View Comments (Photo: Getty Images, Bruce Glikas & Emilio Madrid-Kuser) The Broadway.com staff is crazy for Culturalist, the website that lets you choose and create your own top 10 lists. Every week, we’re challenging you with a new Broadway-themed topic to rank.International Women’s Day is on March 8, and War Paint, which stars Tony winners Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole, begins performances on March 7. That’s a whole lot of girl power on the Great White Way! With fabulous female forces like Bette Midler, Cynthia Nixon, Laura Linney and Glenn Close returning to Broadway this season, we’re asking you about other leading ladies you’d like to see back on the Great White Way. We’ve compiled a list of stars who have been away from the Broadway stage for five years or more. This challenge is ladies first, so Broadway.com Editorial Assistant Lindsey Sullivan got things going with her top 10. Now it’s your turn to celebrate your faves with your top 10! STEP 1—SELECT: Visit Culturalist to see all of your options. Highlight your 10 favorites.STEP 2—RANK & PUBLISH: Click “rearrange list” to order your selections. Click the “publish” button.Once your list is published, you can see the overall rankings of everyone on the aggregate list.Pick your favorites, then tune in for the results next week on Broadway.com! read more
After decades, GMP-CVPS finally to merge | Vermont Business …Aug 26, 2011 … When she first joined Green Mountain Power 13 years ago, CEO Mary Powell recalls thinking that a merger between the state’s two largest … Bidding War: GMP owner GazMetro makes offer to buy CVPS, make …Jun 23, 2011 … Vermont Business Magazine. For those waiting for the other shoe to drop in the sale of Central Vermont Public Service to Canadian-based … GMP looks to trump Fortis in bid for CVPS | Vermont Business …Jul 26, 2011 … The owner of Green Mountain Power, Gaz Metro, has offered to buyCentral Vermont Public Service in what appears to be a superior bid to the … By Timothy McQuiston. A prominent Vermont state senator is asking to be an intervener before the Public Service Board over the merger of Central Vermont Public Service into Green Mountain Power. But that is hardly all Vince Illuzzi wants.The long-serving Republican wants the PSB to appoint an independent counsel to act as the public’s advocate in the merger case (Docket Number 7770) instead of Department of Public Service Commissioner Liz Miller. The DPS typically acts as the public’s advocate before the regulatory body. He also wants Vermont Electric Power Company in some way separated from control by the new entity.‘As part of the governor’s administration, the commissioner and ‘public advocate’ under the commissioner’s direction are left with marching orders from across the Fifth Floor (governor’s office). Ask any former commissioner,’ Illuzzi told Vermont Business Magazine in an email, ‘and they will tell you that disagreeing with the governor is the same as handing in your resignation.’In response to Illuzzi’s filing, Dorothy Schnure, GMP’s Manager of Corporate Communications said in an email to VBM: ‘Our experience is that the DPS vigorously exercises its role as public advocate in all proceedings involving GMP and other regulated businesses under its jurisdiction. An independent counsel is completely unnecessary.’Senator Illuzzi, who is also an attorney, said he is most concerned with what will happen to VELCO, the Vermont Electric Power Company that owns and manages the state’s electric transmission system. VELCO itself is owned by Vermont’s utilities. With the GMP-CVPS merger, the one company will own 70 percent of power distribution in Vermont and 86.3 percent, effectively giving control of the state’s power lines to one company. Not only that, Illuzzi points out, the new utility itself will be owned by Gaz Metro, the Canadian energy company that not only owns GMP, but also Vermont Gas Systems.”Then there is the fact that Neale Lunderville, the architect of the deal, now sits at the right hand of the governor. What rank and file employee at the Department of Public Service is going to put his or her neck on the line and challenge the governor’s position on this deal?” Illuzzi said.”These points are underscored by the unusual significance of this venture ‘ a venture that not only would allow Gaz Metro to own and control the two largest distribution territories in the state of Vermont, but also control in some meaningful manner transmission planning, infrastructure upgrades, and grid use, as well,” he said.”This is not a ten- or 20-year HQ contract that could go wrong but will end at some point. It is not a rate case that will be superseded by newer reviews and rates at some point. This is a ‘forever’ deal of the utmost importance.”Illuzzi has been a critic of the merger from the beginning because he feels consumers could suffer under the new near-monopoly in electric companies. In this case, he is concerned by the de facto monopoly in electric transmission. He also questions how the state will respond if Hydro Quebec wants to build its new Boston-bound transmission line through Vermont. Hydro Quebec’s plan is to build a line through New Hampshire. There have been political problems in running it through northern New Hampshire.There have been suggestions it might be rerouted somewhat and cut through Vermont before entering New Hampshire. There already is one Hydro Quebec line that slices through a corner of Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. Illuzzi, from Newport and always conscious of how public policy affects his constituents, wants some assurance that VELCO and the state would be acting in the best interest of Vermonters in such cases, instead of the best interest of Quebecers or business interests based in Montreal.While the issue of the public advocate has always been a tricky one, with the DPS commissioner having to act separately from the government, Illuzzi says this case is more problematic than most.Commissioner Liz Miller’s boss, Governor Shumlin, took an early stand in favor of the GMP-CVPS merger and against rival suitor Fortis, also based in Canada. On top of that, Illuzzi points out, GMP had hired a senior member of Governor Douglas’s administration, former Administration Secretary Neale Lunderville.As has been reported by Bruce Edwards in the Rutland Herald, Anne Galloway in vtdigger.com and John Dillon at Vermont Public Radio, and from information gathered from CVPS’ shareholder proxy statements related to the merger, Gaz Met/GMP first approached CVPS in November 2010, after CVPS CEO Robert Young announced his retirement in the summer of 2010, effective in May 2011. His announcement got the wheels in motion for a possible bid to merge the state’s two largest utilities.Such a merger had been proposed many times over the years, with the lead company going one way or the other depending on the relative strength of each at the time. Over the years, governors from both parties backed such a merger because of the logical cost savings, which presumably would lower electric rates.In recent times, the merger talk had been put on hold. Both CVPS and GMP have recently emerged from hard times, with GMP avoiding bankruptcy by selling its headquarters and severely downsizing before eventually being sold to Gaz Met in 2007. Meanwhile, CVPS shook off a restructuring that caused its bonds to sink to ‘junk’ status. Young has been credited with helping the company regain financial buoyancy.But with CVPS ship-shape and Young stepping down, GMP, and as it turns out other suitors, saw it as the right time to again propose a merger. Lunderville became the point man from GMP’s end. He not only knew the intimate workings of state government, he was well connected to the Republican Party. This was important because Rutland is one of the last great GOP strongholds in Vermont in what, not that long ago, was that nation’s most Republican state.Rutland County itself was the seat of power for not only the Republicans but for the Proctor family, who controlled the governorship in the first half of the 20th century. CVPS as an institution held on to its old roots. The CVPS board was reluctant to go with the GMP offer initially for several reasons beyond politics. It sought the best value for shareholders, as well as a clear path through the stormy waters of the regulatory process.The CVPS board could see the inherent problems in creating not only such a dominant electric company, but understood that the VELCO issue could give regulators pause in approving the merger. CVPS rejected Gaz Met/GMP’s initial offer. As part of its fiduciary responsibility to shareholders, it then put the company up for bid, which led to the Fortis offer.The Fortis offer almost seemed too good to be true. It would retain all the employees, including the executive staff. The company, for all intents and purposes, would keep running as it had been. For its part, Fortis would finally get a foothold in the US market.The large integrated energy company, officially based in Newfoundland but with most of its holdings in western Canada, seemed content on this modest purchase to add to its North American portfolio. It also got a $17.5 million breakup fee, plus another $2 million to cover expenses, if things did not work out with CVPS. According to the reports, Gaz Met wound up paying the $19.5 million.The reason things did not work out was because Gaz Met/GMP did not take ‘no’ for an answer. It came back with another offer that trumped Fortis’ premium offer to shareholders, the most vital feature of the sale. In selling publicly traded companies, a company must be ready for the inevitable shareholder lawsuits and showing significant shareholder value in a transaction such as this is paramount to deflect the suits.The Gaz Met/GMP offer was not only $11 per share more than what the stock was trading for at the time, it also guaranteed dividends would be paid all the way to the conclusion of the final sale. Announced on July 12, Gaz Met would pay $35.25 per common share, a 45 percent premium over the previous closing price of $24.32.Fortis was trumped both in the price and the dividend benefit and had to satisfy itself with that $17.5 million. The breakup fee itself brought a shareholder suit, essentially as a waste of company assets. Former PSB chairman Michael Dworkin, now a Vermont Law School professor, also was surprised at the breakup fee. He said at the time that its cost could obligate CVPS to go with Fortis even if it was not the best suitor, which, of course, turned out not to be the case.A person close to the Fortis negotiations told Vermont Business Magazine, on condition of anonymity, that the CVPS-Fortis deal also suffered politically. The rock-ribbed Republican CVPS board was out of its element in Democratically controlled Montpelier. The Legislature is overwhelmingly Democratic in both houses and the new governor, Peter Shumlin, is also. Not only that, Mary Powell, the CEO of GMP and the presumptive CEO of the new GMP-CVPS, chaired Shumlin’s inaugural committee.According to the reports, in order to smooth the way for the merger, Lunderville was enlisted to use his Republican connections to placate Rutland business interests and the CVPS board. While top executives and most of the board would be removed as part of the $144 million in savings over the next decadefor the new company, the new company guaranteed it would invest in the Rutland area. A new Rutland office would be located downtown. This would be a boon to the downtown area. CVPS had proposed moving its headquarter downtown several years ago but the cost got in the way.Gaz Met/GMP would also make Rutland the state’s first ‘solar city,’ by moving forward with its aggressive solar energy plans and focusing them on Rutland. The source said this helped placate Rutland area Republicans to some extent, but they remained concerned about the local economic impact. There is also, the source said, general concern in the community that these highly paid executives that are losing their jobs will no longer be key contributors locally, not only as consumers and investors, but also to charitable organizations and the arts, as they have been over the years. Real estate values also could suffer. That all may or may not be the case, as executive officers and board members collectively will see a windfall of $17.3 million once the sale is finalized and their stock is cashed out.But beyond the lack of political clout was the issue of VELCO. The CVPS board saw this as a potential stumbling block for regulators. To answer that, Gaz Met/GMP included a provision that would put a large piece of VELCO into a public trust. With that, the CVPS board finally acquiesced.But Vince Illuzzi sees the VELCO piece as still problematic, as others have. The trust would own 30 percent of VELCO and presumably pay out a million dollars. There are questions about how the trust will work and about what would happen if VELCO lost money or had a financial calamity. What would happen to the trust and the low-income ratepayers it was intended to assist, not to mention who would get stuck with the deficit: Gaz Met, the state, all ratepayers?Illuzzi also mentions in his PSB filing that Lunderville was recently appointed by Governor Shumlin to lead the state’s recovery effort from Tropical Storm Irene. Illuzzi sees that appointment as further compromising Liz Miller’s ability to act independently, since her boss, Governor Shumlin, is so closely connected to GMP. To add to his point of real or perceived conflicts of interest, Illuzzi mentions in his filing that one of Miller’s family members (husband, Eric Miller) is a partner in a law firm (Sheehey Furlong & Behm of Burlington) that represents GMP, though Miller himself does not represent it.For those many reasons, Illuzzi wants an independent counsel to represent the public.Illuzzi told Vermont Business Magazine that he does not have a definitive answer to the VELCO question. He said perhaps the public trust is a good idea, but other solutions are out there, say, spinning the company off as a separate entity or making it a part of government.In his filing to become an intervener, he mentions how the waterways and highways are public entities controlled by the state on behalf of the common good. He sees electric transmission also being at that level of importance.In his filing, Illuzzi invoked the name of George Aiken, the former Vermont governor and US senator, who frequently tussled with the utilities in the mid-1900s. The populist Aiken successfully used the utilities as a political foil.‘At the end of the day,’ Illuzzi said, ‘Vermonters want to know that this proposal was thoroughly reviewed under the full light of an independent public advocate and consultants before handing the ‘keys to the kingdom,’ including operational and planning reigns of our electric utility systems, to Gaz Metro. As a Vermonter, I would expect no less. To do otherwise would always leave doubt in my mind.’Illuzzi has about 30 cosigners to his ‘Motion to Intervene.’Timothy McQuiston is editor of Vermont Business Magazine. RELATEDCVPS to merge with GMP | Vermont Business MagazineJul 12, 2011 … The leaders of Central Vermont Public Service Corporation (NYSE: CV) (CVPS) and Gaz Métro Limited Partnership (Gaz Métro) today … read more
Sign up for our COVID-19 newsletter to stay up-to-date on the latest coronavirus news throughout New York Marianne Russo is a household name to hundreds of thousands of people around the world. The Bayville resident is known for her tireless work as an advocate who empowers the parents of special needs children. Yet Marianne is a very private person. She prefers to work behind the scenes on a microphone, on her computer and her smartphone.Marianne was a court reporter, a career which allowed her some flex time to be with her husband and three daughters. But more than a decade ago life in the Russo house changed dramatically.Their daughter became ill with a typical strep infection and began to exhibit behavior uncharacteristic of their once bubbly six-year-old, including tics and obsessive compulsive tendencies. After going to numerous doctors, she was diagnosed with PANDAS, an acronym for Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal infections.PANDAS is a rare autoimmune disorder that can be difficult to diagnose. But Marianne wasn’t deterred. She learned that when a person has a strep virus the body’s defenses are trying to attack the strep bacteria, but with PANDAS, it attacks part of the person’s brain.Marianne left her job to care for her children full time. She began sharing some of the information she learned about autoimmune disorders on Twitter and quickly found a large number of parents of special needs children who were seeking information and support.“Within months we had hundreds of moms talking,” she says. “I set up a chat room and it went crazy. It really doesn’t matter what the diagnosis was, the emotions and challenges are universal.”Marianne’s morning chat gave parents a forum where they could communicate with each other. But Marianne realized that a glut of misinformation being shared needed clarification.“I knew how to get in touch with the best doctors in the world,” she says. “I could bring the doctors on a talk show so the parents didn’t have to be misinformed.”She founded The Coffee Klatch Special Needs Talk Radio to help parents navigate through the often complex and isolating world of special needs parenting. The Coffee Klatch airs a variety of shows and segments covering topics that affect children with all disabilities, with a strong emphasis on autism. Marianne can recite the list of experts and their accomplishments who have been on her show verbatim.Temple Grandin, the subject of an Emmy award-winning HBO documentary, is a frequent guest on The Coffee Klatch, and talks to parents about gifted children. Dr. Richard Selznick, a nationally certified school psychologist, speaks about children whom he calls “shutdown learners” because they struggle in school. Dr. Russell Barkley, another popular guest, is known as the foremost expert on Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).With more than 180,000 listeners, the popularity of The Coffee Klatch continues to grow.“I only choose guests who are the best in their field,” Marianne says. “The Coffee Klatch is a non-judgmental, respectable venue, no politics or religion, just support.”Marianne believes that helping parents to accept their children as they are is critical to the family’s well-being.“Once you accept that your life changes and will be different, then you can move forward,” she says.Parents should be cognizant of their children’s feelings, Marianne explains, and not expect to transform their children on demand.“We want to fix them,” Marianne says, referring to the children,“but they are not broken, and we need to choose our words carefully so the kids don’t think that they’re broken.”The special needs community is divided on some issues so Marianne selects topics to be discussed on air with care. You won’t hear about the vaccine debate on her shows.“Nothing you say is going to change anybody’s mind,” she says about the controversy surrounding their use. “It’s like politics.”Marianne would rather focus on proven answers and treatments. Dyslexia can now be treated in boys because of the studies that were done on XY chromosomes, she says, adding that there have been advancements in the treatment for children with bi-polar disorder as well.The Coffee Klatch shows also share information on children’s education and their rights to be provided an education commensurate with their physical, mental or emotional disorder.“School is another challenge,” Marianne says. “It’s so stressful to educate these kids; we want to give them options.”But, she adds, “We need more advocacy on the local level.”The course of treatment for many of these children follows the DSM-IV, the manual used by clinicians to provide a formal diagnosis of autism and related disorders published by the American Psychiatric Association.“Up until now children were diagnosed with mental illness on the same scale as adults,” she says. When you hear the words “mental illness,” take out the “mental” and remember “illness,” she advises.The Coffee Klatch has aired several shows on the DSM-IV guidelines. The updated DSM-V is being released in 2013, so educating parents on the impact the revisions can have on their children’s diagnosis, services and treatments is a top priority for Marianne.“There’s a difference between being diagnosed with a disorder or a disability,” she explains.Because Marianne has walked in their shoes, she knows that the challenges that are faced may be different for each child, but the emotions and the impact on the family are the same. She advises parents to boost their children’s self-esteem with praise, positive reinforcement and love.Her quest for finding vital information to share with parents is as strong today as when she began her quest for answers almost 15 years ago.“I love when I meet somebody that could help thousands of people,” she says.As a parent advocate and the voice for the many who cannot speak for themselves, Marianne vows to continue seeking the experts who can give these parents what they so desperately need for their children: hope.[colored_box color=”blue”]For more information, visit www.thecoffeeklatch.com, @thecoffeeklatch and @childanxiety on Twitter, or email marianne@thecoffeeklatch.com.[/colored_box][colored_box color=”grey”]In every issue of the Long Island Press and our sister publication, Milieu Magazine, the Fortune 52 column brings you stories of dynamic women who have made a significant and unique contribution to Long Island. To acknowledge their success, Beverly hosts tri-annual networking events that are attended by hundreds of LI business professionals, non- profit leaders and entrepreneurs. If you are interested in knowing more about the Fortune 52, or know a super woman who deserves good Fortune – and a profile – email Beverly at bfortune@longislandpress.com.[/colored_box] read more
Do you watch Nashville?Amanda does. But I don’t. It’s not anything against country music. I never watched Dallas either. Never saw Chicago. Vegas either.According to Amanda, Paris was a TV show in the ’70s, but I don’t trust anyone who watches Nashville.Anyway, on the show, there are apparently singing sisters who play singing sisters (Lennon and Maisy Stella, which doesn’t sound down-Southy-AT-ALL). Both are young, but one is super young. They are quite capable at singing.There is something of a wildly popular song floating around the universe by a band called The Lumineers. It’s called “Ho Hey.” (Not to be confused with “Hey Ho,” which is a phrase I am ashamed to say I’ve used once or twenty times in my day.)The Nashville singing sister girls covered “Ho Hey” at the legendary Grand Ole Opry.They rocked it. (Or countried it, as the case may be.)Check it out. Sign up for our COVID-19 newsletter to stay up-to-date on the latest coronavirus news throughout New York read more
Sign up for our COVID-19 newsletter to stay up-to-date on the latest coronavirus news throughout New York An insurance company executive said he feared firing the son of New York State Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) for not showing up because the senator could block bills the insurer lobbied for.Anthony Bonomo, chief executive officer of Physicians’ Reciprocal Insurers (PRI), a medical malpractice company, was so scared of ruining his longtime relationship with the senator that he initially did nothing when Adam Skelos only showed up to work twice weekly despite being paid $78,000 annually as a full-time employee starting in January 2012, Bonomo testified Thursday during the senator and son’s corruption trial at Manhattan federal court.“I did not want to have a problem in Albany,” the 57-year-old Manhasset man testified, recalling the senator getting defensive in a call when Bonomo told Dean about Adam’s failure to show up for work shortly after he started. Bonomo said the senator didn’t respond when told his son was a no-show, but told Bonomo: “Just work this out.”Roslyn-based PRI is one of three companies that the former state Senate Majority Leader allegedly coerced $300,000 in bribes from in the form of no-show jobs that his son, Adam, was unqualified for in exchange for illegally manipulating legislation. Both men deny the accusations. Bonomo, the former chairman of the New York Racing Association (NYRA) that oversees the state’s horse racetracks—he took a leave of absence seven months ago after being contacted by investigators—signed a non-prosecution agreement, along with several other witnesses who’ve testified in the case.Defense attorneys for Adam and Dean pressed Bonomo for answers about how being convicted of a crime—if he were charged, which he hasn’t been—would effect his business. Bonomo agreed that it would not help his company, which is the second largest medical malpractice insurer in the state with more than 300 employees and $125 million in annual revenue. Robert Gage, the senator’s attorney, also asked Bonomo if Dean ever explicitly said that Adam’s job would be linked to bills Bonomo lobbied, and Bonomo agreed that Dean did not.But, Bonomo testified that a lobbyist at Park Strategies, one of the four lobbying firms PRI hired, warned him that hiring Adam could impact his lobbying for various state legislation, including bills known as budget extenders that are critical to keeping PRI in business. Park Strategies is owned by former U.S. Sen. Al D’Amato (R-NY), whose annual holiday party is one of the events that Bonomo said Dean told him about regarding Adam’s need for work.Bonomo testified that the senator didn’t mention that Adam was working for AbTech Industries at the time. When Adam filled out a job application for PRI, he didn’t include the AbTech work, either, according the handwritten document prosecutors showed Bonomo and jurors. Eventually, Adam and his direct supervisor argued about Adam’s failure to show up, which prompted Bonomo to cut Adam’s pay in about half from his rate as a insurance salesman trainee when Adam was bumped down to a telecommuting telemarketer—a job in which Adam did minimal work, Bonomo testified.Bonomo is scheduled to continue testifying Friday. Prosecutors said they will likely rest their case Monday. Whether the defense will call any witnesses of their own next week remained unclear Thursday. read more
2SHARESShareShareSharePrintMailGooglePinterestDiggRedditStumbleuponDeliciousBufferTumblr Credit union leaders need to stop making excuses, “put on their big boy pants,” and embrace innovation, Gary Vaynerchuk says.That was just some of the tough love the best-selling author and serial entrepreneur dispensed during an entertaining “fireside chat” at CO-OP Financial Services’ THINK 16 Conference.Vaynerchuk fielded a wide variety of questions from the audience and conference co-hosts Sara Critchfield, founding editorial director of Upworthy, and digital strategist Scott Bales.Some of Vaynerchuk’s insights:On innovation: “I try to replicate the behavior that would put me out of business. Too many people use compliance as an excuse for not doing what they should be doing. At the end of the day, you need to put on your big boy pants and try to make it happen.”On being a CEO: “It’s lonely. Hard. Being an entrepreneur, if I stink we go out of business. I say that everything that is wrong with my company is my fault because I empower it. I love the action—it’s my oxygen. It’s in my DNA but it’s not easy.” continue reading » read more
Montenegro is growing and developing and is becoming more and more interesting for tourists, as well as investors.Thus, after hotels in Croatia and Serbia, the well-known Austrian hotel group Falkensteiner took over Queen of Montenegro, a Montenegrin four-star hotel, is entering the pre-opening phase in June, the so-called white labelAs of June 23, 2018, the Falkensteiner Hotel Group, one of the leading tourism companies, present in six European countries with currently 32 hotels and four- and five-star residences, manages the hotel Queen of Montenegro. A hotel with a total of 236 rooms will be named Queen of Montenegro be open until mid-October, and in the summer season will have the so-called white label status. According to Falkensteiner, extensive plans for redesign and a new positioning concept have already been prepared for the winter season, and at the beginning of the 2019 summer season, a four-star hotel located on the beach near Budva will be rebranded and officially opened under the name Falkensteiner. “For us who are, on the one hand, a hotel group and, on the other hand, a construction and development company, the arrival of Falkensteiner in Montenegro is an important step and an exciting challenge. Here we see great potential for the development and opening of a completely new market – the market of the future.Said Otmar Michaeler, CEO of Falkensteiner Michaeler Tourism Group (FMTG).Prior to the opening, the indirect owner of the hotel, Balansz Zártkörű Nyíltvégű Intézményi Ingatlan Alap, carried out the first phase of the renovation program. After the first season in 2018, the renovation program will continue in collaboration with the hotel group Falkensteiner, and the hotel will be redesign and adapt to the usual high standards of Falkensteiner hotels. At the end of 2018, new information and details about Falkensteiner’s plans and progress will be published, and in the spring of 2019, the hotel will open under the Falkensteiner brand. read more
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Where they end up could shape decisions about whether to expand or create new emergency programs in anticipation of a more extended economic crisis, or about how to best support companies and households if in fact the pandemic is easing.The US central bank has ongoing debates on each front, both about the long-run commitments it might make to anchor interest rates at a low level for the recovery, and the continued hunt, as Fed Chair Jerome Powell put it last week, for companies with substantial numbers of employees that have not been covered in any of the crisis programs launched so far.The stunning May payrolls data released by the Labor Department on Friday could temper some of the urgency that has accompanied Fed meetings since March.After having cut interest rates to near zero and launched a bevy of credit programs in a frenzy of emergency meetings in March, no major policy decisions are expected on Wednesday when the Federal Open Market Committee ends its latest two-day meeting. It is scheduled to release its policy statement at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) on Wednesday and Powell is due to hold a news conference shortly after. With a full three months of responding to a global pandemic under their belt, United States Federal Reserve officials have united around one point: lasting progress on the economic front will be dictated by success in containing the spread of the coronavirus.But agreement beyond that may be elusive as Fed policymakers meet this week to balance fresh signs the United States may be over the worst of the economic fallout from the pandemic against evidence the virus is not yet under control.A surprise gain of more than 2.5 million US jobs last month will factor into their debate, as will any hint the surge in employment and other activity more broadly is accompanied by more transmission of the novel coronavirus. Policymakers, however, will issue economic projections for the first time since December, before a decade-long economic expansion was snuffed out by a massive wave of unemployment that followed widespread lockdowns to stop the spread of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus.Projections due in March were shelved because there was so much fog around the collapsing economy that policymakers felt it pointless to guess where unemployment, inflation and economic growth were headed.Three months of data since have verified the scope of the crisis – unemployment may have fallen in May but remains at a Great Depression-like 13.3 percent. And while it does appear the worst in terms of joblessness may have been reached, Oxford Economics economist Bob Schwartz cautioned on Friday that “the remarkable turnaround last month reflected the easy-lifting part of the healing process.”Furthermore, what remains unknown is perhaps what matters most – the extent to which durable progress has been made in containing a health crisis in which more than 110,000 Americans have died.Deaths and the rise in new cases, which had been declining on a moving average basis, have recently risen. The easing of restrictions on business and social gatherings, meanwhile, has led to concerns about a possible wave of new infections. Such fears were heightened late last month as Americans flocked to beaches and lakes to celebrate the Memorial Day long weekend.Two weeks of protests across the nation over the death of George Floyd, an African-American man who died in police custody in Minneapolis, have added even more uncertainty in major cities, including some that seemingly had the virus under control.For the Fed, how to make sense of it all has become an impressionistic test, with policymakers looking at the same set of information and seeing different trajectories.Asked about the scenes of Memorial Day revelers at one Missouri lake resort, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said he thought the risk of a second large wave of infections was low because of an expected quick response by health authorities.“This is not occurring in a vacuum,” he told journalists on the Wednesday after the holiday weekend.That same day, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said he was paying particular heed “to congregations happening in ways that … will potentially lead to a second wave that induces another shutdown. If that happens I think there are significant concerns” about the economic recovery.Clarity slow in comingThe economic projections released on Wednesday will offer a key insight into how Fed officials see the pandemic’s trajectory and whether they think the economy has hit bottom.The Fed has not tried to establish its own central system for monitoring or recreating health data, but pulled extensively from the publicly available information, consultations with outside experts, and a massive amount of background reading.“We are not experts on epidemiology, the spread of pandemics or anything like that,” Powell said in an online event in late May. “We talk to experts, and the main answer they give you is things are highly uncertain.”Even experts are struggling over measuring the fight against the pandemic with testing levels still insufficient to fully describe how the health crisis is evolving.In a recent paper, Jeffrey Harris, a physician and economics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, noted the main methods for tracking progress against the virus had all failed in one jurisdiction or another.“We will have more than a few problems trying to determine whether various state governments’ efforts to rekindle economic and social activity have been working or failing,” Harris wrote. “Imagine trying to bring a plane to a soft landing when you don’t really know its altitude or velocity.”The pace for lifting restrictions isn’t up to the Fed, and policymakers say the strength of a recovery will depend on whether people feel safe again in stores and offices.A second wave of infections could wreck that process.The Fed may not know for sure if it’s coming, but Powell said late last month that it would respond if it does.“There is clearly a risk of a second outbreak, and that would be challenging,” Powell said. “We, of course, would continue to react … We are not close to any limits.”Topics : read more
Developers, real estate agents, mortgage brokers, lawyers and accountants will descend on the Gold Coast this weekend for the Australian Property Expo.NEED a helping hand to get into the property market?Developers, real estate agents, mortgage brokers, lawyers and accountants will descend on the Gold Coast this weekend for the Australian Property Expo.Developers, real estate agents, mortgage brokers, lawyers and accountants will descend on the Gold Coast this weekend for the Australian Property Expo.More than 6000 people are expected to flock to the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre for the free exhibition with 80 stands and 24 seminars over two days.The event, which was founded in Melbourne, is organised by Chinese real estate media company First Media, and targets local and interstate buyers looking to invest in off-the-plan projects.First Media Australia Queensland director Na Yu said the event would focus on local developments as well as those around the country.More from news02:37Purchasers snap up every residence in the $40 million Siarn Palm Beach North6 hours ago02:37International architect Desmond Brooks selling luxury beach villa1 day agoDevelopers are using the expo as a platform to launch new projects.“The expo will showcase developments featuring oceanfront apartments, waterfront homes, house and land packages, townhouses, and new projects from the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne,” she said.“The event has been designed as a one-stop shop which has helped thousands of Australians find their first new home or investment property.“At the last expo, 124 contracts were signed, over a third of the exhibitors averaged four to six contracts, with some achieving up to 16 contracts after follow up with the EOIs.Ms Yu said as the 2018 Commonwealth Games approached, the Gold Coast was an “outstanding globally recognised tourism destination”.The expo has been designed as a one-stop shop to help property buyers into their new home or investment property.Developers are using the expo as a platform to launch new projects – Gold Coast developer Rawcorp will reveal plans for its Robina apartment project fronting The Glades.Marketing Projects SEQ director Kyia Anderson said Rawcorp’s latest development will include 76 apartments which will be available to expo visitors for pre-release.“The first five owner-occupiers to secure a pre-release apartment at The Glades over the weekend will be offered a deposit builder program requiring just $1000 upfront, $9000 upon finance pre-approval and monthly instalments of $1000 up until settlement,” she said. read more