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Wall Street stirs as debt ceiling brinksmanship mounts

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:13 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — The first alarm bells are starting to go off on Wall Street as brinkmanship over raising the U.S. government’s $31.4 trillion debt limit raises worries in financial markets. The stakes are immense. Democrats and Republicans are arguing over whether to raise the cap that’s been set for the U.S. government’s borrowing. It’s a debate that’s happened many times before, each time ending with a default-defying increase.Failure to find a fix would spell disaster for many, not least holders of U.S. debt who wouldn’t get promised payments on time. Economists widely expect a recession to follow and potential chaos in markets. U.S. Treasurys are the foundation of financial markets around the world, on top of which all kinds of other investments set their prices, from stocks to foreign currencies. While U.S. stocks have remained mostly calm through the latest debt-ceiling drama, volatility strategists at Barclays Capital point to another corne...

MasterCard: Q1 Earnings Snapshot

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:13 GMT

PURCHASE, N.Y. (AP) — PURCHASE, N.Y. (AP) — MasterCard Inc. (MA) on Thursday reported first-quarter net income of $2.36 billion.On a per-share basis, the Purchase, New York-based company said it had profit of $2.47. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to $2.80 per share.The results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 13 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $2.71 per share.The processor of debit and credit card payments posted revenue of $5.75 billion in the period, which also beat Street forecasts. Twelve analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $5.63 billion._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on MA at https://www.zacks.com/ap/MASource

Independent Bank: Q1 Earnings Snapshot

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:13 GMT

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Independent Bank Corp. (IBCP) on Thursday reported first-quarter earnings of $13 million.The bank, based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, said it had earnings of 61 cents per share.The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of three analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 60 cents per share.The bank holding company posted revenue of $64.5 million in the period. Its revenue net of interest expense was $49 million, which fell short of Street forecasts._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on IBCP at https://www.zacks.com/ap/IBCPSource

Seattle Genetics: Q1 Earnings Snapshot

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:13 GMT

BOTHELL, Wash. (AP) — BOTHELL, Wash. (AP) — Seattle Genetics Inc. (SGEN) on Thursday reported a loss of $174.7 million in its first quarter.On a per-share basis, the Bothell, Washington-based company said it had a loss of 93 cents.The results missed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of 11 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for a loss of 82 cents per share.The biotechnology company posted revenue of $519.7 million in the period, also missing Street forecasts. Ten analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $520.9 million._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on SGEN at https://www.zacks.com/ap/SGENSource

Medical Properties: Q1 Earnings Snapshot

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:13 GMT

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Medical Properties Trust Inc. (MPW) on Thursday reported a key measure of profitability in its first quarter. The results met Wall Street expectations.The Birmingham, Alabama-based real estate investment trust said it had funds from operations of $222.2 million, or 37 cents per share, in the period.The average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for funds from operations of 37 cents per share.Funds from operations is a closely watched measure in the REIT industry. It takes net income and adds back items such as depreciation and amortization.The company said it had net income of $32.8 million, or 5 cents per share.The health care real estate investment trust, based in Birmingham, Alabama, posted revenue of $350.2 million in the period, which missed Street forecasts. Six analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $352 million.Medical Properties expects full-year funds from operations in the range of $1.50 to $1....

Review: ‘The Eight Mountains’ is a luminous, gentle stunner

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:13 GMT

Seasons and years blow through the high Alpine peaks of the decades-spanning “The Eight Mountains.” But a warm, abiding glow persists throughout this tender, even restorative epic of male friendship. The film, by Belgian filmmakers Charlotte Vandermeersch and Felix van Groeningen, is a stunning, often profound and frequently jaw-droppingly gorgeous tale of two friends from childhood through adulthood set against the Italian Alps. Vast and intimate at once, their luminously languid adaptation of Paolo Cognetti’s bestseller reaches sublime heights. “The Eight Mountains,” which last year won the jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival, isn’t hurried. The ebbs of its two-and-a-half hours are sometimes a little too placid. But the passage of time — what changes, what endures — is much the subject of the movie. Just as the film’s near-sole setting — a remote mountain cabin beneath the peaks of northwestern Italy — beckons Pietro (Luca Marinelli) and Bruno (Alessandr...

Mobileye: Q1 Earnings Snapshot

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:13 GMT

JERUSALEM (AP) — JERUSALEM (AP) — Mobileye Global Inc. (MBLY) on Thursday reported a loss of $79 million in its first quarter.The Jerusalem-based company said it had a loss of 10 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for amortization costs and stock option expense, were 14 cents per share.The results surpassed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 13 cents per share.The maker of driver-assistance systems and autonomous driving technologies posted revenue of $458 million in the period, also exceeding Street forecasts. Four analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $457.5 million.Mobileye expects full-year revenue in the range of $2.07 billion to $2.11 billion._____This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on MBLY at https://www.zacks.com/ap/MBLYSource

John Stamos tried to get Olsen twins fired from ‘Full House’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:13 GMT

(CNN) — John Stamos and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen are like family now, but that wasn’t always the case.During a recent episode of the “Good Guys” podcast, Stamos talked to Josh Peck and Ben Soffer about his early efforts to get the twin sisters recast on “Full House.”The Olsens shared the role of Michelle Tanner, the youngest member of the “Full House” family, and Stamos starred as Uncle Jesse Katsopolis.He said that while filming the show’s pilot, he and costar Dave Coulier, who played Joey Gladstone, were doing a scene with one of the twins in which they were changing her diaper.“We’re carrying the baby downstairs and I think I was holding her on the armpits and Dave was holding her little feet,” Stamos recalled. “We take her in the kitchen and we hose her down and we put a fan on her we wrapped her up in paper towels. She was screaming. Both of them. They wanted to be anywhere else but there and so did...

Finnish far right in talks to join coalition government

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:13 GMT

Finland’s prime minister-elect and leader of the center-right National Coalition Party (NCP), Petteri Orpo, said Thursday he would start talks to form a coalition government — including the anti-immigration Finns Party.“The official government negotiations … will begin on May 2 … between the National Coalition Party, the Finns Party, the Swedish People’s Party and the Christian Democrats,” Orpo told reporters in Helsinki, according to French newswire AFP.The conservative leader expressed hope that a government would be formed by June, according to Finnish public broadcaster Yle.Orpo’s NCP defeated the party in power, Sanna Marin’s Social Democrats, in elections earlier this month, prompting the now-ex PM to resign her position as party leader.The NCP is now the biggest political force in Finland’s 200-seat parliament, with 48 seats, while the far-right Finns Party has 46 and the Social Democrats have 43.Adding the Swedish People&...

France backs Spain’s plea for EU crisis funds as drought hits farmers

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:52:13 GMT

France will support Spain’s request for EU emergency funds to help farmers hit by extreme drought, Agriculture Minister Marc Fesneau said Thursday. Paris will show “solidarity in the European institutions so that Spain can access elements of budgetary response to the crisis it is experiencing,” Fesneau told a joint press conference after meeting with his Spanish counterpart, Luis Planas, in Paris.More than a quarter of Europe is currently in drought, with many countries bracing for a repeat — or worse — of last year’s bone-dry summer. Spain is particularly hard hit, with farmers’ association COAG forecasting that cereal crops will fail entirely in four regions this year.Planas on Monday sent a letter to Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski requesting aid for farm workers in Spain’s agricultural heartlands, including from the crisis reserve of the bloc’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and unused rural development funds.Across Eu...