2 months ago
By Brad Brooks
COLUMBIA FALLS, Montana, Sept 16 (Reuters) - More than 15 years after the U.S. Supreme Court reshaped American politics with its Citizens United campaign finance ruling, Montana voters will decide this November whether to make their state the first in the nation to bar corporations from spending money on elections through a ballot initiative.
It's a test case for a novel legal strategy that sidesteps the 2010 ruling rather than challenging it head-on -- and taps into growing, bipartisan anger over the pervasiveness of so-called dark money in elections.
"Americans are losing the belief that they have any influence over our politics," said Tom Moore, a lawyer with the Center for American Progress left-leaning think tank in Washington and the legal architect of the movement.
With similar, coordinated efforts underway in over 30 states, Montana could help set a critical precedent, experts say, and potentially lead to another showdown at the Supreme Court. Hawaii's legislature passed a similar law earlier this year, inspired by those behind the effort here.
#court #similar
COLUMBIA FALLS, Montana, Sept 16 (Reuters) - More than 15 years after the U.S. Supreme Court reshaped American politics with its Citizens United campaign finance ruling, Montana voters will decide this November whether to make their state the first in the nation to bar corporations from spending money on elections through a ballot initiative.
It's a test case for a novel legal strategy that sidesteps the 2010 ruling rather than challenging it head-on -- and taps into growing, bipartisan anger over the pervasiveness of so-called dark money in elections.
"Americans are losing the belief that they have any influence over our politics," said Tom Moore, a lawyer with the Center for American Progress left-leaning think tank in Washington and the legal architect of the movement.
With similar, coordinated efforts underway in over 30 states, Montana could help set a critical precedent, experts say, and potentially lead to another showdown at the Supreme Court. Hawaii's legislature passed a similar law earlier this year, inspired by those behind the effort here.
#court #similar
2 months ago
Kevin Buehler
Aug 31, 2026, 8:11 am EDT
Artificial intelligence becomes more sophisticated and pervasive every quarter, but businesses are struggling to keep pace.
Copyright ©2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
#buehler #jones #reserved #intelligence
Aug 31, 2026, 8:11 am EDT
Artificial intelligence becomes more sophisticated and pervasive every quarter, but businesses are struggling to keep pace.
Copyright ©2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
#buehler #jones #reserved #intelligence
2 months ago
(Corrects day of week in last paragraph)
By Howard Schneider
WASHINGTON, Aug 25 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve will need to raise interest rates soon unless coming data show a continued decline in inflation that remains too high and which has become a "pervasive" concern for businesses and households, Boston Fed President Susan Collins said on Tuesday.
Collins said in comments posted to the Boston Fed website that the current Fed policy rate, under her base case outlook, will continue to push down prices and help with a "gradual disinflation" aided also by the recent rise in longer-term bond yields and other factors.
But "should evidence of sustained inflation progress not materialize, I believe it will be appropriate to tighten policy soon to ensure we deliver price stability in a reasonable time frame. ... Concerns about high prices are pervasive in my conversations with stakeholders across New England," Collins wrote.
#high #pervasive
By Howard Schneider
WASHINGTON, Aug 25 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve will need to raise interest rates soon unless coming data show a continued decline in inflation that remains too high and which has become a "pervasive" concern for businesses and households, Boston Fed President Susan Collins said on Tuesday.
Collins said in comments posted to the Boston Fed website that the current Fed policy rate, under her base case outlook, will continue to push down prices and help with a "gradual disinflation" aided also by the recent rise in longer-term bond yields and other factors.
But "should evidence of sustained inflation progress not materialize, I believe it will be appropriate to tighten policy soon to ensure we deliver price stability in a reasonable time frame. ... Concerns about high prices are pervasive in my conversations with stakeholders across New England," Collins wrote.
#high #pervasive
2 months ago
What did Target, Starbucks, and Nike have in common barely a year ago? All three consumer icons had freshly announced new CEOs, which were wrongly greeted with hasty skepticism from ***** ysts. Target's Michael Fiddelke was scoffed at as an uninspired insider; Nike's Elliott Hill was underestimated as a nostalgia hire, unable to stem Nike's loss of market share, while questions abounded over whether Brian Niccol could actually turn around Starbucks amidst pervasive in-store service struggles, despite his sterling record at Chipotle.
We saw it differently. At the time of their appointments, we vocally and presciently touted all three new CEOs as the right person for the job at the right time, while other ***** ysts rolled their eyes. Unlike the frequent, sometime successful model of the messianic hiring of industry outsiders as turnaround tians, these new CEOs hit the ground running as each had decades of experience in their sectors with glowing track records, priceless relationships, and balanced expertise across marketing, finance, strategy, and operations,.
Furthermore, we were the first to confidently predict the certainty of their success, even knowing that it would take some time to reposition their enterprises and for their new leadership to gain traction. Now the receipts are in, showing striking progress in all three cases, with each already well on their way to cementing their reputations as the architects of some of the most remarkable corporate turnarounds of our era.
When Michael Fiddelke, a Target lifer who had risen up the ranks from a lowly intern over two decades ago, was named CEO, cynics sneered that the board had chosen entrenched groupthink over fresh blood. We argued precisely the opposite—that the data overwhelmingly shows internal candidates outperform splashy external saviors, with insider CEOs appointed over the prior year delivering roughly 15% annualized shareholder returns while external hires averaged negative 9%. New brooms sweep clean, but the old broom knows the corners. Furthermore, we argued that Fiddelke was uniquely positioned to build on the many successes of his widely admired predecessor, Brian Cornell, despite simultaneous urgent challenges.
This week brought resounding vindication. Target's second-quarter sales jumped 5.3%, digital sales grew nearly 9%, Target raised its full-year outlook for the second consecutive quarter, and the stock soared nearly 5%. Indeed, on a year to date basis, Target stock has soared nearly 60%.
#year #time
We saw it differently. At the time of their appointments, we vocally and presciently touted all three new CEOs as the right person for the job at the right time, while other ***** ysts rolled their eyes. Unlike the frequent, sometime successful model of the messianic hiring of industry outsiders as turnaround tians, these new CEOs hit the ground running as each had decades of experience in their sectors with glowing track records, priceless relationships, and balanced expertise across marketing, finance, strategy, and operations,.
Furthermore, we were the first to confidently predict the certainty of their success, even knowing that it would take some time to reposition their enterprises and for their new leadership to gain traction. Now the receipts are in, showing striking progress in all three cases, with each already well on their way to cementing their reputations as the architects of some of the most remarkable corporate turnarounds of our era.
When Michael Fiddelke, a Target lifer who had risen up the ranks from a lowly intern over two decades ago, was named CEO, cynics sneered that the board had chosen entrenched groupthink over fresh blood. We argued precisely the opposite—that the data overwhelmingly shows internal candidates outperform splashy external saviors, with insider CEOs appointed over the prior year delivering roughly 15% annualized shareholder returns while external hires averaged negative 9%. New brooms sweep clean, but the old broom knows the corners. Furthermore, we argued that Fiddelke was uniquely positioned to build on the many successes of his widely admired predecessor, Brian Cornell, despite simultaneous urgent challenges.
This week brought resounding vindication. Target's second-quarter sales jumped 5.3%, digital sales grew nearly 9%, Target raised its full-year outlook for the second consecutive quarter, and the stock soared nearly 5%. Indeed, on a year to date basis, Target stock has soared nearly 60%.
#year #time
2 months ago
By Howard Schneider
WASHINGTON, Aug 25 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve will need to raise interest rates soon unless coming data show a continued decline in inflation that remains too high and which has become a "pervasive" concern for businesses and households, Boston Fed President Susan Collins said on Tuesday.
Collins said in comments posted to the Boston Fed website that the current Fed policy rate, under her base case outlook, will continue to push down prices and help with a "gradual disinflation" aided also by the recent rise in longer-term bond yields and other factors.
But "should evidence of sustained inflation progress not materialize, I believe it will be appropriate to tighten policy soon to ensure we deliver price stability in a reasonable time frame. ... Concerns about high prices are pervasive in my conversations with stakeholders across New England," Collins wrote.
Economists polled by Reuters expect that new inflation data on Wednesday will show that the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, excluding food and energy, increased at a 3.3% annual rate in July, unchanged from the month before and well above the Fed's 2% target. Core PCE, considered a guide to future headline inflation, has risen steadily since last year, with Fed officials citing the Trump administration's import tariffs, higher oil prices due to the war with Iran, and now massive investments in artificial intelligence as reasons for the increase.
#boston #data #high
WASHINGTON, Aug 25 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve will need to raise interest rates soon unless coming data show a continued decline in inflation that remains too high and which has become a "pervasive" concern for businesses and households, Boston Fed President Susan Collins said on Tuesday.
Collins said in comments posted to the Boston Fed website that the current Fed policy rate, under her base case outlook, will continue to push down prices and help with a "gradual disinflation" aided also by the recent rise in longer-term bond yields and other factors.
But "should evidence of sustained inflation progress not materialize, I believe it will be appropriate to tighten policy soon to ensure we deliver price stability in a reasonable time frame. ... Concerns about high prices are pervasive in my conversations with stakeholders across New England," Collins wrote.
Economists polled by Reuters expect that new inflation data on Wednesday will show that the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, excluding food and energy, increased at a 3.3% annual rate in July, unchanged from the month before and well above the Fed's 2% target. Core PCE, considered a guide to future headline inflation, has risen steadily since last year, with Fed officials citing the Trump administration's import tariffs, higher oil prices due to the war with Iran, and now massive investments in artificial intelligence as reasons for the increase.
#boston #data #high
3 months ago
Jenna O'Malley/PitchBook News
Talk of AI adoption is pervasive in PE, but would you trust the technology enough to let it manage your own firm? Ethos Capital is testing these limits.
The Boston-based PE firm spent around five years building Private Equity Transformation Research Agent—or Petra—an AI ******* istant trained on more than 50,000 data sources, including decks outlining every deal the firm has taken or passed on, as well as public information ranging from regulatory filings to news and video.
Today, Petra is woven into nearly every aspect of Ethos' business, from filtering pitch decks, running initial diligence, monitoring portfolio companies to managing investor relationships. Ethos even uses AI to track its own employees' work, according to Fadi Chehadé, co-founder and managing partner at the $7 billion investment firm.
Launched by Chehadé and Erik Brooks, two Abry Partners alumni, in 2019, Ethos targets middle-market companies with an enterprise value of $200 million to $2 billion, focusing on supply chain and logistics, insurance and financial services and digital platforms.
#ethos #decks #every #Managing
Talk of AI adoption is pervasive in PE, but would you trust the technology enough to let it manage your own firm? Ethos Capital is testing these limits.
The Boston-based PE firm spent around five years building Private Equity Transformation Research Agent—or Petra—an AI ******* istant trained on more than 50,000 data sources, including decks outlining every deal the firm has taken or passed on, as well as public information ranging from regulatory filings to news and video.
Today, Petra is woven into nearly every aspect of Ethos' business, from filtering pitch decks, running initial diligence, monitoring portfolio companies to managing investor relationships. Ethos even uses AI to track its own employees' work, according to Fadi Chehadé, co-founder and managing partner at the $7 billion investment firm.
Launched by Chehadé and Erik Brooks, two Abry Partners alumni, in 2019, Ethos targets middle-market companies with an enterprise value of $200 million to $2 billion, focusing on supply chain and logistics, insurance and financial services and digital platforms.
#ethos #decks #every #Managing
3 months ago
US consumers grew more gloomy about the economy in August as sentiment declined amid the war, higher bond yields, and geopolitical uncertainty, according to a preliminary consumer sentiment reading from the University of Michigan.
UMich's Index of Consumer Sentiment fell to 51 from July's 55.2 reading, coming in markedly below economists' expectations of 55 and ending two consecutive months of improvement in the metric.
Indexes tracking current conditions and consumer expectations also underperformed estimates. The current conditions index printed at 51.8 versus economists' estimate of 54.8, while the expectations index was 50.6 versus the estimated 55.2.
Read more: What is consumer confidence, and why does it matter?
"Although the early-month weakening in sentiment was pervasive across various demographic groups, notably large reductions were seen among older consumers, lower-income consumers, and those without a college degree," said survey director Joanne Hsu. "These groups are all particularly vulnerable to any erosion of purchasing power stemming from inflation.
#expectations
UMich's Index of Consumer Sentiment fell to 51 from July's 55.2 reading, coming in markedly below economists' expectations of 55 and ending two consecutive months of improvement in the metric.
Indexes tracking current conditions and consumer expectations also underperformed estimates. The current conditions index printed at 51.8 versus economists' estimate of 54.8, while the expectations index was 50.6 versus the estimated 55.2.
Read more: What is consumer confidence, and why does it matter?
"Although the early-month weakening in sentiment was pervasive across various demographic groups, notably large reductions were seen among older consumers, lower-income consumers, and those without a college degree," said survey director Joanne Hsu. "These groups are all particularly vulnerable to any erosion of purchasing power stemming from inflation.
#expectations
12 months ago
If the 1980s gave us “Invasion of the Body ***** ers,” is the 2020s turning us into Pod People? It’s official: microplastics are everywhere.
So much so, the pervasive issue of microfiber pollution has evolved from a niche concern into a critical industry-wide challenge, prompting experts to move beyond simple problem identification to debate its preferred nomenclature while the apparel sector grapples with the environmental fallout—and human health implications—of its synthetic, fragmenting products.
More from Sourcing Journal
AG Jeans' Sustainable Innovation Recognized with Baker Tilly's M
So much so, the pervasive issue of microfiber pollution has evolved from a niche concern into a critical industry-wide challenge, prompting experts to move beyond simple problem identification to debate its preferred nomenclature while the apparel sector grapples with the environmental fallout—and human health implications—of its synthetic, fragmenting products.
More from Sourcing Journal
AG Jeans' Sustainable Innovation Recognized with Baker Tilly's M
