentially get away with more unethical labor standards. So we see a lot more labor violations occur on these smaller farms. Researchers also spotted a 15-year-old girl sorting coffee beans which were later sold to Nestle. With the 15-year-old girl, when we saw her helping her family sort out the defective beans that were sourced in Nestle, this was during the summer, so she did not have school during this period. So it is hard to say whether she was participating in school. On another occasion, investigators saw a 12-year-old boy picking coffee cherries at a certified farm tied to Starbucks. It's unclear if they were helping their families during school break or working under their own contract. The report noted that children could be exposed to agrochemicals in the process. Though when we spoke to teachers in the region, there's a higher dropout rate for children above 12 years old. Local teachers said many children drop out of school once they're 12 or older. Some of them then go on to join their families doing farm labor. Hughes said for adult workers, excessive hours and low wages are common. Workers are also paid by the weight of their harvest, further incentivizing excessive work hours during peak harvest season. So essentially, they're working from sunrise to sunset. This could be as many as 12 hours per day, which violates both China labor laws, which stipulates that a working day should only be eight hours. It also violates Starbucks and Nestle's cap of 48 work hours per week. They're paid on average one RMB per one kilogram of harvest. So this roughly translates to around 14 U.S. dollars per day. But bear in mind, this 14 U.S. dollars per day is only achieved with excessive working hours and additional help that is largely uncompensated. So this additional help can sometimes mean other family help, such as their spouse, but also children. The report said many farmers don't have formal work contracts or health insurance. Injuries are common. Some farmers also don't get sick leave or paid vacations. In a statement to NTD, Starbucks said it is committed to investigating the allegations in the report, adding that its agreements with suppliers ban the informal supply arrangements mentioned in the report. Nestle did not respond to our request for comment by airtime. Juliet Song, NTD News. Chinese online retailers Timu and Xian have suspended their operations in Vietnam. Both companies said today they're working to register their e-commerce services with the nation's authorities. The Vietnamese government and businesses have voiced concerns over the impact of discounted Chinese online platforms. They've also expressed worries about the potential sale of counterfeit goods. Vietnam's trade ministry said today it ordered Timu to suspend operations in the country after it missed the business registration deadline. Timu said it submitted all documents required for the registration. It wasn't clear if authorities also halted Xian's operations, but its Vietnamese website was unavailable. The company said it was working with the trade ministry to register services. The White House is warning that a China-backed hacking campaign has impacted dozens of countries around the world. Officials said yesterday at least eight U.S. telecom firms were caught in the attack. The campaign, titled Salt Typhoon, is reportedly compromising telecom infrastructure worldwide. On the receiving end of this breach are companies like Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. Prior to the election, reports suggest that the hacking group also targeted calls and text messages from President-elect Trump and his then-running mate, J.D. Vance. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner called it the, quote, worst telecom hack in our nation's history. Magic the Gathering, a game J.D. Vance played as a teen, is gaining popularity among white-collar professionals, and it's become Hasbro's first billion-dollar brand. Here's the story. Magic the Gathering, a popular card game, is on track to make over $1 billion three years in a row. It's Hasbro's first billion-dollar brand and a game Vice President-elect J.D. Vance played as a teen. In Vance's book, Hillbilly Elegy, he writes, I could never tell my dad that I played a nerdy collectible card game called Magic because I feared he'd think the cards were satanic. After all, the kids at the church youth group often spoke of Magic and its evil influence on young Christians. He has all sorts of dorky interests. Vance's wife, Usha Vance, spilling the beans about her husband's passion for the card game on Fox News. The VP-elect said in a recent interview with Semaphore, the big problem with transitioning from being a 13-year-old who likes Magic the Gathering to being a 15-year-old who likes Magic the Gathering is that 15-year-old girls do not like Magic the Gathering. He said he dropped it like a bad habit. The game involves two players battling each other with cards. This official Magic video says the players start with a deck of 60 cards. Begin by drawing seven cards, which is known as your hand. Throughout the game, you put down land cards to pay for spells while also taking turns to attack or block your opponent. The goal is to get their life count down from 20 to zero. J.D. Vance says his favorite card is called Yawgmoth's Bargain. This card sacrifices a player's life count to let them draw cards much faster. The card shows a skeletal figure in a bug. The caption below says he craves only one commodity. Yawgmoth's Bargain has been banned in most game formats for being too powerful. The game is gaining in popularity among white-collar workers who play it instead of poker and chess. Returning from bankruptcy two decades later, the popular chain Chi-Chi's Mexican Restaurant has announced that it's going to reopen. Forma Foods Corporation is the current owner of the brand. It made a deal with founder Marno McDermott's son Michael McDermott to use the famed name again. In a statement, Michael said he believes there is a strong opportunity to bring the brand back. No details have been released on when the reopening will take place. In a sweet and spicy twist, basketball legend Shaquille O'Neal is teaming up with Pepsi to launch a new holiday flavor. Shaq is front and center in an ad for Pepsi's new zero-sugar gingerbread. In a video inspired by cooking shows, Shaq dons an apron and uses the new drink to whip up a gingerbread masterpiece. The holiday-themed drink is around for only a limited time and you can try it for free. You can visit pepsi.com or visit Pepsi's social media page to sign up for a free can. The promotion runs through December 11th. Okay, ending with the stock market here. U.S. stocks ended down slightly today. UnitedHealth down sharply. UnitedHealth was the biggest weight on the Dow and S&P 500 today while other insurers including Cigna were down as well. Health insurance companies are reassessing the risks for their top executives the day after the murder of UnitedHealth care CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan. Markets also pricing in about a 70 percent chance of a quarter point cut this month from the Federal Reserve and a 30 percent chance of a pause. And with that, everything in today's business matters. Back to you guys. On lots of great stuff but you get my attention with the food stories. Both Mexican food and and Shaq now slinging some Pepsi after doing that for Hershey's with his own custom candy. So what do you guys think about Shaq making a custom Pepsi flavor? Pretty exciting. Yeah, I mean, that's pretty exciting. Yes, for sure. But, you know, personally, Pepsi versus Coke. Me, I think I would go for a Coke over a Pepsi. That's just my personal preference. What about you guys? I mean, I think I'm going to catch a lot of flack for this, but I don't really taste the difference between Pepsi and Coke. You know, I go to a restaurant, if they say they don't have Coke, I'll get a Pepsi. If they say they don't have a Pepsi, I'll get a Coke. I'm not too particular about it. Yeah. Not to throw myself into the fray here, but honestly, Coke, Pepsi, whatever, go into a Mexican restaurant. Now, that's something that I would enjoy very much. At least once a week, the Dunst House, we're making tacos and pretty excited that they're going to take another go at the Chi-Chi's brand. So we'll see what happens. Taco Tuesdays, huh? That's right. Tacos Tuesdays, Taco Thursdays, any day is a good day for tacos. There is a slight difference though for the trained tongue. Oh, okay. We got a connoisseur here. A sommelier of colas here. Always appreciate your insights here, Don. We'll see you back again tomorrow. All right. Thank you.