WATCH CONSOLIDATION

“The Iran war is a major wildcard for the global economic outlook.”

“The refuge has been taking in elephants for two years now. It's designed as a retirement community of sorts for those that have been working in zoos and circuses or privately owned, says Buckley. They're recovering from the trauma that they experienced living in captivity. And for them to open up and trust you while you are there with them, helping them work through it, it's indescribable.”

“The dominant political story of the year has been the 270-day-long speakership of Representative Kevin McCarthy, whose slim majority in the House of Representatives has enabled a far-right rebellion to exert more weight over the lower chamber. The battle between the rebellious Freedom Caucus and McCarthy has been at the heart of an averted debt ceiling crisis and the annual budget debate nearly devolving into a government shutdown.”

“OpenAI and Anthropic are burning through cash at a staggering rate.”

“2023 also saw the roots of a global banking crisis arise out of four American regional banks, the two largest being Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic Bank. 2021's inflation surge moderated in 2023, while the Federal Reserve continued to raise its interest rates in the first half of the year.”

“Additionally, the latter half of the year saw many large mergers and acquisitions, some of the largest announcements being in oil and gas with ExxonMobil's purchase of Pioneer Natural Resources for nearly $60 billion and Chevron's acquisition of Hess Corporation for $50 billion.”

“More than a thousand movie stars, writers, and directors declared their unequivocal opposition to the proposed Paramount merger with Warner Brothers Discovery In an open letter. A large swath of the industry came out against the $111 billion deal that would consolidate the two legacy studios, arguing it would reduce jobs in an already downsized Hollywood.”

“They're recovering from the trauma that they experienced living in captivity. And for them to open up and trust you while you are there with them, helping them work through it, it's indescribable.”

“Additionally, the latter half of the year saw many large mergers and acquisitions, some of the largest announcements being in oil and gas with ExxonMobil's purchase of Pioneer Natural Resources for nearly $60 billion and Chevron's acquisition of Hess Corporation for $50 billion, both in October and pending regulatory approval prior to closure.”

“The latest jobs report suggests an economy that is still running hot.”

“2023 also saw the roots of a global banking crisis arise out of four American regional banks, the two largest being Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic Bank. 2021's inflation surge moderated in 2023, while the Federal Reserve continued to raise its interest rates in the first half of the year.”

“President Trump says the US has begun a blockade of Iranian ports. He's trying to get Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz and accept a deal to end the war. We can't let a country blackmail or extort the world, because that's what they're doing. They're really blackmailing the world. We're not going to let that happen.”

“The NAR is revising its housing forecast down for the year. That's because the war with Iran has raised the cost of borrowing, and that sent mortgage rates up. The association went from rejecting a double-digit increase in existing home sales to just 4%. New home sales are projected to be flat.”

“US. District Court Judge Darren Gales wrote that Trump had failed to allege sufficiently that the journal had acted with what's called actual malice, either knowledge of story is or failure to seek the truth. Gales found the journal had made numerous efforts to verify its reporting and included Trump's denial.”

“The rise of artificial intelligence and large language models dominated not only the economy but has also been at the root of a Hollywood double strike conducted by Writers Guild of America and a SAG APTRA strike, these were part of a larger phenomenon of labor strikes across the country.”

“The IPO race for AI is more of a marathon than a sprint.”

“The Lebanese Red Cross says its paramedic Hassan Badawi suffered a direct strike by an Israeli drone while carrying out his humanitarian duty during an emergency response mission in Bint Jibail near the Israeli border. The area has been under invasion by Israel, which calls it a Hezbollah stronghold.”

“The acquisition of TBPN reveals exactly where media is headed.”

“The rise of artificial intelligence and large language models dominated not only the economy but has also been at the root of a Hollywood double strike conducted by Writers Guild of America and a SAG APTRA strike, these were part of a larger phenomenon of labor strikes across the country, in which such large diverse groups, such as Teamsters and Auto Workers won new contracts.”

“The dominant political story of the year has been the 270-day-long speakership of Representative Kevin McCarthy, whose slim majority in the House of Representatives has enabled a far-right rebellion to exert more weight over the lower chamber.”