NEW YORK — General Electric plans to sell off most of its finance arm in the next two years, redefining the multinational conglomerate as it seeks to complete a transformation begun in the tumult of the financial crisis.

In addition to huge planned sales of assets outlined by the company Friday, GE will take other significant steps, including bringing back about $36 billion in cash that now resides overseas.

Rapidly shrinking the finance unit, GE Capital — once the most powerful driver of the firm’s earnings until it rocked the company after the fall of Lehman Bros. in 2008 — will erase one of the most prominent legacies of GE’s former chief executive, Jack Welch.

But it could also release the company from one of its biggest burdens: strict regulatory requirements that come with GE Capital’s being regarded as a financial institution that is too big to fail.

GE’s plan is that by 2018, its core industrial businesses — including jet turbines, heavy energy equipment, and sophisticated medical devices — will account for about 90 percent of earnings, up from 58 percent last year.

It will also buy back up to $50 billion of its shares, a move to further rejuvenate what has been a largely stagnant stock price.

To Jeffrey R. Immelt, the company’s chairman and CEO, corporate legacy has not deterred him from a plan to shrink a huge and sometimes unwieldy collection of businesses. The conglomerate has already sold divisions, including its small appliances unit, that became too tiny to affect sales, which were $148 billion last year.

“We’re not sentimentalists,” he said in an interview.

Such a drastic downsizing is no small matter for GE, whose empire spans 175 countries and employs some 305,000 people.

“Jeffrey Immelt will have truly remade the company,” said Steven Winoker, an analyst at Bernstein Research. “This is a massive strategic reallocation of capital and investment.”

The ambitious plan will begin with the sale of most of GE Capital’s real estate assets to the Blackstone Group, with other assets going to Wells Fargo and other buyers. All told, the real estate deals are valued at $26.5 billion.

All that will remain by the end of the sales process are any financing businesses closely tied to the conglomerate’s core industrial businesses.

GE estimates that those remaining assets will be valued around $90 billion, a fraction of the $363 billion of GE Capital assets held as of year-end.

For much of its 123-year history, GE has had a finance division, although the business has traditionally served as a support for its parent’s manufacturing arms. Under Welch, however, GE Capital swelled in size and willingness to take on risk, becoming one of the most prominent lenders in the country.

For years, the financial tilt looked smart and relatively easy. Yet the big bet on finance badly wounded GE in the wake of Lehman’s demise, when the market upheaval left the conglomerate hard-pressed to borrow debt for its day-to-day operations.

In addition to announcing its reorganization, the company revealed Friday it will pay about $6 billion in taxes on earnings it brings back from overseas. Many US corporations continue to hold huge sums of money overseas, hoping for a change to US tax laws. But GE said it had chosen to move quickly.

Since the financial crisis, GE has taken steps to shrink its finance operation, selling off smaller pieces over the years. In one of its most notable moves, it spun off its private-label credit card arm — now known as Synchrony Financial — in a $2.9 billion initial public offering last year.

Still, Immelt said, the company focused on moving carefully, its board mindful “not to burn stuff out” at fire-sale prices.

But the success of Synchrony — its stock has risen 30 percent since it began trading — helped prod Immelt and his team, including advisers at JPMorgan Chase and Centerview Partners, to consider moving more quickly.

At the same time, Immelt said in the interview, GE’s mainstay industrial operations are performing well.

Now is a “perfect time to be a seller,” he said. Moreover, he added of potential asset buyers, “people are lining up at the starting line.”

First up came a potential sale of GE Capital’s real estate assets. As GE’s management team and advisers weighed potential partners, one name quickly came to mind: Blackstone and its huge real estate arm.

“We thought there was only one buyer who can do this: Jon Gray at Blackstone,” Sherin of GE Capital said. “We told him, ‘If you can hit this bid on an exclusive basis, it’s yours.’”

Despite not putting the real estate assets up for a competitive auction, which may have fetched a higher price, Sherin declared himself happy with the result. Moving this way assured GE of both a speedy and certain transaction.

“Both parties think they got a fair price,” he said.

General Electric said it would remain an acquirer of businesses as well, although its deals would be aimed at bolstering industrial operations. Last year, it paid $13.5 billion for the energy operations of the French industrial company Alstom.

Selling the bulk of GE Capital could bring significant benefits for GE shareholders, by the company’s reckoning. It estimates that it could return more than $90 billion to investors by 2018, through special dividends, the stock buyback and other financial moves. About $35 billion of that alone will come from the GE Capital asset sales.

Perhaps one of the most notable potential consequences of the drastic move is that GE will be able to shed its designation as a “systemically important financial institution.” Such status comes with high requirements to keep capital on hand, potentially limiting its financial returns.

So significant is the label that MetLife, the insurer, has sued regulators to try to remove the designation.

“We’re probably the most heavily regulated company in the world,” Immelt said. But he added, “Regulation doesn’t scare us.”

The conglomerate has already begun discussions with government regulators, although it is hoping to formally apply for the removal of the so-called Sifi designation next year.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council, which determines which institutions receive the designation, said in a statement: “The council welcomes the opportunity to consider any plans that, if implemented, address the potential risks to financial stability that resulted in a company’s designation. The council has a process to evaluate changes at a designated company and consider whether to rescind its designation. Consistent with the Dodd-Frank Act and the council’s procedures, the council annually re-evaluates all previously designated nonbank financial companies.”

Summary: NEW YORK — General Electric plans to sell off most of its finance arm during the next two years, redefining the multinational conglomerate as it seeks to complete a transformation begun amid the tumult of the financial crisis.


Ask any startup veteran: Mistakes are made. No matter how successful a company ultimately becomes, you can be sure that its early days were peppered with missteps and failures—most minor, but a few likely painful and spectacular.

So, why would anyone want to share those mistakes with the world? That’s the question of the day for Lauren Kay and Emma Tessler, co-founders of Dating Ring, an online matchmaking service. The company is the subject of season two of the podcast Startup, which premieres on Thursday.

Startup devotes each season to chronicling the ups and downs of a single fledgling company. The first season followed the show’s creator, Alex Blumberg, as he attempted to launch his own podcasting company. As far as podcasts go, Blumberg is something of a superstar, with successful runs at both This American Life and NPR’s Planet Money. That didn’t stop him from going off the rails during the show, though. Listeners heard Blumberg stutter through disastrous VC pitches and agonize over whether he was taking the company in the right direction. The tape caught dozens of fraught exchanges between Blumberg and his wife, his partner, his investors and several of his overworked employees.

Kay and Tessler say they expect Dating Ring to get the same warts-and-all treatment. (They are continuing to tape through June and will not hear any of the episodes before they air.) Fundraising—“or trying to”—will be a major theme of the season, says Kay. The company has raised only $355,000 so far, so listeners will also hear frank discussion of how long the founders can continue without an infusion of cash.

What else will we hear this season? A partner leaves the company unexpectedly, say Kay and Tessler. The pair will also discuss the details of their experience at Y Combinator; Dating Ring was part of the incubator’s class of January 2014. They say the Startup staff has interviewed a number of people, including Y Combinator partners and the head of competitor Match.com. And of course, Kay and Tessler don’t know what was said in these interviews. “Maybe it will be cool,” says Kay. “Or maybe it will be more like middle school, when people would talk about you behind your back.”

The pair say that, while they’re “terrified” of what the podcast may expose about the company (or the founders themselves), they didn’t hesitate to sign on when they were selected by the Startup producers. They hope the publicity will boost their user numbers (Dating Ring currently has 3,000 or so active members, about 15% of whom pay the $240 fee for a three-month membership ) and push the company achieve profitability. “We’re really hoping that being on Startup will be the push we need,” says Kay.

This isn’t the company’s first time in the media spotlight. Last year, Kay noticed a striking imbalance in the Dating Ring membership: In New York City, they had far more female clients, while their San Francisco database was dominated by men. So, the company cooked up a stunt: Cross-Country Love, a crowdfunded event where the company flew 16 single female New Yorkers out to the west coast for a long weekend of dates with Silicon Valley bachelors. Not surprisingly, the trip got a lot of press—not all of it positive. Valleywag memorably compared the participants to “comfort women,” the women forced into sex slavery in World War II.

While much of the coverage was biting, Kay says she still sees the Cross-Country Love trip as a success. “It was huge for us, it put us on the map,” she says, adding that in the wake of the publicity, Dating Ring’s user base doubled in size.

“It’s totally nerve-wracking to put your professional and personal life out there,” says Tessler. “But everything is fair game.” The founders say were willing to answer almost any question Startup producers threw their way. Because their startup is a dating company, they say they talked a lot about their dating and sex lives, though Tessler asked that the podcast skip the questions about her boyfriend’s sex life. “That’s the only place I drew the line,” she says.

“Occasionally I didn’t record certain things,” says Kay. “There were a lot of difficult moments when I was really upset.” On the other hand, she says the recordings also captured some great moments. “I had a very emotional conversation with my mom, where she said some of the nicest things she’s ever said,” says Kay. “Now I’ll always have that.”

Fortune plans to follow up with Kay and Tessler once the season is underway. That, says Kay, sounds great, provided “we are able to show our faces in the media again.”

To subscribe to Kristen Bellstrom’s daily newsletter on the world’s most powerful women, go to www.getbroadsheet.com.

Summary: The founders of Dating Ring, an online matchmaking service, talk about why they decided to share everything from failed VC pitches to details of their salaries on the new season of the podcast Startup.


Massachusetts gas prices rose four cents a gallon to $2.64 last week, marking the sixth straight week of increases, according to AAA Northeast.

Although a gallon of gasoline is 30 cents more expensive than it was a month ago, it’s slightly more than a dollar cheaper than it was at this time last year. The increase is partly due to a switch by oil refineries to making a more pure “summer blend” of gasoline, which is more expensive.

The price rise comes at the start of the summer driving season, kicked off by Memorial Day weekend travelers. According to recent AAA estimates, the number of leisure travelers will hit a 10-year high on the upcoming holiday weekend, with most people traveling by car. Although gas prices are down from last year, other travel-related expenses are up, the auto club said.

Gas prices are heavily dependent on oil prices, which are sharply down from last summer. According to Bloomberg, a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude oil traded for $59.24 around 11:17 this morning, compared to nearly $108 last June, according to federal data.

The cheapest gas in Massachusetts was on sale for $2.39 a gallon at a Mobil station in Hingham on Monday morning, according to user submissions to the website GasBuddy.com.

Summary: It’s the sixth consecutive week of price increases in the Bay State.


Fishing and a paper mill were the heavy industries in St. Marys, Ga., in March 1979, and for excitement there was wild-hog hunting. But the Navy's Fleet Ballistic Missile Squadron 16 was due to move into the bay near town that summer, and St. Marys, population 3,500, was worried.

Thousands of naval personnel were expected to flood in to maintain and man the nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed Poseidon submarines. St. Marys, with more churches than taverns and no movie houses, found itself planning for zoned commercial areas that could accommodate ''massage parlors'' and X-rated films.

''We have approximately 5,000 people now,'' says the Acting Mayor, Gerald Roberts, and the total is growing. By 1990 he expects 35,000 to 37,000.

Housing construction, taxes and crime are rising, the water, sewer and school systems are expanding, a shopping center with a theater is planned, and for the first time, St. Marys will have a full-time Fire Department and traffic lights.

But so far no massage parlors or X movies. Under a new ''adult entertainment'' ordinance, a heavily restricted, $25,000-a-year license is needed.

''No one has applied,'' the Mayor says.


''LYRICS AND LYRICISTS,'' the series in which authors of some of America's most successful stage and film songs discuss and sing their works, will devote its entire 12th season to movie musicals. The series begins this Sunday and Monday evenings at 8 at the 92d Street Y.

When the series began in 1970 at the prompting of Arthur Cantor of the Billy Rose Foundation, which still supports it, most of the lyricists who appeared were from the theater - E.Y. (Yip) Harburg, Betty Comden and Adolph Green, Sheldon Harnick, Stephen Sondheim and Alan Jay Lerner among them.

''These were the lyricists that I knew,'' Maurice Levine, the artistic director of the series, explained the other day. ''But by the eighth season, we were running out of lyricists who were alive and famous and who fit the general idea of the series.'' So Mr. Levine started to broaden the series by building each season around a theme. Composers discussed their lyricists one year and the next year was devoted ''Great Lyricists Remembered,'' which discussed writers who were dead. Then a 10th-anniversary celebration in 1980 brought back lyricists who had appeared in the first decade, and last year the series highlighted lyricists who were not as well known as the shows they had written.

The idea for this season's theme began to germinate in March when Yip Harburg, who wrote ''Over the Rainbow'' and ''April in Paris,'' died in an auto accident in California. He had been the subject and the performer of the very first program in the series and he had performed on more programs than any other lyricist.

''At the time, I thought of doing a memorial for Yip,'' Mr. Levine said. ''But I decided against it because I was afraid it would be a eulogy and I wanted to make it a celebration.'' To make it a celebration, he thought of having Burton Lane as host and narrator. Mr. Lane met Mr. Harburg since he was 17 and Mr. Harburg was 33. They had worked together in both Hollywood (starting with ''I'm Yours,'' written for a 1930 film short, ''Leave It to Lester'') and Broadway (they wrote the score for Al Jolson's last show, ''Hold Onto Your Hats,'' in 1940 and for ''Finian's Rainbow'' in 1947). But the fact that Mr. Lane had long lived in Hollywood gave Mr. Levine the link for a series on film lyricists.

The lyricists who will be heard this season are Alan and Marilyn Bergman on March 7 and 8, Robert and Richard Sherman on April 4 and 5, Jay Livingston and Ray Evans on May 2 and 3 and Leo Robin on June 6 and 7.

Mr. Lane went to Hollywood in 1933 when the Depression had dried up the initial outlets for his songs - revues and musical comedies. He was sent to Hollywood by his publisher, the Irving Berlin Company, on a six-week gamble and he stayed for 22 years. A Way to Make a Living

''In Hollywood, you look for a job,'' he said as he defined the difference between songwriting in New York and in Hollywood. ''It's a practical way of making a living. There are two ways to do it. You can be under contract to a studio and do what they ask you to do. You're given an assignment and you hope you like it. But mostly it was awful because most of the pictures were aw ful. If you're a freelance, it 's a struggle. You write and hope to sell what you write. Once y ou've been paid, you've a certain time to deliver, but you have no c ontrol.'' ''

''In New York,'' he continued, ''the creators of the show are involved in every way from the beginning. And you have some control over the integrity of the production. But it takes two years or more out of your life and the show may close in two nights.'' Living in Hollywood in the 1930's and 40's, according to Mr. Lane, was very easy. For some people, it was paradi se. But there were others - songwriters from New York like Jerom e Kern, Sigmund Romberg, Yip Harburg, Harold Arlen and me - w ho felt we were in exile.'' Need for a Teammate

To Mr. Lane, life in Hollywood was not happy. The work was boring. But he stayed 22 years, he said, because he couldn't find a teammate to write songs with. ''It's difficult when you're not teamed with somebody,'' he said.

''Yip was the only lyricist that I wanted to work with. He always made my melodies sound better than anyone else. He caught the whole tenor of what I was saying. When we were writing 'Finian's Rainbow,' he gave me a dummy title for a song, ''There's a Glen in Glocca Morra.' I wrote a dozen melodies with that in mind, but it didn't seem to be working. One day he asked me how it was coming and I said I'd written a lot but nothing was happening. He asked me to play one of them. He listened and then he sang, 'How Are Things in Glocca Morra?' and suddenly it worked. He could make it personal.''

This weekend's ''Harburg in Hollywood,'' will include such Harburg film songs as ''Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe,'' from ''Cabin in the Sky,'' ''More and More'' and ''Can't Help Singing,'' from ''Can't Help Singing,'' and ''Lydia, the Tattooed Lady'' which was sung by Groucho Marx in ''At the Circus.'' For the Y presentation, Mr. Levine has called in what he considers the basic ''Lyrics and Lyricists'' stock company - the singers Bobbi Baird, Irving Barnes and Martha Wright and the pianist Mike Renzi. But in addition, there will be cameo appearances by singers who hold Yip Harburg in special affection - Anita Ellis, Lynnie Godfrey, Larry Kert, Maureen McGovern and Sylvia Syms.

There will also be movie clips, audio tapes of Mr. Harburg and Judy Garland, private films made by Harold Arlen of life in the Hollywood songwriting set in the 1930's and 40's, and the jitterbug scene from ''The Wizard of Oz'' in which Judy Garland goes down the Yellow Brick Road with the jitterbugs. It was cut from the film and has never been shown, but Mr. Arlen filmed the shooting of it.

Tickets for the series of five concerts at $45 and $50 can be charged at the 92d Street Y box office, 427-4410. Single tickets for the concerts, $10 and $11, can be bought at the Y box office, Lexington Avenue at 92d Street, or obtained by calling Chargit, 944-9300.

Illustrations: Photo of Bobbi Baird and E.Y. Harburg


GREENWICH SOME long-standing friction between the 60 paid firefighters and 600 volunteers in this town has escalated into a confrontation over complaints by the firefighters of drinking in the firehouses by the volunteers.

The dispute, which has raised basic questions about fire protection in the town, came to the attention of residents in January when it was disclosed that two of the six firehouses in Greenwich have cash bars for the volunteers, and that occasional drinking is permitted in all the firehouses.

Perhaps most significant in the increasingly open dispute between the two groups is that because of the nature of the volunteer fire companies, which have a tradition dating back to the founding of Greenwich in 1640, the town has virtually no authority over them.

The disclosure of the firehouse bars was made in a letter from Everett Whittaker, president of the firemen's local, to Fire Chief John H. Titsworth. The letter, which was published in a local newspaper, asked for legal clarification on the liability of firemen, who are prohibited from drinking at any time in the firehouses, in case of an accident to a volunteer.

''We just wanted to know what the policy is on a volunteer who had been drinking going to a fire if, for example, he should fall off a fire truck,'' Mr. Whittaker said in an interview. He added that drinking in the firehouses had been an issue since 1975, when the bars started operating.

The issue of liability is now under review by the town's law department, Chief Titsworth said. The issue escalated last month when First Selectman Rebecca S. Breed went to the East Port Chester Fire Station early one morning with Chief Titsworth. The visit was prompted by a complaint from Michael Wilke, a paid firefighter, about drunken volunteers in the station house.

After her visit, Mrs. Breed minimized the firehouse party as ''one isolated incident.'' But Mr. Whittaker, with other firefighters, said that drinking in the firehouses ''is continuous - incident after incident after incident.''

Last week, the volunteers at the station asked Mrs. Breed to transfer Mr. Wilke, Mr. Whittaker and two other paid firefighters because cooperation between them and the volunteers ''has deteriorated and has demoralized the efficiency of our department,'' according to Max Krois, secretary of the East Port Chester Volunteer Fire Department.

Two of the four paid firemen have hired lawyers because of the effort to transfer them to another firehouse. Mrs. Breed has deferred the matter to Chief Titsworth.

The volunteers tend to be a cohesive group with strong feelings of camaraderie, capable, as Greenwich residents, of exerting a strong political force on particular issues. Most earn their living as bluecollar workers in Greenwich and surrounding towns.

Under a change in residency requirements, the professional firefighters no longer have to be Greenwich residents and of the 60 firefighters, 12 are nonresidents. Twenty out of 46 persons on the eligibility list are from out-of-town.

The six fire companies are largely autonomous, with 100-year-old charters and bylaws that set rules the town government cannot readily change. Thus, some of the companies admit 16-year-old boys, while others require applicants to be 21.

The paid firefighters must complete a proscribed training course, and pass a state examination before they can join a company. The volunteers, however, must take only a ''rookie course'' in firefighting techniques, which has far less stringent requirements. It has been only within the last two years that the course has become a requirement for the volunteers.

Company officers, who may have no fire training experience, are elected from among the volunteers and command the paid firefighters. While some volunteers consider the paid firefighters to be drivers who drive the volunteers to the fires, while otherwise manning the firehouses, the firefighters consider the volunteers as untrained men mainly involved with the fire companies as social clubs. But once they get to a fire, the functions of both groups are similar.

''I think it is time someone told the paid firemen to stop criticizing the volunteers,'' wrote former First Selectman, C. Carleton Gisborne, a volunteer, to the local paper. ''They deserve to have a little fun at their headquarters,'' he said.

Chief Titsworth said that what he called ''a little hard feelings'' between the two groups had come about over the last few years as Greenwich changed. In emergencies, however, firefighter and volunteer ''work well together,'' he said.

With about 35,000 office workers commuting into the town each day, daytime fire protection has increased in importance. The volunteers, however, are least available during the day, when they are at their jobs. And while most have their homes hooked up by radio to the station house for emergency calls, it is not as easy for the volunteers to be called to a fire during the day.

''I feel we can no longer wait for a catastrophe to bring to light the critical lack of manpower at times in the daytime hours, the fact that we are operating a public safety department under rules written in 1949 and the fact that the abuse of alcohol is uncontrolable,'' said Leonard J. LaLuna, a 32-year old firefighter who has been with the department nine years.

Mr. LaLuna, a Greenwich resident, earned a position on the town's 231-member legislative body by receiving 76 write-in votes last November but had been barred from taking a seat in the Representative Town Meeting because of a provision in the town charter barring municipal employees from holding public office. He is challenging the ban in court.

Volunteer firefighters, on the other hand, do belong to the Representative Town Metting and have on occasion voted against pay increases for the full-time firefighters.


Digital music companies are locked in a bitter battle with the record industry, which wants the likes of SiriusXM and Pandora P – and by extension consumers – to start paying a new type of copyright royalty for 50-year-old music. On Wednesday, the companies suffered a new setback as a federal judge gave the green-light for former members of the band The Turtles to lead a lawsuit on behalf of other musicians, most from the 1960’s era, who want to collect from SiriusXM SIRI .

The latest ruling came via U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez, who issued an order granting a request by the Turtles singers, known for 1960’s hits like “Happy Together,” to seek class action damages. If they prevail, the payouts by SiriusXM and other digital music services like Apple APPL , which are ensnared in related litigation, could amount to millions or even billions of dollars.

The Gutierrez order is a procedural step, but is significant because, if it is allowed to stand, the class action status will give the performers and their lawyers more leverage to force a settlement.

Gutierrez’s order is the latest twist in the music industry’s quest to cash in on a novel legal theory. That theory, which many copyright scholars regard as far-fetched, holds that SiriusXM and anyone else who performs digital music must pay royalties for pre-1972 sound recordings under a patchwork of state laws, even though copyright law is federal.

That upshot is that the digital music companies could owe years of back royalties. These alleged unpaid royalties concern performers (the singers and musicians on a given recording) as opposed to song writers,who are already paid under federal law.

Wednesday’s ruling, which also said SiriusXM should pay damages on the basis of gross revenue related to pre-’72 songs, increases the stakes in a larger copyright battle that is taking place in multiple states, and on Capitol Hill as well.

The music industry has characterized the dispute as one in which greedy digital music companies are depriving old musicians of their due. Critics, including me, view the campaign as an attempt by the music industry to obtain new money for old rope. If successful, it will lead to consumers paying a windfall to lawyers and record labels – with none of the money going to support younger musicians who most need the support.

Currently, things look bleak for SiriusXM and for digital music fans since the state copyright theory has gained traction before three different judges. The best hope for now is for an appeals court to declare that Congress intended to federalize copyright law entirely, and that the wisdom of granting windfalls for pre-1972 performances should be decided by Congress, not a patchwork of state courts. The Second Circuit in New York has already agreed to hear one of SiriusXM’s appeal, while the Ninth Circuit in California is considering one by Pandora.

For more details of the class certification ruling, see Eriq Gardner’s detailed account in the Hollywood Reporter.

Summary: A judge granted class action status to two 1960's musicians who want to force SiriusXM - and every other digital music service - to pay a new tax on old music.


Born in Santa Monica in 1930, Gifford attended the University of Southern California on a football scholarship and went pro after being selected 11th overall in the first round of the 1952 draft.

Gifford played with the New York Giants his entire NFL career, from 1952 to 1964, with several visits to the Pro-Bowl. In 1956 he was league MVP and led the team to a championship (before it was called "The Super Bowl").

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The Giants used Gifford at running back, defensive back, wide receiver and on special teams. He went to the Pro Bowl at three different positions. His 5,434 yards receiving were a Giants record for 39 years, until Amani Toomer surpassed him in 2003. His jersey number, 16, was retired by the team in 2000.

After his playing career ended, he became a sports commentator, first for CBS and then as a co-host of Monday Night Football from 1971 to 1985.

When he wasn't on the field, Gifford tried to put his movie-star good looks to use in Hollywood, appearing in about a dozen films, most notably the 1959 submarine movie "Up Periscope."

He married Kathie Lee Epstein, current TODAY show host, on October 18, 1986.

--The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Summary: Football player and veteran sports journalist Frank Gifford has died in Connecticut, his family announced on Sunday. He was 84.


Disease and harsh weather continue to push up food costs for consumers. But they're likely to go even higher from the ongoing drought hitting much of the Southwest.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service said that California's drought could increase food price inflation above the historical average in the weeks ahead.

"It doesn't take long for the effects of what's happening at the farm level to transfer to the checkout counter," said Annmarie Kuhns, a researcher at the USDA, told CNBC. "It's usually just about a month for the impact to take hold."

Read MoreDrought brings 'divine' intervention to find water

The Golden state produces half of the nation's fruits and vegetables, and most of its high-value crops such as broccoli, tomatoes and artichokes.

But the drought has been pushing the cost of water higher, forcing farmers there to leave fallow hundreds of thousands of acres of land, and making foods more expensive.

Timothy Richards, a professor of agribusiness at Arizona State University, told CNBC in April that he believes between 10 and 20 percent of the supply of certain crops from the state could be lost due to the drought.

Because of that, Richards said there would be price increases on such items as berries, broccoli, grapes, melons, tomatoes, peppers and packaged salads.

"I would expect a 28 percent increase for avocados and 34 percent for lettuce," he said.

Summary: Consumers are paying more for food at the check-out stand. But prices could go even higher due to the drought hitting the Southwest.


There are pockets of good news, however. The blossoming craft ale industry is set to grow and the U.K.'s overall volume sales of beer posted its first growth in five years, according to Mintel.

A population surge means that Africa is set to overtake China as the major growth area for the industry too, with Deutsche Bank stating earlier this month that Heineken and SABMiller appear to be best positioned to capture this growth.

"Over the next decade, Africa should account for 40 percent of global volume and profit growth," Wynand Van Zyl, a research analyst at the German bank, said in a note on February 4.

Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs is feeling bullish on Constellation Brands, which produces Mexican brands like Corona and Modelo Especial. The bank upgraded the outlook on its stock to a "buy" from a "neutral" last month due to "accelerating U.S. growth" and "exposure to an attractive core Hispanic demographic."

Read MoreHardcider growing fast in US: Pro

Indeed, a survey by Renaissance Capital this week showed that Latin America was the only region where the market share of beer was growing, despite being more expensive than spirits on a liter-of-pure-alcohol basis. In the U.S. and Europe beer is cheaper than spirits but its market share is still in decline, according to Wium.

It's also less flexible on the innovation front, according to the analyst, providing yet more challenges to the world's most widely consumed alcoholic beverage.

"Beer companies need to invest more in innovation just to maintain its customer group," he said.

"This implies higher costs while innovation tends to lead to smaller incremental revenue benefits, hence margins are not automatically guaranteed. We believe the cost-saving plans announced across the beer industry are probably more a function of necessity."

Read MoreThe obscure Brazilian booze Snoop Dogg just loves

Summary: There’s so many types of beer to choose from, when it comes to socializing, yet it looks like the long-term trends for beer is falling flat.


While equities fluctuate, the CBOE Volatility Index (.VIX), considered the best gauge of fear in the market, has traded below 16, lower than expected levels of 19 to 20.

"You thought with such as strong rally (on Monday) it would have come off more," said JJ Kinahan, chief derivatives strategist at TD Ameritrade. "The risk-on trade is basically still there."

The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield held lower on Tuesday at 2.05 percent, while the shorter-term two-year yield climbed to 0.67 percent.

Read MoreDalio: We're 'cautious' ahead of Fed rate liftoff

Futures imply an increase in rates in September with 60.99 percent probability, according to CME Group data. Economists, analysts and money mangers polled by CNBC expect a rate increase in August.

In the little economic data out on Tuesday, housing starts fell 17 percent in February. The 3 percent increase in building permits indicated to most analysts that the drop was seasonal.

Investors will get more insight on the housing market with weekly mortgage applications due at 7 a.m. on Wednesday.

"I think (near zero) rates right now is distorting capital and currency markets," said Jack Ablin, chief investment officer at BMO Private Bank. He "would like to get back to normal rather than these abnormal money conditions."

He said that easing has boosted the equity market as stocks climb higher. But the lack of fundamental economic benefit, in his view, has created "bubble material."

The major U.S. indexes held on to gains for the year Tuesday, but only the Nasdaq closed in the black.

The Dow closed down 128.34 points, or 0.71 percent, at 17,849.08.

The S&P 500 fell 6.91 points, or 0.33 percent, to 2,074.28. The Nasdaq rose 7.93 points, or 0.16 percent, at 4,937.43.

In the commodities market, oil extended declines with crude settling down 42 cents at $43.46 a barrel, the lowest since March 2009.

Crude oil continued to fall late on Tuesday after American Petroleum Institute data showed a larger-than-expected increase in crude inventories, up 10.5 million barrels versus the StreetAccount consensus for 3.07 million barrels.

Investors will watch weekly oil inventories from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, expected Wednesday morning, for further indications on supply.

"If oil continues to fall from there to below $40 a barrel, (it could hit) a lot of leveraged oil companies up and down the production line," said Bruce Bittles, chief investment strategist at RW Baird. "Otherwise, it's a big, big tax cut. More positive than negative."

Unlike most analysts, Bittles expects the weaker economic data to push an interest rate hike to early next year rather than this summer.

Gold futures also extended losses, settling down $5 at $1,148.20 an ounce on Tuesday. The dollar took a break from its rally, as the euro briefly topped $1.06.

Despite the recent negative correlation between U.S. stocks and the strong dollar, several analysts said investors should look beyond currency fluctuations.

Read MoreWhy the euro's next move may shock the Street

"We do not think the strong U.S. dollar will derail the bull market," Burt White, chief investment officer for LPL Financial, wrote in a note. "The dollar itself is not a key driver of market performance; it is a symptom."

Summary: The long-awaited statement from the Fed will settle the burning question of whether or not "patient" remains and shed light on when rates might rise.


Along with bringing back Geiger, who led the company during its heyday in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the retailer has attempted to grow its emerging fashion brands, including YouTube star Bethany Mota's line. It's also working to remove the glut from its store footprint to cut costs, and will have closed more than 200 stores, or about 20 percent of its fleet, by the end of the year.

Read MoreGoodbye slush, hello shopping! Finally time for spring

Despite these efforts, Aéropostale continues to be the laggard among the teen retailers known as the "Three A's," which include American Eagle and Abercrombie & Fitch. All three names are in the midst of reworking their businesses to regain the interest of middle- and high-school age shoppers, who traded in their logo Ts for trendier fast-fashion stores such as H&M.

Sales have begun to turn at American Eagle, which last week topped fourth-quarter consensus earnings estimates and posted flat same-store sales. And while sales trends remain weak at Abercombie, the company still managed a $1.15 per share profit in the most recent quarter.

"As far as 2015, we heard a lot of 'ifs' [from Aéropostale]—'if all things align properly,' 'if you get a higher [average unit retail],' 'if you have enough transactions' " Wells Fargo analyst Paul Lejuez wrote in a research note.

He added that with store traffic down and management planning to increase inventory levels in the second half, "We don't feel good about those 'ifs.' "

Summary: Aéropostale shares fell 16 percent on Friday, despite posting its first quarterly profit in two years.


South Korea's economy may be on the brink of a deflationary spiral amid near-zero wage growth, but consumers are still spending big on one item: alcohol.

Drinking among Korean adults rose to a record high in 2014, local media reported on Tuesday citing a new government survey. On average, 60.8 percent of Korean adults drank once or more every month in 2014, up from 54.1 percent in 2008.

The survey matched data in February showing household spending on alcohol hit a record high in 2014.

Asia's fourth-largest economy is well known internationally for its boozy reputation. A report from Euromonitor last year showed Koreans of drinking age consumed 13.7 shots of liquor per week on average, the highest in the world and more than double of what Russians - the second biggest drinkers on the list - consume.

Soju, a distilled rice liquor, is the country's most popular alcoholic beverage and sales are soaring.

Hite-Jinro, a soju maker with 47 percent market share, is one of the industry's top winners. One of the company's brands, Ilpoom soju, saw sales increase nine fold from 2006 to 2013, the Wall Street Journal reported last year. Its Jinro brand was also named the world's best-selling spirit by industry watcher Drinks International last year.

Summary: South Korea's economy may be on the brink of a deflationary spiral, but consumers are still spending big on one item: alcohol.


Investors yanked $29.5 billion out of global equity funds in the week that ended August 26, the biggest single-week outflow on record as markets around the world over went into meltdown mode, according to data from Citi.

On a regional basis, U.S. funds suffered the highest level of outflows at $12.3 billion, followed by Asia funds, which saw $4.9 billion in redemptions. Citi's records go back to 2000.

European funds, which broke their chain of 14 weeks of inflows, witnessed $3.6 billion in outflows for the week.

Summary: Investors yanked $29.5 billion out of global equity funds in the week ended Aug 26, the biggest single-week outflow on record.


To date, the outbreak has not seriously impacted commodity markets or mining companies in West Africa, despite the region's importance as a producer of energy, metals and agricultural products.

However, the potential threats from a deepening in the crisis should be assessed, Deutsche Bank said in a note published Thursday—particularly if the virus spreads across borders to Mali and Cote d'Ivoire and further afield into Ghana, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Niger, Chad and Cameroon.

"We believe the effect of the outbreak on global commodity balances, as well as the individual operations of mining companies must be considered seriously," said analysts led by Anna Mulholland in the report.

The most "at risk" commodities are gold and cocoa, Mulholland said, noting that over 70 percent of global cocoa supply comes from West Africa.

"A more widespread outbreak to other countries in the region would hold significant implications for cocoa production," Mulholland wrote.

There are also numerous iron ore projects and gold mines in the affected countries, while oil, copper, cobalt and aluminium are produced in the wider region.

FTSE 100-listed Randgold Resources is among the companies most exposed to any escalation in the outbreak, according to Deutsche. The gold mining company's production is entirely focused on West and Central Africa.

Other companies seen as vulnerable include Nordgold and AngloGold Ashanti, which both have gold mines in Guinea.

ArcelorMittal has iron ore assets in both Guinea and Liberia, while Vedanta Resources is also present in Liberia and African Minerals has a mine in Sierra Leone.

Some companies, such as Vedanta, have evacuated expat employees from the affected countries. Exxon Mobil announced on Thursday that it had banned employees from traveling to the worst hit areas, adding that the disease had disrupted its operations in West Africa, including plans to drill off the shore of Liberia.

Read MoreMining CEOs call for action against Ebola

The outbreak is also hitting local economies, curtailing labor mobility around the region and leading to panic buying and food shortages.

"Given the risks of disruptions to grain harvests that are just beginning, a further acceleration in food inflation is probable," warned Mulholland.

Given the poverty of those countries worst hit by Ebola, food inflation also poses social and political risks.

"As we have seen in other parts in the world, significant increases in food inflation can pose challenges to the stability of governments particularly where food purchases constitute more than 80 percent of a household's expenditures," said Mulholland.

Ebola is transmitted by bodily fluids, with symptoms including fever, vomiting, diarrhea and hemorrhage. Just under 50 percent of patients have died in the current epidemic, according to the World Health Organization.

On Thursday, an American cameraman reporting on the epidemic from Liberia was diagnosed with Ebola. Ashoka Mukpo, 33, was on assignment for CNBC sister-company NBC News and will be flown back to the U.S. for treatment.

Summary: The Ebola epidemic could have “significant implications” for commodities, Deutsche Bank warned, as deaths top 3,300.


"In the very best interest of our customers, who have been affected by this malicious act, we are firmly committed to fully assisting these law enforcement and investigative authorities, without reserve," said Ashley Madison's parent company, Avid Life Media.

The group supposedly behind the attack, dubbed the Impact Team, released Ashley Madison internal emails following its first post of identifying customer information on 30 million users. Since then, some high-profile users and people registering with .gov email addresses have been ousted as customers.

Summary: After confidential customer information was posted online in a hack attack, Ashley Madison announced a sizable bounty.


With James Ferraro, one never knows if “subtlety” is just another conceptual parameter he’s tweaking for our (or his) entertainment. The prolific producer (who’s released several albums and mixtapes under his own name as well as the monikers Bodyguard and Bebetune$ since 2011’s critic-tickling/stumping “Far Side Virtual”) finds many gentle ways of fusing his fixations here — uncertain strings flow beneath broken R&B tropes, and Ferraro’s off-tune vocals wander from their Auto-Tuned comfort zone, sounding lost. Less gentle are the outbursts of media chatter. Like “Virtual,” “NYC” is dotted with product placement — several tracks open with a robotic voices deadpanning brand names, but the effect is sinister. Clipped sirens howl at the outset of “Stuck 1,” and “City Smells” interrupts itself with a birdsong of “breaking news” and savaged 9/11 newscasts. The lulling confusion of “NYC” uncannily enacts the unstable identity of the city itself. Ferraro paints it as aggressive, oppressive, and unknowable; then offers an audio tour of its darker depths, rats and all. (Out Tuesday)

Summary: With James Ferraro, one never knows if “subtlety” is just another conceptual parameter he’s tweaking for our (or his) entertainment. The prolific producer (who has released several albums and mixtapes under his own name as well as the monikers Bodyguard and Bebetune$ since his critic-tickling/stumping 2011 album “Far Side Virtual”) finds many gentle ways of fusing his fixations here — ambient, uncertain strings flow beneath subjugated R&B tropes, and Ferraro’s off-tune vocals wander from their usual ironically Auto-tuned comfort zone, sounding lost and wild. Less gentle (and likely intentionally so) are the outbursts of media chatter.


Jarryd Hayne says he's "never felt so alive" after securing his place on the San Francisco 49ers roster for the upcoming NFL season.

The boy from Minto faced a nervous wait as the 6am (AEST) roster deadline came and went without confirmation from his team, before Hayne himself broke the news in a tweet.

Speaking via phone conference alongside his coach Jim Tomsula, Hayne said he had been told of his place on roster by text message while sightseeing with his family.

"For them to see something different in me and want to explore that option, it’s really those guys I need to thank, for opening the door and giving me the opportunity," Hayne said.

"This whole journey was never about making a roster or being on a team.

"It was about giving myself an opportunity. I wanted to take a risk, put myself out there and put my faith in action.

"Faith without action is dead.

"This whole journey, I’ve never felt so alive."

WATCH: The highlights of Hayne's journey so far

Tomsula paid tribute to Hayne's remarkable achievement.

"Making an NFL roster, period, is an outstanding accomplishment," he said.

Jarryd Hayne has made the 49ers roster. (AAP)

"Obviously his situation is unique and I can’t say enough about his approach, the kind of person he is.

"He’s a world class athlete."

But Tomsula warned the hardest journey lay ahead for his recruit.

"The NFL can be an unforgiving business, you’re playing for your job every day," he said.

"It’s not like you make a milestone and now you’re there.

"The way I like to put it is, now you’ve got yourself to the starting line.

Hayne admitted there had been times he had struggled as he sought to learn a new game.

"I am over the moon," he said.

"I didn’t just wake up and want to be an NFL player one day.

"It was a long process with a lot of dark days and a lot of joyous days.

"Whenever I start talking about what I’ve been through, the emotions get stirred up."

The "Hayne Plane" had impressed in four preseason matches for the 49ers as a punt and kick returner and back-up running back, with the athleticism which made him a household name in Australia again on show.

A brutal shoulder charge on a San Diego Chargers defender in Friday further cemented the belief among NFL experts the 27-year-old belonged in the foreign code.

Hayne led the 49ers and was second among all NFL players for rushing yards in the preseason with 175, with his seven-yard average a league best.

The announcement comes nearly 11 months after Hayne stunned the Australian sporting world by announcing he would leave the NRL after 176 games for Parramatta and 20 Origins for NSW.

Hayne's 49ers begin their season against the Minnesota Vikings on Tuesday at 12.20pm at San Francisco's new $1.3 billion Levi's Stadium.

"It always works out": Hayne uploaded this family picture to Instagram in the wake of the announcent. (Instagram)

Do you have any news photos or videos?

Summary: Former rugby league star and NFL convert Jarryd Hayne has made the San Franciso 49ers final 53-man roster for the upcoming season.


Eliza Coupe and Darin Olien

12/25/2014 AT 08:00 AM EST

It's been the happiest of holidays for

with a Christmas Eve wedding in New Zealand, she and Darin Olien

"My SuperBride @theelizacoupe and I enjoying the Holidays New Zealand style! #Married #BeautifulWife #XmasEve #SuperLife #NewZealand #LOVE," Olien, the founder of lifestyle brand SuperLife, wrote, sharing a photo of the smiling pair.

Coupe, 33, added her own photo showing off the couple's rings, captioning it, "Happy Holidays! Love, The Oliens."

This is the second marriage for the

Summary: The Benched star and Happy Endings alum wed Wednesday in New Zealand


It is clear to Cramer that the Communist Party is cutting down on conspicuous consumption. Thus, the big casino trips to Macau are now a thing of the past. In his perspective, that kind of a dropoff doesn't happen unless it is mandated.

The slide in jewelry, liquor and chocolate sales could all stem from the government in China, too, as Cramer thinks this could all be related to a crackdown on government corruption. For instance, if someone wanted to bribe an official, what better way to do so than with a nice bottle of Johnnie Walker Black or an expensive Richemont watch?

"This all seems government led to me, not consumer led," Cramer said. (Tweet This)

In the end, Cramer thinks that the Chinese Communist Party's anti-corruption and anti-conspicuous reforms are starting to have an impact, and that is the problem. For the first time in decades they have stopped acting like capitalists and started embracing communism.

This concept left many questions in Cramer's head. Did Alibaba know this crackdown was coming and strategically choose a good time to come public? Could the spending slowdown also impact other parts of the economy that the U.S. sells to?

That's a tough question for Cramer, because Apple is still doing very well in China, and Starbucks just confirmed that business is strong there, as well. Plus, there are conflicting numbers coming out on Chinese trade, such as commodity companies seeing a slow down but the Baltic Freight index is up 40 percent.

---------------------------------------------------------- Read more from Mad Money with Jim Cramer Cramer Remix: Before strolling with Johnnie Walker Cramer: Secret to unlock biotech riches Cramer: Skepticism triggered the rally ----------------------------------------------------------

This makes China the biggest conundrum in the world right now. It's impossible to figure out.

It is clear to Cramer that there is a larger, fluid story developing in China. He suspects that the next leg of growth—or slowdown—for the world will stem from the Chinese economy.

"After this week's downbeat news, I'm nervous about a turn. We have to stay tuned, but when chocolate sales turn down, I say you can't afford to be too bullish about this former juggernaut of an economy," Cramer added.

Summary: Jim Cramer learned some very disturbing news about China on Friday, which leads him to believe the slowdown is not consumer led.


(Adds comment from lawyer representing banks, details from ruling, background on case)

Sept 15 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Tuesday certified a class action against Target Corp brought by several banks over the retailer's massive data breach in 2013.

U.S. District Judge Paul Magnuson in St. Paul, Minnesota, said the banks could pursue their claims together over the breach, which compromised at least 40 million credit cards during the holiday season.

Target did not immediately comment on the decision.

In a statement, Charles Zimmerman, one of the lead lawyers representing the banks, said, "This important ruling brings financial institutions one step closer to collectively holding Target accountable for its unprecedented data breach."

The decision, which makes a settlement with the banks more likely, comes four weeks after Target agreed to pay as much as $67 million to financial institutions that issue Visa Inc cards, in a deal struck directly with the card network.

Earlier this year, a proposed $19 million settlement with MasterCard Inc fell through when not enough banks accepted the agreement.

It is not clear how many Visa card issuers accepted the terms of that deal by the deadline of Sept. 4.

Zimmerman has said the Visa deal, like the failed MasterCard settlement, does not fully reimburse banks for their losses and was negotiated without input from the plaintiffs.

The Target breach was one in a series of high-profile data security failures to hit major retailers, including Home Depot Inc, and Staples Inc.

(Reporting by Joseph Ax in New York; Additional reporting by Nandita Bose in Chicago; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli and Andrew Hay)

Summary: Sept 15- A U.S. judge on Tuesday certified a class action against Target Corp brought by several banks over the retailer's massive data breach in 2013.. Earlier this year, a proposed $19 million settlement with MasterCard Inc fell through when not enough banks accepted the agreement. Zimmerman has said the Visa deal, like the failed MasterCard settlement, does...


With the Federal Reserve opting on Thursday to not hike interest rates for the first time in nine years, it looks like policymakers will wait until next year to make a move, a former New York Fed executive vice president, Dino Kos, said Friday.

"I don't see how enough changes for them to move by December, so we're in 2016 looking at the same factors," Kos, head of regulatory affairs at CLS Bank International, told CNBC's "Squawk Box" in an interview.

The Fed's dovish policy statement, released Thursday afternoon, cited global economic and market volatility concerns, which were explained further during central bank chief Janet Yellen's news conference.

Read More Boockvar: Fed data nitpicking driving monetary policy

"It's not what I was hoping for, but it is what I expected," Kos said. "You've got to start at some point and this is a pretty good time to start actually, given we've been in a recovery for six years. Growth is OK. To me, the indicators are looking pretty good."

Fed policymakers pared back their projections for economic growth to 2.3 percent for next year. The Fed pegged inflation at 1.7 percent in 2016, still below its 2 percent target, even as the unemployment rate falls to 4.8 percent.

"When is the Fed going to move rates?" Kos said, "The sort of stock answer is the same answer we've had for the last five years: six months from now."

"We've had one small piece of the exit, which was the taper, and even that took a long time to actually get to," he said.

The Fed ended its multiyear quantitative easing bond purchases a year ago next month, but it's been left with a balance sheet of $4.5 trillion.

Summary: "I don't see how enough changes for them to move by December," former New York Fed Executive Vice President Dino Kos tells CNBC.


Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton. (AAP)

Frontrunner Hillary Clinton has stretched her lead over fellow White House hopeful Bernie Sanders in the race for the Democratic nomination after impressing in the party's first televised debate, a poll shows.

Vice President Joe Biden, the centre of feverish speculation over his possible entry in the fight to be the next US president, sits third in the NBC/Wall Street Journal poll.

But it is Clinton who is firmly in the lead, 20 points ahead of Sanders, with Clinton getting the backing of 49 per cent of respondents, up from 42 per cent last month.

Support for Sanders, the only genuine challenger to ex-secretary of state Clinton, is down from 35 per cent to 29 per cent, according to the poll.

The poll offers scant encouragement for Biden, with support marginally down at 15 per cent.

The survey, which included 400 people who said they would vote in a Democratic primary, was conducted October 15-18.

Clinton's performance in the October 13 debate was widely seen as giving her campaign renewed momentum.

She cut a calm and confident figure as she parried jabs by Sanders, an independent senator, and three other hopefuls, who challenged her on everything from political U-turns to gun control and military intervention in the Middle East.

Summary: After impressing in the Democratic Party's first televised debate, Hillary Clinton has stretched her lead over fellow White House hopeful Bernie Sanders.


"I'm absolutely thrilled. It's wonderful," said Christophe Clement, the trainer of Tonalist. "He trained great, he looked great before the race. I'm absolutely delighted that he won.

"I wasn't sure he won. We actually thought he finished second, but we got lucky, he won."

After winning the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness Stakes last month, California Chrome was bidding to become just the 12th horse - and the first since Affirmed in 1978 - to achieve the rare feat, regarded as the ultimate challenge in American racing.

An unlikely contender who was bred by a factory worker and a scientist for just $10,500, California Chrome's fairy tale success story endeared him to millions of Americans who were instantly captivated by his rags to riches tale and the prospect that he could be the chosen one to break the Triple Crown drought.

Read MoreMoney Pony: 'Chrome' could break betting records

But it was not to be and instead of becoming the 12th Triple Crown winner, he became the 12th horse since Affirmed to win the first two legs then come unstuck in the Belmont, which is known as the Test of the Champion.

His chances of winning were hampered at the start when he jumped out sideways and clipped the horse next to him, Matterhorn. When he returned to his stable after the race he had a small cut on his right front hoof.

"It's a long hard ride on these young horses and that's why the Triple Crown is so tough to win," said California Chrome's assistant trainer Alan Sherman.

"The horse tried, that's all I can ask for. He took me on the ride of my life and I'll always have that in my heart for that horse."

Part of the challenge for the potential winners is that not only do they have to race three times in five weeks on different tracks over distance distances, but often against fresher opposition, which infuriated California Chrome's co-owner Steve Coburn.

"This is his third great big race. These other horses, they sat them out and tried to upset the apple cart. I'm 61 years old and I'll never see another Triple Crown winner because of the way they do this," an angry Coburn told NBC.

"It's not fair to these horses that have been in the game since day one. I look at it this way, if you can't make enough points to get in the Kentucky Derby, you can't run the other two races.

"It's all or nothing. This is not fair to these horses who've been trying their guts out. This is a coward's way out. Our horse had a target on its back."

Summary: California Chrome's bid to complete the Triple Crown ended in disappointment when he finished fourth in the Belmont Stakes on Saturday.


Lamar Odom and Khloé Kardashian

Courtesy Khloe Kardashian; Inset: Getty

11/02/2015 AT 09:30 AM EST

brought the Halloween spirit to

On Saturday, the reality star

a photo of a plastic jack-o-lantern bucket and assortment of candy with what appears to be medical equipment in the background.

"Happy Halloween," she posted alongside pumpkin emojis.

Meanwhile, her sisters celebrated the holiday in costume, with

recycling her 2013 Met Gala gown to go as herself and

and, the next time, a

Kardashian, 31, has stuck by Odom ever since he was

in a Nevada brothel Oct. 13. The former basketball player is currently being treated at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. On Friday,

that his kidneys are functioning properly and he is off dialysis.

The stars have called off their nearly finalized divorce as Odom, 35, recovers.

"There is a very long road ahead of [Lamar]," Kardashian says in

. "He has to walk that road by himself, and, most importantly, he has to want to walk that road. I will be there supporting him every step of the way."

Summary: Khloé Kardashian tweeted a photo of a jack-o-lantern in what appears to be a hospital room


* China copper imports at 350,000 T, flat on month, up on year

* Euro zone Q2 GDP revised up to 1.5 pct y-o-y

* Chinese stocks jump nearly 3 pct

(Adds details, quotes; previous MELBOURNE)

LONDON, Sept 8 (Reuters) - Copper surged on Tuesday, boosted by data showing healthy Chinese imports and a bounce in hard-hit equity markets in the world's top metals consumer.

"Base metals got lifted up by the equities market rally and Chinese unwrought copper imports remained healthy in August," said Xiao Fu, head of commodity market strategy at Bank of China International in London.

Announcements of production curtailments, such as Glencore's on Monday, added to the more positive sentiment, but this may not last ahead of a Sept. 16-17 Federal Reserve meeting, she added.

"Market anticipation of a Fed rate hike could introduce some macro headwinds, so I don't think any rallies from current levels will be sustained."

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange had climbed 2.4 percent to $5,270 a tonne by 1000 GMT after ending a little firmer in the previous session.

Copper has rebounded about 9 percent since touching a six-year low of $4,855 a tonne on Aug. 28, largely on fears of a hard landing in China.

China's overall imports shrank far more than expected in August, adding to global investors' concerns that the world's second-largest economy may be slowing more sharply than expected.

The country's copper imports, though, were flat to July and up 2.9 percent from a year earlier at 350,000 tonnes.

"It's a positive sign. Within any recovery you want to see signs of a pick up in demand, a firming in premiums. We're seeing those imports pick up so that's relatively positive for copper," said Jonathan Barratt, chief investment officer at Sydney's Ayers Alliance.

Also helping to support copper were a series of supply cuts. London-listed mining giant Glencore said on Monday it planned to suspend 400,000 tonnes of output at African mines over the next 18 months.

Data also showed the euro zone economy grew faster than expected in the second quarter, mainly because of faster growth in Italy and Greece.

China's aluminium exports dropped again, after global premiums collapsed this year, making shipments to global markets less competitive. Global prices had been depressed by a flood of semi-manufactured exports out of the country.

LME aluminium added 1 percent to $1,616 a tonne while zinc gained 1.5 percent to $1,798 and nickel rose 1.7 percent to $9,920.

(Additional reporting by Melanie Burton in Melbourne)

Summary: LONDON, Sept 8- Copper surged on Tuesday, boosted by data showing healthy Chinese imports and a bounce in hard-hit equity markets in the world's top metals consumer.  "Base metals got lifted up by the equities market rally and Chinese unwrought copper imports remained healthy in August," said Xiao Fu, head of commodity market strategy at Bank of China International...


The average price for a gallon of gas in Massachusetts fell 2 cents last week to $2.04, according to AAA Northeast. New numbers will be released Monday.

General Assembly is holding a coding workshop for beginners that will focus on the function of HTML and CSS. Attendees should bring a laptop with Sublime Text installed. Monday, 6:30 to 9 p.m., General Assembly, 51 Melcher St., Boston. $45.

David Fernandes, an independent contractor of Viridian Energy, is organizing an event for homeowners to learn about solar energy options in Massachusetts. Monday, 7 to 8:30 p.m., Red’s Kitchen and Tavern, 131 Newbury St., Peabody. Free.

The Professional Speakers Academy and Mastermind, a meet-up group for communication professionals, is organizing a public speaking workshop. The event includes networking. Tuesday, 6:30 to 8 p.m., Brookline Police Department, 350 Washington St., Brookline. Free.

TechHub Boston Inc., a group for entrepreneurs, is meeting for an introductory public relations seminar sponsored by BigFish PR. This event is only open to TechHub members. Wednesday, 2 to 5 p.m., TechHub, 212 Elm St., Third Floor, Somerville. Free for TechHub members.

Summary: Gas prices, coding workshop, and more notable events and things to know.


Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant; Sylvester Stallone in Creed

Twentieth Century FOX; Warner Bros.

01/14/2016 AT 08:30 AM EST

Award season moved into the homestretch on Thursday with the announcement of the 88th annual

proved to be the season's big comeback story, earning a Best Supporting Actor nod for his beloved turn in

– and receiving an excited round of applause from the crowd – alongside heavy favorites

leads the Oscar race with 12 nominations, while

follows hot on its heels with 10 nods – both including best picture.

And while there were some

, perhaps the biggest controversy comes from the lack of diversity in this year's nominations. Not a single actor of color was nominated for an award, and the buzzed about

missed out on a best picture nod.

But with snubs also comes a few pleasant surprises. Matt Damon earned a well-desvered spot on the best actor in a leading role list for

director, Lenny Abrahamson, was recognized for his work on the emotional film.

The Oscars – to be presented Feb. 28 – honor the year's top films in 24 categories.

"Til It Happens to You,"

will once again take the stage as

of the Oscars telecast. Rock, 50, hosted the awards ceremony back in 2005, where he received mostly positive reviews for the gig.

But like most hosts, he did manage to ruffle a few feathers by taking some jabs at the entertainment industry – expect a return to form as he takes the stage this year.

The Oscars will air live on ABC from the Dolby Theatre at the Hollywood & Highland Center on Sunday, Feb. 28, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.

Next up: The 22nd annual Screen Actors Guild Awards on Saturday, Jan. 30.

Stay with PEOPLE for complete awards season coverage.

Summary: The Oscars honor the year's top films in 24 categories and will be held on Feb. 28


02/18/2016 AT 11:00 AM EST

was back home enjoying some fun in the sun.

The Auckland local was in New Zealand on Feb. 8 with friend Justin Warren, a promotions director at Universal Music. Hitting Piha beach in a red scalloped bikini and several gold bangles, Lorde, 19, was all smiles while she and Warren goofed around in the surf.

The pair was spotted splashing in the waves, with Lorde clutching tight to her bandeau top as she got pummeled by the Pacific. After some time in the water, both retreated to their side-by-side towels.

Warren snacked while Lorde worked on her tan, popping on sunglasses as she laid on her back and chatted with her pal.

Warren previously accompanied Lorde on the red carpet at the New Zealand Music Awards in November, sparking romance rumors. At the time, Warren slammed the speculation to

, stating "Ella and I have worked together for years and we're good friends. Any rumors of us being 'a pair' are ridiculous."

He added, "Ella has a really busy year ahead of her and we'll be spending more time together as plans for the next Lorde record unfold." Lorde (real name Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor) hasn't been spotted with her longtime love James Lowe in several months, but has kept decidedly mum on the state of their relationship. The Grammy-winner was with the photographer as far back as 2013. A rep for Lorde did not immediately reply to request for comment.

Summary: Warren joined the Auckland local on Feb. 8 for a New Zealand beach day


Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz spoke a day after a senior Hamas activist returned to Gaza after 15 years of exile, using the Palestinian-operated crossing. It was not clear whether Mofaz's threat was linked to the return of Fadel Zahar, brother of Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar.

Fadel Zahar had been deported by Israel to Lebanon in 1991. On Tuesday, he entered Gaza through the Rafah terminal on the Gaza-Egypt border, which is operated by Palestinians under the supervision of European monitors.

Israel has expressed concern that Palestinian resistance fighters and weapons would enter Gaza once the Palestinians are in charge of the border. Israel withdrew from the coastal strip in the summer and closed Rafah as part of the pullout. Rafah reopened last week, as part of a US-brokered deal on new border arrangements.

"They have the right to return to their home whenever they want" Sami Abu Zuhri,HamasÂ spokesmanHamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said he did not know whether other Hamas leaders planned to return from exile. "They have the right to return to their home whenever they want," Abu Zuhri said.

"They have the right to return to their home whenever they want" Sami Abu Zuhri,HamasÂ spokesman

Speeding up the flow As part of the arrangements, Israel is also to expedite the flow of Palestinian passengers and cargo at the Karni and Erez crossings between Gaza and Israel.

"If it does not improve and the Palestinians do not cooperate (in Rafah) we will close the Erez and Karni crossings," Mofaz said on Wednesday, during a tour of the area.

"They will become international crossings in all senses and I really hope that the Palestinians understand the significance of this step," Mofaz said.

Such a step would mean the West Bank and Gaza would no longer be part of a customs union with Israel, a step that could devastate the struggling Palestinian economy.

Summary: Israel's defence minister has threatened to shut down crossings between the Gaza Strip and <?xml:namespace prefix =


02/28/2016 AT 12:05 PM EST

The star, who is currently suing her former producer

, alleging that he emotionally, physically and verbally abused her for a decade, is on the islands with her boyfriend Brad Ashenfelter. The couple was

Kesha, 28, is currently sporting blue hair and looked comfy in an oversized t-shirt and sweatpants as she strolled with and embraced Ashenfelter, Saturday.

The "We R Who We R" singer also took to Instagram on Saturday, sharing a photo of herself strumming away on a guitar while wearing a bathrobe.

"Can't sleep," she wrote. "Just up all day all night writing. My mind is possessed. I have so much to say right now."

In another photo, Kesha laid in bed wearing the same robe, accompanied by her two cats.

"My babies haven't left my side," she wrote. "I swear they know what's going on. Animals literally make EVERYTHING better."

Kesha's allegations of abuse, and, at a hearing last week, a New York Supreme Court judge shut down the singer's request for a

that would allow her to record music outside of her contracts with Sony and the producer.

Sony attorney Scott A. Edelman told PEOPLE on Friday that the company is "not in a position" to terminate Kesha's contract, as her deal is through Dr. Luke's Kemosabe Records. While Kesha does have the option to record without any involvement from Dr. Luke, her legal team has said that she'll still be contractually tied to the music veteran.

"All I ever wanted was to be able to make music without being afraid, scared, or abused," Kesha said

, Wednesday. "This case has never been about a renegotiation of my record contract – it was never about getting a bigger, or a better deal. This is about being free from my abuser. I would be willing to work with Sony if they do the right thing and break all ties that bind me to my abuser. But at this point, this issue is bigger than just about me."

Summary: Kesha is currently suing producer Dr. Luke, alleging that he emotionally, physically and verbally abused her for a decade


03/08/2016 AT 11:15 AM EST

A former Marine charged with strangling two Indiana women to death is facing murder charges in the deaths of five more women, PEOPLE confirms.

, 44, of Gary, was arrested in 2014 and charged with strangling

. Police said then that Vann told them where he could find the bodies of

He was charged with murder in the five other cases on Monday, Gary police Lt. Dawn Westerfield tells PEOPLE.

Westerfield adds that Vann was also charged in Lake County Superior Court with 10 additional counts including rape, criminal confinement and attempted murder on Monday.

Among the other victims are Teaira Batey, 28, Christine Williams, 36. Three of the victims remain unidentified.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in each of the murders, the

The 44-year-old told police that he began killing after serving five years in a Texas prison for rape in 2009, the

"I feel I shouldn't have went to prison the first time," he said.

Police discovered Hardy's body in a Hammond motel room and connected Vann to her through an escort service website. A probable cause affidavit then stated that police identified Vann from surveillance video outside the motel.

The other victim's bodies were found in abandoned buildings in Gary.

Summary: Police say Darren Van faces 10 additional counts including rape and criminal confinement


Bernie Sanders in Vatican City

04/15/2016 AT 06:55 PM EDT

Even the Eternal City is feeling the Bern.

made a whirlwind, 24-hour trip to Rome on Friday, where he found himself in the international spotlight as he was greeted by cheering fans bearing signs reading "

Although Sanders didn't get to meet

as he had hoped, the Vermont senator praised the pontiff in his 10-minute address at a Vatican conference on social justice, and later in an impromptu briefing with reporters from around the world.

"I believe that the pope has played an historic and an incredible role in trying to create a new world economy and a new vision for the people of our planet," Sanders told reporters shortly after delivering his speech, titled "The Urgency of a Moral Economy," to the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.

"What he is saying is that we cannot continue to go forward when so few have so much and when greed is such a destructive force, not only in the U.S. but throughout the world," he continued.

"I have long been a supporter of the economic vision of Pope Francis. His views on climate change have played a profound â¦ role in turning many people's minds around about the urgency of the moment in terms of dealing with climate change."

The senator's visit to Rome comes just four days before the critical New York primary, and one day after his

Sanders criticized Clinton for her stance on fossil fuels on Thursday, so he

when he boarded a private charter later that night for his quick detour from the campaign trail to Rome. (Private planes regularly come under fire as environmentally irresponsible, but chartered jets are commonly used by presidential campaigns and the White House for ferrying large staffs and press contingents on itineraries that crisscross time zones and change with the political winds.)

The senator, who has famously flown coach throughout much of his campaign, was accompanied on a standard Delta charter to Rome by his wife, Jane, and members of the press. (A source tells PEOPLE Sanders has been flying a charter with staff and the press corps for months.)

Ahead of his trip, Sanders said repeatedly that he hoped to visit with Francis. The pontiff apologized for being unable to meet Sanders, saying it would have conflicted with his trip to meet migrants on the Greek island of Lesbos.

Summary: "I have long been a supporter of the economic vision of Pope Francis," Bernie Sanders told reporters in Rome


MINNEAPOLIS — An autopsy began Friday to determine what caused the death of the iconic musician Prince, though officials said it could take days or even weeks before results are publicly released.

Prince was found unresponsive Thursday morning in an elevator at his suburban Minneapolis compound. The local sheriff said deputies responded to a medical call at 9:43 a.m. that morning but that first-responders couldn’t revive the 57-year-old musician. He was pronounced dead at 10:07 a.m.

The Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office was handling the autopsy, but the agency doesn’t plan to release any preliminary information, agency spokeswoman Martha Weaver said Friday. She said it could take several days or even weeks for tests to be completed and the office will wait to release findings until all the information is in.

Prince had canceled concerts in Atlanta because he wasn’t feeling well. He performed a makeup concert April 14 in that city, apologizing to the crowd shortly after coming on stage for the earlier cancellation.

While talking to the crowd between songs, he joked about having been ‘‘under the weather,’’ giving a slight smile. His voice seemed a bit weak at times when he spoke, but he sounded fine when singing during the 80-minute show, which featured ‘‘Nothing Compares 2 U’’ and his finale, ‘‘Baby, I'm A Star.’’

The bridge was one of several sites around the world to honor the music icon with his signature color.

He sat at his piano for most of the show, but stood up at times to pound the keys and walked around the piano a couple of times, soaking up cheers.

Prince had struggled with hip problems and childhood epilepsy. His former percussionist, Sheila E., told ABC’s ‘‘Good Morning America’’ on Friday that Prince damaged his hips while performing, saying he jumped off risers while wearing high heels during his ‘‘Purple Rain’’ days and that ‘‘it damaged parts of his body.’’ Prince was seen in recent years using a cane.

Prince revealed in a 2009 interview with Tavis Smiley that he was ‘‘born epileptic’’ and had seizures when he was young. It’s unclear if his epilepsy carried into adulthood.

Prince, a Jehovah’s Witness, had a reputation for clean living. In 2009, he told an interviewer with the New York Times that he didn’t do drugs ‘‘or I'd give you a joint’’ to share while they listened to music.

After the Atlanta performance, Prince hosted a dance party on April 16 at his Paisley Park compound in Minnesota.

Jeremiah Freed, who runs the website drfunkenberry.com and who got to know Prince after writing about him over the years, said he last saw Prince at the dance party. Freed said he believed Prince held the party to show everyone he was fine.

Freed said Prince made a brief appearance but that he didn’t have one-on-one time with the musician that night. Freed said the artist showed off a new purple piano he had received as a gift, as well as a purple guitar, but seemed upset about the reports of an illness.

‘‘When he had to talk about the stories going on, he didn’t seem too pleased. It was kind of like, ‘I'm here. I'm good,'’’ Freed said, adding that Prince told the crowd: ‘‘Just wait a few days before saying your prayers.’’

Lars Larson, a 37-year-old Minneapolis man who worked security for Prince and at Paisley Park events for about six years, said he attended the same party. Larson said the singer briefly appeared on stage and spoke to the crowd before standing by the sound board for 20 minutes then disappearing for the night.

‘‘He seemed great. He looked like Prince,’’ he said. ‘‘The whole point of the show on Saturday was to show he was doing all right.’’

Summary: Authorities say it could take days or even weeks before the public learns the cause of the music icon’s death.


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Summary: Prince Rogers Nelson was pronounced dead at the age of 57 at his Paisley Park residence in Minnesota.


U.S. efforts to protect its steel industry will not solve the sector’s fundamental problems, which stem from past protectionist measures, China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Saturday.

The comments were posted on the ministry’s website following a decision on Friday by the U.S. International Trade Commission to continue probing imports of certain steel products from 12 countries, including China and Korea.

The United States slapped Chinese steelmakers with final import duties of 522% on cold-rolled flat steel on Tuesday after finding their products were being sold in the U.S. market below cost and with unfair subsidies.

Donald Trump’s Trade War May Be Underway: New China Steel Tariffs

However, the Chinese statement said 30 years of protection and subsidies have distorted the U.S. steel market, resulting in a loss of competitiveness.

In addition, the majority of Chinese steel exports to the U.S. are molded steel and flat steel products which the U.S. does not produce, and therefore have not resulted in real harm to its producers, the statement said.

Currently the global steel industry is facing difficult times and over capacity, and countries need to work together to address the problem rather than resorting to protectionist measures, the Ministry statement said.

China’s Coal Production is Down

China, which accounts for half the world’s steel output, is under fire after its exports hit a record 112 million tons last year, with rivals claiming that Chinese steelmakers have been undercutting them in their home markets.

In the four months to April, China’s steel exports rose risen nearly 7.6% from the same period last year to 36.9 million tons.

China’s own steel sector is facing deep problems following a sharp slowdown in real estate and construction which is only beginning to abate.

Why Cutting Carbon Emissions in India and China Will Be Tough

The nation has pledged to shut down significant portions of excess capacity and lay off workers, but some analysts say the policy response so far has been incoherent.

In December, the Ministry of Finance cut export taxes on some types of steel products in a move analysts said could worsen global oversupply.

The Ministry recently reaffirmed that export tax rebates for some steel exports would remain in place.

Summary: China claims protectionism has made U.S. steel less competitive. Or it could be the global glut.


Federal regulators postponed a long-awaited decision on whether to approve Sarepta Therapeutics Inc.’s drug to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a fatal muscle-wasting disease that strikes about one in 3,500 boys.

The news, disclosed Wednesday by Cambridge-based Sarepta, sent the company’s stock up almost 27 percent. Investors saw the delay as a sign the Food and Drug Administration might approve the Duchenne drug, overruling the recommendation of an FDA advisory committee. Sarepta gained $4.91 to $23.35, though it remains about 40 percent below where it started the year.

The company gave no indication of when it expected the FDA to rule on the drug candidate, called eteplirsen, which seeks to treat about 13 percent of Duchenne patients who have a specific genetic mutation. FDA officials declined to discuss their timetable, saying they were prohibited by law from discussing pending drug applications.

Despite the investor enthusiasm, patient advocates took a wait-and-see attitude. Hundreds of patients and family members traveled to the FDA advisory committee meeting in Maryland last month to argue for approval of the drug, with some boys who took the drug in clinical trials testifying that it helped them walk and feed themselves.

“Considering the thousands of lives that could be affected by a decision on eteplirsen, we understand and appreciate the care the FDA is taking in its review of this innovative drug,” said Debra Miller, founder of the advocacy group CureDuchenne, which provided early funding for the development of eteplirsen.

“While we can certainly wait for the FDA’s decision, we cannot afford to lose another generation of boys to Duchenne because there weren’t treatment options,” she said. “It is urgent that we get the right combination of approved treatments for our boys.”

Despite emotional testimony by patients last month, the advisory panel, made up of medical experts and others, narrowly declined to recommend approval of the Sarepta drug.

The panel concluded in a 7-6 vote that Sarepta’s clinical study failed to meet the FDA’s standard for accelerated approval. In a separate 7-3 vote, with three members abstaining, it determined the study was poorly designed and didn’t prove the drug candidate was effective.

Some independent FDA watchers and backers of rival drug candidates had warned that an approval of eteplirsen, overruling the advisory committee, would have signaled that the agency could be swayed by patient testimony despite questions from regulators about a drug’s effectiveness.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy has no cure, and drugs on the market now only treat symptoms. Boys with the disease typically lose the ability to walk by age 12 and don’t live past age 25. The FDA in January rejected an experimental treatment developed by California biotech BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc.

Summary: Investors saw the delay as a sign the Food and Drug Administration might overrule the recommendation of its advisory committee and approve the company’s drug to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy.