FORTUNE — Airbnb is having some big headaches in New York, with state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman subpoenaing information on the service’s 15,000 or so New York City renters. Among the issues are possible tax evasion and certain renters being evicted by Airbnb-loving landlords.

Without specifically mentioning the subpoena, Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky wrote a blog post defending the company’s NYC business. It said, in part:

“Our 15,000 hosts are regular people from all five boroughs. Eighty-seven percent of them rent the homes in which they live. On average, they are at the median income level and more than half of them depend on Airbnb to help them stay in their home.”

This reminded me a bit of a comment Chesky made during Fortune BrainstormTech in July 2012, when he claimed that the company had helped “thousands” of homeowners avoid foreclosure. Upon follow-up, he admitted it was based on anecdotal extrapolation. And when I asked the company for those anecdotes, it could only find a few.

So Chesky’s new statement set off some mental alarm bells, and I asked the company for its basis.

A spokesman replied that Airbnb recently surveyed its NYC renters. Included in there was the following question: “Has hosting helped you stay in your home?”

I’m told that over half responded affirmatively, although no word yet on specific numbers (including how many of the 15,000 hosts participated in the survey). The spokesman says that the company does plan to release the data at some point, but has not yet determined exactly how or when it plans to do so.

Sign up for Dan Primack’s daily email newsletter on deals and deal-makers: GetTermSheet.com

Summary: Airbnb says it is helping New Yorkers stay in their homes.


It seemed like a sure recipe for success: A chain emerged that focused on healthy fast food, just as the “fast casual” trend was taking off, led by one of the area’s franchising visionaries, a guy responsible for making Boston Chicken a national brand.

But George Naddaff never seemed to get much traction for UFood Grill, and the company, based in Newton at the time, slumped into bankruptcy in late 2012. All of UFood’s stand-alone stores eventually closed, leaving just 15 smaller locations spread among airports, schools and Air Force bases.

UFood’s potential hasn’t gone away: Certainly the appetite for healthy fast food is as strong as it has ever been.

That’s why Sal Rincione is determined to revive UFood’s fortunes. Since joining as chief executive in March, he’s been busy assembling his management team at the new headquarters in Burlington — the group consists of some old UFood execs, and some new — and revamping the menu and look of the stores.

The goal is to cook up a concept that can be easily sold to franchisees, and in turn drive millennials through the doors. UFood is looking to open one corporate store, probably in Boston or Cambridge. But its expansion — Rincione wants to see 100 stores open in the next four years — will rely on the capital of other entrepreneurs.

“We have done so much in 90 days,” said Rincione, who said he helped open some 400 Red Mango locations as an executive with that yogurt shop chain. “We have a completely rolled out a new [UFood] prototype. We have a brand new equipment package. We’ve lessoned the development costs.”

UFood has more flexibility by staying privately held, for now, and not publicly traded as it was under Naddaff. Other improvements: a growth strategy that’s geographically focused on the East Coast, a streamlined food prep system to improve order turnaround times. As far as the menu goes, Rincione replaced the bison burgers with grass-fed Angus beef, took pork off the menu, and made the salad bowls more customizable. At least the “UnFries” – they’re baked, not fried – haven’t changed.

“All of these billion-dollar companies are scrambling to change their menus to healthier options [but] we already have that,” Rincione said. “It’s a new day and age for this brand, and I think it’s going to be a really great ride.”

Summary: Sal Rincione has been busy assembling his management team at the new UFood headquarters in Burlington — the group consists of some old UFood execs, and some new — and revamping the menu and look of the stores.


In fact, American tailoring companies often outsource work to family-owned workshops in places like China, Thailand, Hong Kong, South America and Vietnam. Only the most exclusive garments are made with expensive American labor.

This is a problem for men who love bespoke tailoring but are unwilling, or unable, to pay retail for it. For some of these buyers, traveling halfway around the world is not too much trouble to get what they want.

Read MoreSocks step out into the fashion limelight

"I go overseas twice a year to buy my suits," said Ari Zoldan, CEO of technology firm Quantum Networks in New York City. "There's a bespoke section in Koh Samui, Thailand, and one in Hong Kong. You can come home with a suitcase full of suits at a fraction of the price."

Zoldan said he and some of his business associates have been outfitting themselves this way for years. Even calculating the airfare (about $1,200) and travel expenses (about $800 or so, including hotels), American businessmen come out way ahead.

"In the U.S., a typical bespoke suit costs $3,000. In Hong Kong, it costs about $300. You're bypassing the middleman and buying direct. Personally, I would never spend more than $350 for a suit."

There's also the fun factor.

"In the Hong Kong shopping district, there are maybe a 100 stores lined up in a three-block radius," he said. "People come with pictures from magazines, you know, 'I want this cut, this style, this fabric.' It's great. It's just a fun experience. In between fittings, you spend your time on the beach."

There are other ways to sidestep the premium price of bespoke tailoring too, according to Zoldan.

"Certain tailors will come to your house or your office in New York," he said, "or some people hit the trunk shows at the big hotels. At trunk shows, tailors from Hong Kong and China invite customers, measure them and return six weeks later with the finished goods."

The cost of buying a suit at a trunk show prices is two- or three-times higher than buying direct, but still substantially lower than retail, he said.

Summary: The bespoke suit was once reserved for only wealthy connoisseurs, but custom tailoring is a growing trend among professionals, as prices fall.


On a weak day for the markets Wednesday, one of the year's worst performers proved to be a bright spot.

Lumber Liquidators was up more than 10 percent and traded 57,000 options contracts. That might not seem like a lot compared to the Apples and Facebooks of the world, but it is substantially more than its much larger home improvement store peers Home Depot and Lowe's.

The reason for all this activity is part of the continuing saga that began when a report on the CBS program "60 Minutes" said the company's Chinese-made laminate flooring contains high levels of formaldehyde, a known carcinogen, and violates the California Air Resources Board (more commonly known as CARB) standards for composite wood products.

This week the Consumer Product Safety Commission had a call regarding its investigation into Lumber Liquidators. The probe, which is in cooperation with the EPA, the CDC, the NIH and the FTC (among others) will ultimately help determine whether these concerns are overblown, or could lead to a recall or worse.

Wednesday's bullishness shrugs off efforts by politicians to make hay with this story and focused instead on the CPSC's comments that this investigation will take months not weeks. It would seem that investors believe that time may be on their side.

Summary: Options expert Michael Khouw gives a strategy for trading around one of the most volatile stocks today.


As the April 15 income tax filing deadline approaches, experts say it's the ideal time to turn your attention to ... next year's return. The benefits can be both financial and practical. (Tweet This)

Start by considering this year's outcome, said Barbara Weltman, a tax and business attorney based in Vero Beach, Florida. "Did you get a refund, or did you have to make a payment?" she said. "Make adjustments accordingly."

In the case of a refund, file a new W-4 with your employer's payroll department, increasing your number of personal allowances. That keeps more money in your paycheck year-round, nixing that interest-free loan to the government, she said. And if you owed? "Maybe you want more tax withheld, or you need to make estimated tax payments," said Weltman. That will result in a smaller bill come next April.

Read MoreThe worst states for IRS audits

Get your documents organized. Of the 16 hours the typical Form 1040-filing taxpayer spends preparing his return, according to the IRS, eight are spent on record-keeping. A little prep now could cut that time spent combing through credit card statements and tracking down documents next year.

"Anything tax-related, put it in one folder," said Tim Gagnon, an assistant academic specialist of accounting at Northeastern University's D'Amore-McKim School of Business. "People tend to lose them if they don't stick them all together."

Try to separate receipts and documents by category, at least, so you can easily tally classifications like medical expenses and charitable contributions, he said. There are also apps such as Shoeboxed and ItsDeductible to track mileage and expenses that could be tax deductible.

Summary: The average taxpayer spent 16 hours preparing his return this year. By planning ahead, you can spend less time and save money next year.


09/02/2015 AT 07:00 PM EDT

, whose titles include the Disney films

, has died at the age of 84.

Jones passed away from complications of Parkinson's disease on Tuesday,

His career began with a small role in

– a boxing drama. From there, he went on to appear in 46 movies throughout his career. Other films include

Aside from films, Jones starred in five Broadway productions and appeared on a number of television shows and specials.

Jones, who also served in the Navy during the Korean War, leaves behind his wife, Lory Basham Jones, three children, eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Summary: The actor died of complications from Parkinson's disease


What makes fecal transplants so interesting to medical professionals is that they appear to work—producing a 90 percent cure rate, according to experts. But as they begin to take greater hold, concerns are rising about the dangers of a potential black market for the treatment.

"Our biggest concern is the commercialization of fecal transplants and selling them for thousands of dollars," said Dr. Zain Kassam, chief medical officer for OpenBiome, a nonprofit group that provides hospitals with screened fecal matter for clinical use.

"That could lead to a black market where people are doing this for themselves," said Kassam.

Black marketeers and do-it-yourselfers may not be able to handle the process safely themselves because it's inherently dangerous to inject toxic waste from one person into another person.

Read MoreDeath & Dishonor: Crisis at the VA

One private company that hopes to provide the next generation of fecal transplant medication is taking on the business opportunity.

"We're a drug company, and we see this as a way to open new markets," said Lee Jones, CEO of Rebiotix, a biotech firm started in 2011 and funded by angel investors.

"Black markets are a concern, but more of a minor one," said Jones, who added that there are about 10 other companies like hers developing fecal treatments.

Summary: An unconventional but effective treatment against a deadly superbug is raising worries about a possible black market.


ONTARIO, Calif., Sept. 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Yuneec International, the world leader in electric aviation, today announced the launch of the Typhoon G for GoPro® users. The newest member of the Typhoon family is designed to provide smooth and stable aerial footage for the crisp GoPro® camera. In addition, the Typhoon G continues to deliver Yuneec's standard of being ready, easy and safe for consumers everywhere.

The Typhoon G has several smart features that ensure safety and ease of use, which consumers have come to expect from the Typhoon series. Features such as Geo-Fencing, Speed Control, Dynamic Return to Home, Follow Me and Watch Me are built into the Typhoon G system.

We believe the Typhoon G will be the aerial and ground imaging solution of choice for GoPro® enthusiasts because it provides the most stable imaging available," said Tian Yu, CEO of Yuneec USA.

The new GB203 3-axis self-stabilizing gimbal is designed especially for the GoPro® Hero3TM and above. It can be mounted on the Typhoon multicopter and on the SteadyGripTM ground handle - a device that ensures ground shots are as smooth as those taken from the air. While flying the Typhoon G, real-time image transmission is achieved with the included MK58 digital video downlink module and can be viewed on the ST10+ ground station. The SteadyGripTM uses up to a 6.4-inch mobile device as a display, and features camera pitch control for precise camera angle control on-the-go.

Typhoon G is made for the GoPro® user, and comes ready-to-fly in a color box with a ST10+ ground station, a handheld SteadyGripTM for stable ground footage, one battery and a smart charger for the suggested retail price of $999.99 USD. For more information visit www.yuneec.com.

About Yuneec InternationalFounded in 1999, Yuneec is the world leader in electric aviation. With hundreds of patents held, Yuneec's core technologies power manned aircraft, Typhoon and Tornado drones and its market-leading line of radio controlled aircraft for the hobby market. With offices in North America, Europe and Asia, Yuneec manufactures over one million units a year that are sold under OEM/ODM brands as well as the Typhoon brand of multicopters. The company's achievements include the introduction of the industry's first "Ready to Fly" radio controlled electric powered airplane, and the design and manufacture of market-leading radio controlled helicopters and microcopters.

GOPRO, HERO, the GOPRO logo, and the GoPro Be a Hero logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of GoPro Inc.

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/yuneec-international-adds-gopro-enabled-model-to-typhoon-family-of-drones-300136656.html

Summary: ONTARIO, Calif., Sept. 2, 2015/ PRNewswire/-- Yuneec International, the world leader in electric aviation, today announced the launch of the Typhoon G for GoPro ® users. The newest member of the Typhoon family is designed to provide smooth and stable aerial footage for the crisp GoPro ® camera. The new GB203 3- axis self-stabilizing gimbal is designed especially for...


Why should investors trust Bernanke? After all, the erstwhile Fed head missed the real estate-related credit bubble and its aftermath. And he is once again blind to the bubbles in China, Japan and the United States.

The communist government of China has been on a debt binge since 2000. In response to the worldwide Great Recession of 2007, the government of China put in place policies that quadrupled the total debt outstanding—rising from 160 percent of GDP, to nearly 290 percent today, according to McKinsey & Co.

This humongous debt accumulation did not occur within the context of robust economic growth. In fact, the growth rate fell from 13 percent in 2007 to 7 percent today. Despite the slowdown, the Shanghai exchange has surged 140 percent since the summer of 2013.

Read MoreWhy the Fed may be forced to raise rates

The data has lulled Bernanke into believing a hard landing in China is out of the question. Nevertheless, another crash in the Chinese stock market and economy similar to 2007's collapse cannot be avoided by dumping another $20 trillion into building more ghost cities.

Likewise, Bernanke holds a rosy view of the Japanese economic condition, even though the nation is drowning in debt, has an economy that hasn't grown in five years and sits atop an epic equity bubble. He remains unshaken even given the fact that the nation has a 10-year note that yields an incredible 0.4 percent, proving the Bank of Japan has completely wiped away the free-market price discovery mechanism and propelled Japanese government bonds firmly into the twilight zone. Once the inevitable mean reversion of interest rates occurs, the tsunami of debt defaults could shake the global economy to the core.

Bernanke's vision doesn't become any clearer when viewing our domestic economy. He stated the markets will cheer the Fed's first rate hike in nine years; but the truth may be vastly different. The market now stands extremely overvalued by nearly every metric.

These peak valuations exist precisely because central banks have forced investors out along the risk curve in a desperate search for a return on their savings. Now the Fed (both current and former members) is on a campaign to persuade nervous investors not to sell stocks once liftoff of the fed funds rate begins.

Read MoreRate hike needed to pop bubbles

The problem is the first rate hike from the Fed, now led by Janet Yellen, will cause investors to begin pricing in future increases. The first move off the zero-bound range, which the Federal Open Market Committee has virtually promised will occur sometime this year, has to be taken as the starting gun for the race toward the committee's stated 1.8 percent fed funds target rate within 12-18 months.

And since the Fed has removed itself from giving any date guidance for rate hikes, the second move higher will have to be purely data dependent. Unless the economy slips back into another recession, the Fed will be hiking rates on a regular basis throughout 2016. This will cause the U.S. dollar to surge even higher against the yen and the euro, which will place much greater downward pressure on the already anemic state of S&P 500 revenue and earnings. The resulting influence of a surging dollar and a rising cost of debt service should be devastating to the current equity bubble.

Read MoreWhy the Fed is wrong. Again

The bottom line is that central bankers both past and present have a vested interest in convincing investors that the strategies of zero percent interest rates and quantitative easing have been a success. But the sad truth is that these policies have led to an additional $60 trillion of new debt piled onto the global economy since the end of the financial crisis, causing the re-emergence of colossal real estate, bond and equity bubbles worldwide. Bernanke may still be blind to the bubbles he helped create, but all investors need do to see them is open their eyes.

Michael Pento produces the weekly podcast "The Mid-week Reality Check," is the president and founder of Pento Portfolio Strategies and author of the book "The Coming Bond Market Collapse."

Summary: The former Fed chair is speaking out. Investors shouldn't listen, says Michael Pento.


"There's been a tremendous influence on how we think about our product roadmap," Costolo said.

For instance, Costolo noted that Twitter's Amplify ad product was "very much a result" of a discussion Costolo and Desmond had before Twitter acquired Bluefin, as the social network began to explore what it could do with its broadcast partners. "Our work with [Starcom] very much informed what Twitter Amplify became, and we now have it rolled out to dozens and dozens of partners."

Another influence is found in how the companies plan far ahead for their mutual clients, as they work together to make the most of that client's investment in TV ads.

(Read more: Twitter's future—beyond ads, here's what's next)

And according to Costolo this is just the beginning: "I think that you'll see more and more, content partners and marketers understand not just how to surround the TV experience with a presence on twitter, but to amplify the live experience with a very complementary integrated experience on Twitter." He pointed to some examples of what Twitter has done to make live sports, and reality shows such as 'The Voice' more engaging.

"We will have a massive first quarter with the Super Bowl, Academy Awards, the NCAA tournament, and a bunch of other big tentpole events," Desmond said, looking to next year.

"The early results of this lab show that when you connect mass media, especially television with Twitter, you're able to see lift across engagement, across awareness, across consideration and intent," she added. It's not just about building awareness and conversation and buzz, Desmond said – it comes down to driving sales. "Our clients want to know that it's working. They want to know how it's working relative to other platforms they could be using."

(Read more: Twitter's ambitions: #ChangeWorld #MakeMoney)

In addition to working together on ad products, Costolo and Desmond also share a management, with a similar focus on structuring the company to encourage innovation.

"I always tell my managers, make sure everybody understands what you understand. Make sure everybody has context for why decisions have been made," Costolo said. "Then people understand how to be efficient and productive and innovative in what they're doing, and they understand how that innovation and productivity maps to the success of the broader company."

Summary: The deal Twitter struck with Starcom Media Group guarantees millions in advertising dollars in exchange for advertising spots for Starcom clients.


Also: Apple’s internal design teams play nice; Samsung guns for low-end smartphone market.

Google’s Android unit reportedly building a smart watch [THE VERGE]

According to a recent report from The Financial Times, Google might also be getting into the smartwatch game. And unlike Glass, which was developed in the company’s experimental X Lab, the watch (not pictured above) is said to be under development by the Android unit, possibly indicating that Google sees it as a more immediately viable product. According to FT’s source, the Google watch is separate from Samsung’s recently-announced effort.

Apple design teams get cozier [THE WALL STREET JOURNAL]

That dynamic is changing, according to the people close to the company. The stealth software developers still exist. But now, Apple’s mobile software, or “human interface” team, which has been led by executive Greg Christie, is being briefed about industrial prototypes earlier, these people said. The person described the change as “a thawing.”

Ive, who is well-known for his sleek, iconic hardware designs, now sits in on the human interface team’s regular review sessions to vet new designs, these people said. While he and Christie, known as a blunt talker, have very different styles, the people familiar with the process described the sessions as “pleasant and cordial.”

HBO CEO mulls teaming with broadband partners for HBO GO [REUTERS]

Plepler said late Wednesday that HBO GO could be packaged with a monthly Internet service, in partnership with broadband providers, reducing the cost.

Customers could pay $50 a month for their broadband Internet and an extra $10 or $15 for HBO to be packaged in with that service, for a total of $60 or $65 per month, Plepler explained.

“We would have to make the math work,” he added.

Samsung covets low-end of smartphone market, too [THE WALL STREET JOURNAL]

Despite the buzz surrounding its Galaxy smartphones, which cost hundreds of dollars, the South Korean giant has been quietly launching a greater number of cheaper handsets with little fanfare. Among the eight handsets unveiled so far this year by Samsung, only the Galaxy S 4 is a high-end device. Its low-end phones, typically with price tags of less than $100, are meant for emerging markets such as Indonesia and India—its growth markets in the future.

BlackBerry hoping long-awaited U.S. launch pays off [ALL THINGS D]

However, the Canadian company’s comeback effort will face a key test Friday when its first BlackBerry 10 device, the Z10, hits retail stores in the U.S.

“We are launching in the U.S. on the back of a successful launch in now more than 25 countries, and we expect the U.S. market to be no different,” BlackBerry Chief Marketing Officer Frank Boulben said in an interview on Thursday.

Launching in the U.S. took longer than other key markets due to regulatory requirements and carrier testing; however, that is often the case here, Boulben said. And, in the meantime, the number of apps available has grown to 100,000, up from the 70,000 that were ready when the Z10 was first announced on Jan. 30.

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Summary: Also: Apple's internal design teams play nice; Samsung guns for low-end smartphone market.  Google's Android unit reportedly building a smart watch [THE VERGE] According to a recent report from The Financial Times, Google might also be getting into the smartwatch game. And unlike Glass, which was developed in the company’s experimental X Lab, the watch (not pictured…


Truth: Urban mom-and-pops are seeing a bigger revival than Main Street businesses.

The vision of a small-town mom-and-pop store serving the community is one of Hollywood's favorites. Increasingly, though, small businesses are finding it better to locate themselves in the heart of a big city.

Downtown Los Angeles, for example, is in the midst of a revival led by independent businesses that provide unique products or services, things the big chain stores can't or don't offer.

"Small businesses in metro areas appear to be doing much better than those in rural areas," said Vitner. "There are certainly some exceptions, but that follows what we've seen with economic growth in those areas."

Read MoreThe biggest small-business risk you aren't protected against: Hacking

While some farmers near metro areas are able to capitalize on the urban Farmer's Market boom and take advantage of the "buy local" trend, the same can't be said for traditional, rural farm communities. The Institute for Local Self-Reliance found that more than 75 percent of businesses located in cities with active "buy local" campaigns reported increased customer traffic or other benefits from these initiatives.

Many rural areas, meanwhile—especially those tied to agriculture—are actually tougher for small businesses today, Vitner said, as commodity prices have come down, slowing the local economy.

Population is part of the story: "The population living entirely outside metropolitan areas—nearly two-thirds of the nation's 3,100 counties—shows an actual population loss for the third year in a row. At the other end of the spectrum, the nation's largest metropolitan areas are growing at far higher rates," according to a recent Brookings Institute analysis.

But a key factor in this urban revival of small business is size: It's not necessarily the biggest cities in the U.S. that are the best metro areas to set up shop. Sixty-three percent of small-business owners said smaller cities are better for small business than the largest cities in the U.S., citing first-class networking, low taxes, minimal regulations, high-quality talent pools, affordable commercial real estate, lower living costs and availability of federal contracts, according to a semi-annual survey by Rocket Lawyer of small-business owners.

Summary: Don't believe these four myths about the death of mom-and-pop shops. There's more opportunity for small-business owners than you think.


NEW YORK, Aug. 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- S&P Dow Jones Indices will make the following changes to the S&P 500:

Activision Blizzard develops and publishes online, personal computer (PC), video game console, handheld, mobile, and tablet games. Headquartered in Santa Monica, CA, the company will be added to the S&P 500 GICS (Global Industry Classification Standard) Home Entertainment Software Sub-Industry index.

United Continental Holdings provides air transportation services throughout the world. Headquartered in Chicago, IL, the company will be added to the S&P 500 GICS Airlines Sub-Industry index.

Following is a summary of the changes:

S&P 500 INDEX – August 28, 2015

S&P 500 INDEX – September 2, 2015

Additions to and deletions from S&P Dow Jones Indices do not in any way reflect an opinion on the investment merits of the companies involved.

About S&P Dow Jones IndicesS&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, a part of McGraw Hill Financial, is the world's largest, global resource for index-based concepts, data and research. Home to iconic financial market indicators, such as the S&P 500® and the Dow Jones Industrial Average®, S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC has over 115 years of experience constructing innovative and transparent solutions that fulfill the needs of investors. More assets are invested in products based upon our indices than any other provider in the world. With over 1,000,000 indices covering a wide range of asset classes across the globe, S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC defines the way investors measure and trade the markets. To learn more about our company, please visit www.spdji.com.

S&P® is a registered trademark of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC ("S&P"), a part of McGraw Hill Financial. Dow Jones® is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC ("Dow Jones"). These trademarks have been licensed to S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC. It is not possible to invest directly in an index. S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, Dow Jones, S&P and their respective affiliates (collectively "S&P Dow Jones Indices") do not sponsor, endorse, sell, or promote any investment fund or other investment vehicle that is offered by third parties and that seeks to provide an investment return based on the performance of any index. This document does not constitute an offer of services in jurisdictions where S&P Dow Jones Indices does not have the necessary licenses. S&P Dow Jones Indices receives compensation in connection with licensing its indices to third parties.

David BlitzerManaging Director and Chairman of the Index CommitteeS&P Dow Jones Indices(+) 212 438 3907david.blitzer@spdji.com

David R. GuarinoCommunicationsS&P Dow Jones Indices(+1) 212 438 1471dave.guarino@spdji.com

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/activision-blizzard-united-continental-holdings-set-to-join-the-sp-500-300134471.html

SOURCE S&P Dow Jones Indices

Summary: Activision Blizzard will replace Pall Corp. in the S&P 500 after the close of trading on Friday, August 28. S&P 500 constituent Danaher Corp. is acquiring Pall in a transaction expected to be completed on or about that date pending final approvals. United Continental Holdings, Inc. will replace Hospira, Inc. in the S&P 500 after the close of trading on Wednesday,...


The German DAX has fallen more than 5 percent in the last month, while the Japanese Nikkei is down 2 percent in that span. Hussey believes they have more upside than major American indices.

Read MoreEurope stocks: Foot on brake or full steam ahead?

He added that he would be "happy" to see a 5 percent pullback in U.S. stocks.

U.S. equities may not have reached their peak, Tony Roth, chief investment officer at Wilmington Trust, said Thursday. Stocks could still move higher as it could take months for the Federal Reserve to abandon its near-zero interest rate policy.

Roth said he does not see a market correction approaching in the near future, he told "Power Lunch."

Read MoreStock breakout? Investors watch data for support

Summary: Perceived overvaluation in stocks make Europe and Japan more appealing than the U.S., one market watcher said Thursday.


Channing Tatum riding dirt bikes with a friend

Courtesy Channing Tatum; Inset: Getty

09/21/2015 AT 01:45 PM EDT

has mastered a new move – and this time it's not on the dance floor.

on Sunday to show off his new hobby: motocross.

When Tatum isn't busy acting as one of Hollywood's top leading men,

, it turns out he likes to rev it up on the bike path in his spare time!

"1st jump ever today! Thanks to very patient friends. I'm addicted. Thanks Arin and Steve," Tatum captioned the first snapshot of him mid-air while riding a motocross bike. While it's unclear which rider is Tatum, they are both catching some air while riding down the dirt path.

In Tatum's second post, we get to see him in action. A video shows the two flying through the air and landing the jump perfectly.

While he captioned the video "Got a lot to learn," his skills are already pretty impressive!

And while he also adds that the day was "so much fun," even a tough guy like Tatum admits that learning how to ride was "completely terrifying in a good way."

He's come a long way since his last post three weeks ago, when he first told his 6.8 million followers about his love for dirt bikes: Tatum took a silly snapshot on his bike to celebrate getting his

"Just finished a riding course today. I've rode dirt bikes for a while. Now I can just do it legally," he wrote.

Tatum doesn't seem to be afraid to take on any challenge – no matter how daring it might be. Just last month, he posted a photo of himself doing a

Guess it's safe to say there's really nothing Tatum can't do.

Summary: Channing Tatum shared two Instagram posts to show the progress he's making on the bike path


A flood victim who said she only grabbed two pizzas and her pet before escaping the South Carolina disaster has been recognised by the pizza company after her interview vent viral.

“I didn’t grab nothing, but two Totino’s Pizza out of the refrigerator and my doggy, and we left” the Columbia resident told a WIS-TV reporter on Sunday.

“I tried to grab some others things but they weren’t even worth it.”

The woman, named Angela, has been dubbed the “Totino’s lady” online after the light-hearted point in the otherwise serious news bulletin went viral.

Totino’s Pizza social media manager, Kate Sisneros, decided to reach out to her after seeing the video, CBS Minnesota reported today.

“I found out Sunday night, sent an email to my team and immediately hit the ground running, tracking down Angie and figuring out what we can do and as quickly as possible,” she said.

The company will reportedly stock Angela’s freezer with pizzas when she finds a new home, and is also working with the South Carolina Red Cross.

Do you have any news photos or videos?


The report warned that the Federal Reserve's expected move to raise interest rates sometime next year could hit emerging-market economies.

Fixed-asset investment growth may slow to 12.8 percent in 2015 from this year's 15.5 percent, while retail sales growth may quicken to 12.2 percent from 12 percent, it said.

Read More China's economy is slowing faster than you think: CFO

Consumer inflation may hold largely steady in 2015, at 2.2 percent, it said.

China's economic growth weakened to 7.3 percent in the third quarter, and November's soft factory and investment figures suggest full-year growth will miss Beijing's 7.5 percent target and mark the weakest expansion in 24 years.

Economists who advise the government have recommended that China lower its growth target to around 7 percent in 2015.

Read More'Perfect storm' to hit China economy in 2016

China's employment situation is likely to hold up well next year due to faster expansion of the services sector, despite slower economic growth, said the report.

Summary: China's economic growth could slow to 7.1 percent in 2015 from an expected 7.4 percent this year, held back by a sagging property sector, the central bank said in research report.


Contango is when front-month futures contracts are priced lower than later months, and it is a bearish sign. "Tomorrow, we should see a significant downward push on the contract," he said.

"The market gets bid up on some short covering. Once that dries up, we come right back down. It's really just people scraping money out of the market before the end of the year," said Gene McGillian, analyst at Tradition Energy.

Saudi Arabia Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said early Thursday that OPEC could not cut production without the help of other large producers, and it is impossible for the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to runaround the temporary price slump on its own.

Read MoreSaudi oil minister: We need help cutting output

McGillian said the market's initial response to those comments was positive since Naimi said the price drop was temporary and the market would rebalance, but ultimately he reinforced OPEC's view that it will not reduce production to stop the decline.

Cuts in capex spending by oil producers have led to speculation that oil prices are close bottoming, and oil-related equities have been bid higher in the past two sessions. Marathon Oil was among the latest to announce cutbacks, forecasting about a 20 percent reduction in capital expenditures for next year.

But some oil strategists say the abrupt reversal was bearish and crude could find new lows. Some do not expect a real bottom in the market until at least late February or March when oil is seasonally down because of lower demand and refineries shutting down.

Oil futures have also been highly volatile ahead of the expiration of the January WTI contract Friday.

"It means nothing has changed. It was a brief rally with an exuberance that crossed through all markets. The fundamentals continue to talk the price down," said Kilduff. "It was a weak rally in sympathy with the rest of the market. Now you have Naimi, and you have (Russian President Vladimir) Putin saying he can handle lower prices."

The concerns over supply in the market clearly bubbled up, as reports about Nigerian workers ending a port strike circulated. The strike was limited and did not affect oil ports, but Royal Dutch Shell earlier reported improved conditions in Nigeria and it ended a force majeure on Nigerian EA crude after completing repairs to a mooring platform.

There was also speculation that supplies in Cushing, Oklahoma, could continue to grow after this week's government report showed a sizable build of 2.9 million barrels.

"We've seen in the most recent two reports big builds at Cushing. What it's showing is a lot of oil is still getting of out the ground from the shale plays to the Nymex delivery point and the structure of the curve is starting to encourage more storage because you're getting paid to store it," said Kilduff.

Any signs of even incremental oil supply coming on to the market has made it skittish. One reason strategists do not see a bottom soon is because oil production is expected to continue to grow before the cutbacks in spending impact projects later in the year. U.S. production is expected to grow by another several hundred thousand barrels a day next year, and even Russia could push more oil to world markets as it seeks revenue.

Russia needs about $100 a barrel to meet its budget requirements, and the drop in crude prices has hit it hard at the same time it has been sanctioned for its activities in Ukraine.

Read MoreCommentary: This one person could bail out Putin

"This market is looking ahead. They're switching the story from peak oil to abundant oil," said Paul Christopher, Wells Fargo Advisors' chief international strategist. Christopher pared back his 2015 year-end forecast for WTI to between $60 and $70 a barrel. He projects a rebound in oil prices in 2015 but expects it to remain very volatile.

Read MoreTrying to pick a bottom in energy stocks

He recommended investors with stand-alone energy positions reallocate into diversified commodity positions of no more than 3 percent of the portfolio.

Summary: Oil futures fell sharply, failing to hold a rally for a second day and signaling traders that the selling is not over.


Every year at this time comes the discussion of whether stocks are a good buy in January. The so-called January Effect describes a hypothesis that stocks go up at the beginning of the year because investors want to start buying again, possibly as a result of tax-related sales in December.

This effect considers that small-cap stocks are most likely to see a boost, as they are owned by a higher proportion of individual retail investors. These investors supposedly are more likely to be selling in December and buying again in January.

Much research has gone into proving whether or not the January Effect is real. Or whether it's predictable. Or whether it's worth the trading costs associated with it. Or whether the effect already starts in December because everybody knows it's coming in January anyway.

Summary: Historically, stocks go up in January as people start buying again. But is the January Effect still real?


"It creates an opportunity for voluntary decision making," said an eastern EU official. "If they do it with penalties, then that is a bad idea. But if there is a system where you contribute financially to helping the problem in a different way, then that is much more palatable."EU officials stressed that any opt-out would also have to be justified by "objective reasons" — for example Poland's desire to have contingency plans in place to accept large numbers of refugees from Ukraine if the conflict there worsens. Talks on the proposal will continue on Monday and Tuesday, officials said.

The stand-off over quotas has led to spiky rhetoric between western states, led by Germany, and eastern states such as Hungary and Poland. They argue that inflexible targets do not allow countries to fully care for incoming migrants, and feel unfairly criticised by their western partners.

More from the Financial Times:

Pope calls for parishes to house migrants Juncker's EU migrants plan takes shape UK aid budget to target migrant crisis

"We are standing in solidarity with Europe, but responsibly, by maintaining some control over the process," said Mr Trzaskowski. "Mandatory quotas do not allow for that."

He added: "We want to create conditions so that people will want to stay here in Poland and become part of our society. Mechanically processed, mandatory quotas throw that into doubt, and are counter-productive."

The talks over how to ease the quota impasse took place as German chancellor Angela Merkel's liberal stance on refugees came under pressure from allies in her conservative bloc, who warned that Germany "cannot accomplish this alone".

As thousands more refugees arrived in Germany, the EU's most vocal proponent of additional support, the Christian Social Union — the Bavarian sister party of Ms Merkel's Christian Democrats — criticised the decision to let migrants in from Hungary as "the wrong decision".

Read MoreAustria to end 'open border' emergency measures

Germany expects to take in as many as 800,000 migrants this year, and the wealthy southern state of Bavaria lies at the northern end of the Balkan migrant trail which has overtaken the Mediterranean as the most popular route for migrants travelling to Europe.

Among those heading for Germany via Austria on Sunday was Ghyath Al Dabbagh, a 25-year old electrician from Damascus, who left Syria for Lebanon two years ago and arrived in Hungary on Friday.

In the early hours of Sunday morning, his train carrying roughly 500 other migrants, was greeted in Vienna West station by crowds of cheering locals, who distributed food and clothing. By early afternoon, Mr Al Dabbagh was on a second train bound for Munich.

"I never want to go back to Syria again. Coming to Germany, I feel like I'm coming home, really. The Germans are good people and Angela [Merkel] loves Syrians — that's why she has welcomed us," he said.

Summary: Some EU countries could pay money in order to opt out of a mandatory quota system for accepting refugees, the Financial Times reports.


British police say they have detained two men for terrorism offences as they tried to leave the country, adding that the arrests are not linked to attacks in Paris.

Police said on Tuesday the men, aged 22 and 20, were arrested early on Sunday at Dover Eastern Docks, a ferry terminal in southeast England and a popular departure point for ships heading to the port city of Calais, France.

The men had been living in Hayes on the outskirts of west London and are currently in custody, said police, who declined to reveal their nationalities.

"I would firstly like to confirm these arrests are not linked to the Paris terrorist incidents and there is no immediate threat to the local community," said Ian Hunter, head of investigations of the South East Counter Terrorism Unit.

"These men were trying to leave the UK via Dover and were arrested following good work by Kent police officers at the port."

Britain has beefed up security at ports, transit hubs and other busy public areas after 129 people were killed in coordinated gun and bomb attacks in Paris on Friday.

Hundreds of Britons have left to join the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq in recent months. Some have attempted to use ferries to make their way there to try to avoid detection.

Summary: Two men have been arrested while trying to leave England, with British police confirming they are wanted for terrorism offences.


What do you do after dissolving a celebrated Scandinavian electronic duo that had a cerebral, cult appeal? Until last year, Swedish producer Olof Dreijer made up half of the Knife, the duo he formed with his sister Karin Dreijer Andersson.

The Knife is no more, and Dreijer has made a turn that may surprise some listeners. He’s with a band now: a six-member ensemble called Hiya wal Âalam, based in Tunisia, led by an economics professor, and which is taking Arabic and North African fusion concepts and turning them inside out. With this turn, Dreijer’s given up Coachella-style festivals in favor of intimate, salon-like venues — such as the Middle East Upstairs, where Hiya wal Âalam plays on Sunday as part of its inaugural US mini-tour.

Dreijer is the band’s electronics and production wizard and its big international name, but Hiya wal Âalam is, at its core, the project of Houwaida Hedfi. A percussionist and veteran of the Tunis underground art scene, Hedfi also happens to be an economics and management teacher at a local university. She and four bandmates — three Tunisians and a Palestinian — live in Tunis, where the band’s first album is now being recorded. Dreijer is based in Berlin.

And the project is signed to Clandestino Institut, the nonprofit hybrid festival, label, and agency in Gothenburg, Sweden, which has distinguished itself with its worldly programming and roster of left-field artists of plural origins. (Another Clandestino artist, the Swedish-Algerian singer and producer Amina Hocine, whose intricate, dramatic solo sound puts her in the tradition of Björk or fellow Gothenburg native Anna von Hausswolff, is opening for Hiya wal Âalam on this tour.)

On the phone from Berlin, Dreijer and Hedfi explain that their collaboration — which began several years ago, when a producer asked Dreijer to mix one of Hedfi’s songs on a compilation project — has pushed each one to shelve some preconceptions.

“I had very negative opinions about electronic music,” says Hedfi. “I’m a drummer, and I thought it was the easiest way to replace actual musicians. But when I started to work with Olof it completely changed my ideas. I realized that 50 percent of what the track should be happens in the mix.”

Hedfi knew the music of the Knife, and enjoyed it as a listener; she was a fan of the duo’s 2006 album, the big, dark, and sometimes aggressive “Silent Shout.” Within the hip Tunis underground — a scene that predated Tunisia’s 2011 democratic revolution, which set off the so-called Arab Spring — her tastes, like those of many around her, ran toward heavy metal.

“I was into underground metal gigs since I was a teenager,” she says. “Then at some point everyone who was playing metal moved to reggae.” When she started playing music herself, however, it was acoustic and grounded in North African tradition. “I have another band that’s all percussionists,” she says. “The music involves many rhythms, and research about rhythms. I wanted to add melodies, so I started doing that on my own.”

Dreijer, meanwhile, was journeying toward her in the other direction. “When I started working with Houwaida I was the producer, but now I’m part of the band,” he says. “I basically had to reprogram my sense of rhythm. It’s had a big effect on my composing — and I’m also not so used to playing instruments.

“It has made a big musical impression on me,” he adds. “Traditional sufi music of Tunisia is a big influence, and also gnawa music from Morocco. This is really positive music, when people from all corners of the city can participate and go crazy together.”

The sound of Hiya wal Âalam (the band’s name means “She and the World”) is a far cry from the clichéd Orientalist mixes of Arabic music that find their way into global DJ sets. Instead, it has a chamber feel. Hedfi settles into a drum pattern as Jalal Albess, Anissa Hammami, Taha Ennouri, and Radhi Chaouali, on strings and percussions, push the sound into big swells and quiet ebbs. The keyboard work and electronic effects enter seamlessly, in a continuum with the source material, not an intervention.

“Often when we hear electronica mixed with traditional music, they are presented with a huge distance between them,” Dreijer says. “We are excited to make them as close as possible.”

Dreijer and Hedfi have in common a stubborn sense of creative freedom. Dreijer says his only priority besides Hiya wal Âalam is the music education project he runs in Berlin for refugees and undocumented migrants. Other projects can wait, he says.

As for Hedfi, despite her collaboration with Dreijer and her emergence as an international touring artist, she says he has no intention of becoming a full-time musician or giving up her university teaching gig.

“I’m doing it for pleasure, not for a living,” she says of Hiya wal Âalam. “If I made music to earn a living, I’d have to make concessions. I want it to be something that stays completely free, without constraints.”

With Amina Hocine. At Middle East Upstairs, Sunday at 9 p.m. Tickets: $12, $10 advance. 617-864-3278, www.mideastclub.com

Summary: Olof Dreijer, formerly of cult-favorite electronica duo The Knife, comes to the Middle East on Sunday with Hiya wal Âalam, a Tunisian ensemble.


Aaron Rodgers' 61-yard Hail Mary to beat the Lions Thursday night will go down as one of the greatest game-ending plays of the season, one of the greatest of the decade, and maybe one of the best of all-time. After all, he escaped the pocket, heaved the ball nearly 70 yards through the air to tight end Richard Rodgers.

Adrian Peterson respects that play, but he doesn't respect how Green Bay was given the opportunity for one final shot. With the Packers attempting lateral heroics, Aaron Rodgers was tackled with no time on the clock. A questionable face mask penalty bailed him out. The Packers got another play, within Rodgers' striking distance of the end zone, and Rodgers tossed the game-winner.

Here is the Lions' Devin Taylor (kind of) with his thumb in Rodgers' face mask.

Distal Phalanx of right thumb barely brushed bottom bar. No way is that a face mask. pic.twitter.com/SLb0NTn09p

— PatriotsSB50 (@PatriotsSB49) December 4, 2015

— Franchise Nation (@Moonlightswami) December 4, 2015

The highlight is on the NFL YouTube page.

The Vikings running back took issue with the face mask call, which kept the Packers one loss behind Minnesota in the NFC North race.

Lol, i'm sorry but a thumb hitting the face mask isn't pass interference! Heck of a play

— Adrian Peterson (@AdrianPeterson) December 4, 2015

Don't you mean face mask?

— Adrian Peterson (@AdrianPeterson) December 4, 2015

Peterson's Vikings are 8-3 with a date with at home against the Seahawks looming Sunday. The Packers are 8-4 and beat the Vikings in the teams' first meeting this season in Minneapolis. They play in Green Bay in Week 17.

Meanwhile, in Detroit, the Lions had real reason to complain. Here is tight end Eric Ebron:

— Eric Ebron (@Ebron85) December 4, 2015

On the other end, NFL Vice President of Officiating Dean Blandino tried to put the conversation to rest.

Hand up to the mask, quick grab with finger and head gets turned. At full speed official is going to make that call almost every time.

— Dean Blandino (@DeanBlandino) December 4, 2015

The call is the call. The Packers are 8-4, and Aaron Rodgers is a sorcerer once again.

Aaron Rodgers + Richard Rodgers: Walk-off 61-yard #HailMary FOR THE WIN! #GBvsDET https://t.co/Mmm1tzljx5

— NFL (@NFL) December 4, 2015

Aaron Rodgers, Adrian Peterson, Detroit Lions, Devin Taylor, Football, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, NFC North, NFL

Summary: Aaron Rodgers' 61-yard Hail Mary to beat the Lions Thursday night will go down as one of the greatest game-ending plays of the season, one of the grea...


12/15/2015 AT 08:20 PM EST

In an effort to maintain the authenticity of his 1820s fur trapper character,

reveals he ate real bison liver during the making of

"The bad part is the membrane around it," DiCaprio tells

in a new interview about the brutal conditions that surrounded the making of the gritty revenge thriller. "Itâs like a balloon. When you bite into it, it bursts in your mouth."

DiCaprio, 41, explains that the grueling shooting conditions and his actual suffering on set, under the guidance of director Alejandro G. Inarritu (

), led to a better performance and a better film. The harsh conditions included a seven-month shoot in Alberta Ca. during a time when temperatures reached 40 below zero, long hours in the makeup chair for the application of 47 different prosthetics made to look like bloody wounds, a challenging stunt sequence involving

"There's been a lot said about the movie and the difficulties making it, and how meticulous Alejandro is with his vision. But to me, that's the s--- that should be praised," DiCaprio says. "I don't want to work with somebody who isn't thinking of every possible aspect of what's up on the screen. I think there's a hunger for audiences to see something completely extreme and difficult."

star likens filming to "the real wild, wild West, in the sense that there were all these cultures merging together in this lawless land," DiCaprio recalls. "I got the flu quite a few times."

He also endured the growing of and living with a long scraggly beard, a relationship he compared to marriage.

âI had that beard for a year and a half,â says the actor. âIt becomes like a spouse. You sleep with it. It was like shaving off dreads.â

, the risky shoot has paid off. Maybe, just maybe this is the performance that will take the four-time Oscar nominee to his first win.

Summary: The method actor reveals he ate real bison liver during filming in an effort to maintain his character's authenticity


Right now, many of the world’s biggest technology companies are waging a war for control over a potentially valuable piece of real estate: Your wrist. Apple, Samsung, Motorola, Pebble and more are all duking it out for smartwatch supremacy, making big but uncertain bets that millions of people will want to spend their hard-earned money on yet another flashing, buzzing piece of consumer electronics calling for their constant attention.

When a company like Apple or Samsung decides it’s time to make a smartwatch, it faces a very basic question early on in the process: Round or square?

The vast majority of analog watches out there are circular, making it a familiar shape that’s perhaps easier to sell to first-time smartwatch buyers. But our computers, laptops and cellphones have always been some form of rectangle, so we’re more used to seeing digital information displayed that way.

And if you decide you want a smartwatch, you’ll face the same decision. So what are your options? Apple and Pebble are firmly in the rectangular camp, while Motorola, which makes the widely well-received Android-powered Moto 360, is more fond of circles. Samsung, for its part, started off rectangular with its Galaxy Gear and several follow-ups, only to reverse course and go full circle with its new Galaxy Gear S2, revealed this week and going on sale in early October.

The Gear S2, among other features, has one particularly neat trick. It sports what Samsung calls a “rotating bezel,” meaning you can navigate around apps and menus by turning the outer face of the device in one direction or another. It’s especially intuitive if you’ve ever owned an analog watch with a rotating bezel of its own, and makes for a nice answer to Apple’s “Digital Crown,” which turns an analog-style crown into an app control mechanism.

But does a rotating bezel alone make a circular smartwatch the way to go? I don’t think so. After months of using Apple’s rectangular Apple Watch, I’m convinced that shape is the way to go.

A circular watch might be fine when you’re just looking at watch faces, but things tend to break down when you start opening apps. Unless an app was designed very carefully with a circular display in mind, those displays tend to cut off valuable information as data gets lost around the circumference. That experience was particularly jarring when using the Gear S2, especially with third-party apps. Some were better than others, but by and large I wished the device was simply able to display more data without my having to scroll down.

Still, this may all come down to personal preference. If you’re in the market for a smartwatch, it’s a good idea to get some hands-on time with both styles before you make your pick. And your options have never been as plentiful. New smartwatches seem to be popping up every day, and Google recently introduced an iPhone app that promises to expand Apple users’ choices beyond the Apple Watch.

Summary: You face a very simple choice


01/13/2016 AT 10:55 AM EST

Immediately after playing Kimmy Gibbler on the family hit sitcom, she headed off to college. After school, she worked in higher education, got married and became a stay-at-home mom to two children. It wasn't until

came along that Barber, 39, even considered a return to acting.

"I had a great experience as a child. I love the craft, I just don't really like the business," Barber tells PEOPLE. "The marketing of yourself, going out on auditions and the unpredictability of the profession is really hard on my family life. It's just a really tough business."

But when show creator Jeff Franklin approached her about

as D.J.'s best friend, Barber did not hesitate. "I came back to this business simply for

," she says. "It was a dream come true. I didn't have to audition for the show and I get to work with people I already know and love! I feel very fortunate."

Now an avid runner – she's completed 26 half-marathons and 3 full ones and is currently training for her fourth – Barber says she discovered the sport later in life, but at a fitting time.

"It was a coincidence I started running right around that the time that my marriage was falling apart, and it was the single best thing I could have done to get through my divorce. I just needed that time to be alone and to get out whatever I was feeling, to just pound it out through the pavement," she says. "Running has been a great mantra for my life, too. It's all about moving forward. I met my current boyfriend Michael through running. It's great to have this common interest. Running has just brought so many positives to my life. I feel incomplete without it."

The same can be said for her TV

"Working together again on the same set that we grew up on, we just had a blast," says Barber. "That was absolutely the best part of doing the show, getting to spend so much time with Candace and Jodie [Sweetin]. There aren't that many people who can relate to my personal childhood. The three of us shared this unique history."

On the new show, "I loved the direction they took Kimmy Gibbler in," she says of her character, a fellow mom who moves in with D.J. to help her raise her own children. "I think people really want to get back to that good, fun, clean comedy with a little modern twist. Something you can watch with your kids but definitely will appeal to the adults."

The Fuller House legacy cast on the cover of PEOPLE

And she's looking forward to interacting directly with fans once

starts streaming on Netflix Feb. 26.

"Our fans have been so loyal, even before

was a thing, Tweeting us during the Nick at Nite episodes at 2 a.m. when they were sick with the flu and couldn't sleep," she says. "I don't think they are going to be disappointed. It's not just a repeat of the same

, it's a fresh show but it has that nostalgia factor. We can see and appreciate how those characters grew up. I hope people Tweet me their reactions because I want to read them all. I can't wait."

Summary: Andrea Barber tells PEOPLE she had completely "moved on" from acting – until Fuller House came along


expected when she publicly shared the

But backlash is exactly what she and her husband, Steve Snow, experienced after CNN.com posted a

about the family in late October that included a

about whether a child that age should have a say in their own end-of-life decisions or even understands what death is.

Michelle, 43, a neurologist, says her words have been wildly misinterpreted.

"I want to make it clear these are not Julianna's decisions or choices," she tells PEOPLE. " They are Steve's and my decisions but we look to Julianna to guide us."

Michelle Moon (left) and Steve Snow with Julianna in December

Julianna Snow, 5, has a rare, aggressive form of

, or CMT, an incurable, degenerative neuromuscular illness. She has been in and out of hospitals for much of her young life and has slowly lost the ability to walk, eat or even breathe on her own.

Her story made headlines across the world last year after Michelle opened up publicly about Julianna's wish to stay home – and not go to the hospital – should she get sick again.

Medical professionals who know the family say they understand why Michelle and Steve, 38, a U.S. Air Force veteran, value their daughter's opinion.

"I think she's very capable of having input into the end of her life," Karla Langlois, a hospice nurse who has been working with Julianna and her family since October 2014, she tells PEOPLE. "I don't know that it's appropriate for every child but in this scenario it's very appropriate."

Diana Scolara, the pediatric intensive care unit nurse who helped care for Julianna during her many stays at Doernbecher Children's Hospital in Portland, Oregon [and administered many of the naso-tracheal suctioning treatments Julianna hated], agrees.

"I donât care if she is a little girl," says Scolaro, who has been a pediatric nurse for 26 or her 31 years in the business. "Julianna is wise and she's made her choices and she doesn't want to go back to the hospital."

And even if she did go back the next time she got sick "it's not going to cure her disease," she says. "It's not going to stop the progression of her disease. It's not even going to make her better.

"We save lives and we have miracles but with some diseases you can't have those miracles," she says.

a newly formed online group that features photos and stories of adults with neuromuscular diseases.

"We wanted to show her and other children that choosing medical treatments can not only extend our lives but improve the quality of our lives," founder Emily Wolinsky, 38, tells PEOPLE of why she started the group.

Michelle found out about it when a friend saw it on Facebook and forwarded her the information.

"It threw me for a loop," says Michelle. "I was bracing myself for people like the bioethicists [who were quoted in the CNN story,]. "I wasn't expecting anything from people with disabilities."

What they're doing "is basically a slap in the face," she says. "They basically think we're withholding care."

Wolinsky insists the site isn't directed at Julianna or her parents.

"The site was inspired by her but our message is to all children diagnosed with neuromuscular disabilities," says Wolinsky, 38, of Austin, who has Spinal Muscular Atrophy and is wheelchair-bound.

They used "Dear Julianna" because they didn't want to say "Dear Child," she says.

"We don't judge the parents," she says. "It's really about telling children there's hope out there because so many of us hear that there isn't."

"One of the reasons we're continuing to share our story is to make the world a safer place for parents who care for and love terminally ill children," she says.

"When people assume that they know what your child 'has and what you are going through, it's just that – an assumption," she says. "And when assumptions lead to judgment, it's really unfortunate."

Dr. Michael Shy, one of the world's leading experts on CMT who has treated Julianna, says he feels for the family.

"My opinion is they really love their daughter," says Shy, a neurologist at the University of Iowa, "and they're trying to do what's best in a very difficult and unfortunate situation."

Summary: "I think she's very capable of having input into the end of her life," says Karla Langlois, a hospice nurse who has been working with the family since October 2014.


Investors breathed a little life into the moribund market for new stocks on Wednesday, sending shares of two biotech companies sharply higher on their first day of trading.

Editas Medicine Inc., a Cambridge startup, rose 12.5 percent to $18. China’s BeiGene Ltd. climbed more than 18 percent to $28.33.

The gains came after Editas raised $94.4 million and BeiGene, which has its US headquarters in Waltham, raised $158.4 million in the first two initial public offerings of 2016 in the United States. At least one other biotech, PLx Pharma Inc. of Houston, was scheduled to price its shares Wednesday night, potentially extending the run of IPOs after a drought in January.

“You need a few to start to go public and get the market moving,” said Bob McGooey, senior vice president at Nasdaq. “And I think the strong performance of BeiGene and Editas today will give other companies a lot more confidence in a market that continues to be a little choppy.”

The market for IPOs began slowing in the second half of last year, and there have been none since December. The last biotech IPO took place Nov. 19 when Asome Therapeutics Inc. of New York raised $51 million.

Nasdaq, where many smaller companies initially list their shares, piled up a backlog of 39 new IPO applications last month, more than double the 14 filed in the first month of last year. Those include companies that have registered publicly with the Securities and Exchange Commission and those that have filed under the JOBS Act, a 2012 law permitting applications to remain confidential in their early stages.

McGooey said Nasdaq officials expect another strong year for IPOs, fueled by health care and technology companies seeking to go public. The exchange had a total of 68 public applications on file on Feb. 1, including 34 health care companies. Of those, 16 were biotechnology firms, which powered the IPO boom of the past three years.

Despite the continued interest in raising money through public offerings, many market watchers remain skeptical that IPOs will rebound strongly this year after grinding to a halt in the second half of 2015. Investors may buy into selective biotech offerings because of their breakthrough science, they suggest, but such interest may not extend beyond specific companies.

Editas, for example, is seen having the potential to transform drug discovery by modifying disease-causing genes. BeiGene, the first Chinese company focused solely on biotechnology to go public in the United States, is developing drugs that harness the immune system to fight cancer.

But looking at demand for IPOs as a whole, “the window may be basically shut until the markets stabilize,” said Kathleen Smith, principal at Renaissance Capital, a Greenwich, Conn., research and investment firm that manages IPO-focused exchange traded funds.

Financial markets have retreated since the start of the year, with the Dow Jones industrial average losing 7.3 percent and the Nasdaq giving up 9.8 percent.

Editas sold 5.9 million shares at $16 apiece. That was the lower end of its anticipated range of $16 to $18 a share. In a statement, the Cambridge company said it had granted the IPO underwriters a 30-day option to buy up to 885,000 more shares at the public offering price, minus discounts and commissions, to cover possible over-allotments.

BeiGene, based in Beijing, priced 6.6 million American depository shares at $24 apiece, selling at the top end of its anticipated range.

Summary: Shares of Cambridge gene-editing startup Editas Medicine Inc. closed up 12.5 percent in their market debut, while Chinese biotech BeiGene Ltd. climbed more than 18 percent.


The cheese police are on the case.

Acting on a tip, agents of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration paid a surprise visit to a cheese factory in rural Pennsylvania on a cold November day in 2012.

They found what they were looking for: evidence that Castle Cheese Inc. was doctoring its 100 percent real parmesan with cut-rate substitutes and such fillers as wood pulp and distributing it to some of the country’s biggest grocery chains.

One might be tempted to think of this as a ripped-from-the- headlines episode of “NYPD Bleu,” except that the FDA wasn’t playing. Some grated Parmesan suppliers have been mislabeling products by filling them with too much cellulose, a common anti-clumping agent made from wood pulp, or using cheaper cheddar, instead of real Romano. Someone had to pay. Castle President Michelle Myrter is scheduled to plead guilty this month to criminal charges. She faces up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine.

German brewers protect their reputations with Reinheitsgebot, a series of purity laws first drawn up 500 years ago, and Champagne makers prohibit most vineyards outside their turf from using the name. Now the full force of the U.S. government has been brought to bear defending the authenticity of grated hard Italian cheeses. Which is good news for Neal Schuman.

For years, Schuman has been a one-man Reinheitsgebot, insisting that the fragrant granules Americans sprinkle on their pizza and penne ought to be the real thing; if not, the label should say so.

The stakes are 100 percent real for him. Schuman’s Fairfield, New Jersey-based company, Arthur Schuman Inc., is the biggest seller of hard Italian cheeses in the U.S., with 33 percent of the domestic market. He estimates that 20 percent of U.S. production — worth $375 million in sales — is mislabeled.

“The tipping point was grated cheese, where less than 40 percent of the product was actually a cheese product,” Schuman said. “Consumers are innocent, and they’re not getting what they bargained for. And that’s just wrong.”

How serious is the problem? Bloomberg News had store-bought grated cheese tested for wood-pulp content by an independent laboratory.

Cellulose is a safe additive, and an acceptable level is 2 percent to 4 percent, according to Dean Sommer, a cheese technologist at the Center for Dairy Research in Madison, Wisconsin. Essential Everyday 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese, from Jewel-Osco, was 8.8 percent cellulose, while Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s Great Value 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese registered 7.8 percent, according to test results. Whole Foods 365 brand didn’t list cellulose as an ingredient on the label, but still tested at 0.3 percent. Kraft had 3.8 percent.

“We remain committed to the quality of our products,” Michael Mullen, a Kraft Heinz Co. spokesman, said in an e-mail. John Forrest Ales, a Wal-Mart spokesman, said he questioned the reliability of testing a single sample and that Wal-Mart’s “compliance team is looking into these findings.”

Jewel-Osco is also investigating, spokeswoman Mary Frances Trucco said in an e-mail. “We pride ourselves on the quality of products we deliver for our customers,” Trucco said.

“We strongly believe that there is no cellulose present,” Blaire Kniffin, a Whole Foods Market Inc. spokeswoman, said in an e-mail, adding that it could have been a false positive. “But we are investigating this matter.”

According to the FDA’s report on Castle, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, “no parmesan cheese was used to manufacture” the Market Pantry brand 100% grated Parmesan Cheese, sold at Target Corp. stores, and Always Save Grated Parmesan Cheese and Best Choice 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese, sold by Associated Wholesale Grocers Inc., which along with its subsidiaries supplies 3,400 retail stores in 30 states. Instead, there was a mixture of Swiss, mozzarella, white cheddar and cellulose, according to the FDA.

Castle has never been an authorized Target vendor, according to Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder. “We are investigating the information provided in the report,” she said in an e-mail. Jeff Pedersen, an executive vice president of Associated Wholesale Grocers, had no comment.

DairiConcepts, a Springfield, Missouri-based cheese maker that’s a subsidiary of Dairy Farmers of America, said on its website that in a test of 28 brands, only one-third of label claims about protein levels in grated parmesan were accurate. The company blamed fillers such as cellulose.

Until recently, there was little incentive to follow labeling rules. Criminal cases are rare. That’s because the FDA, which enforces the country’s food laws, prioritizes health hazards, said John Spink, director of the Food Fraud Initiative at Michigan State University. But civil lawsuits abound. A Jan. 29 complaint accuses McDonald’s Corp. of selling pure mozzarella sticks that contain starch, considered a filler, a claim the company denies.

Cheese makers commit adulteration because it saves money.

Marty Wilson, chief executive officer of New York-based Sugar Foods, which buys cheese from Schuman and supplies major pizza chains with to-go packets of parmesan, said whenever his contracts come up for renewal, competitors peddling ersatz cheeses surface. And he has lost business to them. “We’re constantly battling cheap imitators across all of our product lines,” Wilson said.

Bob Greco of Cheese Merchants of America said competitors hawking bastardized products have underbid him by as much as 30 percent. “The bad guys win and the rule-followers lose,” Greco said.

The FDA regulates what can legally be called Parmesan or Romano according to standards established in the 1950s to ensure that manufacturers wouldn’t sell cheeses wildly different in composition.

Americans love their hard Italian cheeses. Last year, U.S. Parmesan output rose 11 percent from 2014 to around 336 million pounds, while Romano production grew 20 percent, to 54 million pounds, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data.

Italian producers, however, aren’t loving it as much. The Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium, a trade group based in Rome, asked the European Union in December to protect its manufacturers against U.S. companies that were using the names of their cheeses and Italian flags on their packaging. “A deceit” is how the organization’s president, Giuseppe Alai, characterized Americans’ use of Italian names and symbols.

Of all the popular cheeses in the U.S., the hard Italian varieties are the most likely to have fillers because of their expense. Parmesan wheels sit in curing rooms for months, losing moisture, which results in a smaller yield than other cheeses offer. While 100 pounds of milk might produce 10 pounds of cheddar, it makes only eight pounds of Parmesan. That two-pound difference means millions of dollars to manufacturers, according to Sommer.

Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania-based Castle produced mainly imitation cheeses for nearly 30 years. The company, whose factory was adorned with crenelated battlements and curved archways to look like a medieval castle, had $19 million in sales in 2013.

The trouble started in 2010 when it began making what it called 100 percent grated Parmesan. A plant manager designed flawed recipes, and after Castle fired him in 2012, he alerted the FDA, the company said in a December 2012 letter to the agency, obtained through the FOIA.

The FDA accused Castle Cheese of marketing as real grated Parmesan what was in fact a mixture of imitation cheese and trimmings of Swiss, white cheddar, Havarti and mozzarella. After the probe, Castle stopped production of the problematic cheeses and dumped inventories. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2014.

A lawyer for Michelle Myrter and Castle Cheese didn’t respond to requests for comment. In the 2012 letter to the FDA, Castle said there was inadequate documentation, and the FDA could note only the potential that the products weren’t 100 percent pure.

Lauren E. Sucher, an FDA spokeswoman, said the agency couldn’t comment on pending legal cases. “The FDA takes economic fraud very seriously,” she said in an e-mail.

The FDA’s investigation may be the spark that changes things, said John Umhoefer, executive director of the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association.

“The industry wants to be known for a wholesome, safe, honest product — it’s what’s kept the industry growing for 100 years,” he said. “The wholesomeness of dairy products is a treasured part of our story.”

Summary: Castle Cheese Inc. has been inserting wood pulp into its parmesan cheese and distributing it to some of the country’s biggest grocery chains.


After Joe and Connie Mitchell ’s son and his bride said their vows beneath an arbor of gnarled cedar trees on the family ranch near Glen Rose, Texas, it was time to celebrate—so everyone headed for the party barn.

There, under hand-hewn hemlock rafters strung with lights and decked with greenery, more than 200 wedding guests dined on Tex-Mex and danced to an eight-piece band, crowding a dance floor that was buried under hay a century ago.

“With all those twinkle lights in an old barn, the atmosphere is just incredible…there’s so much history,” said Mrs. Mitchell, 64, who founded a telecommunications company with her husband, but now raises a crossbreed of Wagyu-Angus cattle on their 12,000-acre ranch.

Prized for their cathedral-like architecture and antique wood patina, centuries-old post-and-beam barns are being reborn as full-blown entertainment facilities, complete with bars, caterer-friendly kitchens, and guest bedrooms. The rustic look comes at a premium, with prices for vintage party barns starting in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“It can cost well over $1 million for a big, full-scale behemoth,” said Jim Dixon, an architect who has remodeled old barns and designed new, old-style party barns for clients in upstate New York and Connecticut—one of whom requested a barn with an indoor basketball court. “The party barn allows them to have an excuse.”

The 3,600-square-foot English-framed barn where the Mitchells have held wedding receptions for three of their five children was first built in 1850 on a farm in upstate New York. The Mitchells spent about $300,000 to have it dismantled and loaded onto two tractor-trailers bound for their Ten Triple X Ranch, where it was raised and fully restored in 2000. In 2009, the Mitchells spent $250,000 on another party barn for the ranch—a smaller Dutch barn from New York’s Mohawk Valley that dates to the American Revolution. They put the barn next to their house, and use it for more intimate gatherings. “I don’t really have a favorite,” said Mrs. Mitchell.

They acquired both barns from Heritage Restorations, a company with offices in Texas, Montana and Connecticut that specializes in relocating and restoring historic barns, mills and houses. Party barns “are 10% of our work…and probably growing,” said Kevin Durkin, founder of the company, whose barns are also converted into homes and commercial spaces.

“When people have homes in the country, it’s a frequent request—a barn is on the wish-list,” said Ken Fulk, a San Francisco designer. He likes to hang chandeliers from the rafters of his own white steel-framed party barn in Napa, Calif., for formal dinners.

For owners of old barns, the challenge is to refurbish dilapidated agricultural structures without compromising their character. The Mitchells have kept their barns unadorned—although they did put in bathrooms. “It’s hard to have weddings where the bride goes to an outhouse,” Mrs. Mitchell said.

Karen Schaufeld spent two years restoring a decaying 1867 barn on her 260-acre farm in Leesburg, Va. “Being able to preserve the look of the wood was really important—I didn’t want to see drywall,” said Ms. Schaufeld. 53, a children’s book author and philanthropist. She and her husband, Fred, the managing director of a private-equity firm, acquired the farm in 2004 for $4.5 million, according to public records.

During the remodel, the 1,945-square-foot barn was raised on hydraulic lifts to replace its rotted timbers. The old oak walls were reinforced with hidden structural insulation panels, then clad in bright-red board-and-batten siding. The barn’s entire northeast facade is now floor-to-ceiling glass; unlike their bovine predecessors, the Schaufelds have views clear across to Maryland. They’ve filled the barn with art and antiques, including a folk-art painting of a cow that can be winched up on a rope to reveal a large flat-screen TV.

“It’s a great place to hang out. We’ve had, like, 120 people for cocktails,” said Ms. Schaufeld. The barn’s kitchen was designed for big parties, with ample counter space for preparing and setting out food. Caterers can park their truck directly under the corncrib, and the space where farm wagons once unloaded corn from the fields has been remodeled with a service staircase and shelves for storing racks of dishes and glassware. Ms. Schaufeld declined to say what the barn remodel cost.

“Our converted barns tend to be in the neighborhood of $1 million,” said her architect, John Blackburn, adding that it’s more costly to restore an old barn than to build a new one. “If the barn is in decent shape, you may be able to do something for as low as half-a-million dollars. But if you want to pick it up and move it and have unique finishes, that starts to run up the cost.”

Bob and Marcia Williams moved their century-old dairy barn 700 yards away from the road to a more scenic location on their 170-acre gentleman’s farm in northeast Ohio, which they bought in 2007 for $725,000, according to public records.

“The barn cost more than the farm,” said Mr. Williams, 58, a retired insurance-industry executive, who preferred not to state the total cost of the 2010 conversion, which Mr. Blackburn designed. “The farmhouse is a beautiful place to have a party for eight—but we can have a hundred—easy—at the barn.”

They entertain 100 guests or more at their annual holiday party in the 3,260-square-foot barn, which can fit a 22-foot Christmas tree. The large stone fireplace is a new addition, as are the traditional sliding barn doors—custom-made from reclaimed wood and hung on antique metal tracks—that frame new glass doors and floor-to-ceiling windows. The two haylofts on opposite ends of the barn have both been converted into guest bedrooms, with steel railings shaped with branches, leaves and tiny insects. A former grain silo is now a two-story porch.

The barn’s dining table and kitchen cabinets were crafted from wormy chestnut panels discovered under its rotting floorboards. (The distinctive pockmarked wood—a rarity—is the byproduct of a blight in the early 1900s that wiped out nearly all the nation’s American chestnut trees.) The built-in ladders to the barn’s rafters are original; guests sometimes like to climb them. “That’s the downside of having a barn,” said Mr. Williams, who has found beer cans and other mementos up on the beams after his sons’ parties there.

Inspired by a trip to the Cotswolds in the U.K., Bill Hoppe, a managing director at BNY Mellon, bought an 1810 hand-hewn English-framed barn for his 224-acre ranch west of Houston. The barn, which he spotted on Heritage Restoration’s website and had transported from upstate New York, was remodeled in 2008 for about $580,000, he said—adding that he did some of the carpentry and electrical work himself.

“It would probably be $700,000 to $800,000 to replicate it today,” said Mr. Hoppe, 57, who has thrown Thanksgiving dinners, corporate gatherings and college-fraternity reunions in the 1,200-square-foot barn.

A custom antler chandelier hangs from an old hemlock beam over a scarred wooden bar. The bar, which seats 10, was fashioned from a 19th-century threshing-floor board. “It reeked of horse manure,” said Mr. Hoppe, who pressure-washed and refinished the bar-top himself.

The Hoppes, who have been spending more time at their second home in Colorado, recently listed the ranch for $3.4 million. Their Colorado property also has a party barn, albeit a new one. “It’s got a foosball table,” Mr. Hoppe said.

Summary: With soaring ceilings and weathered wood, antique post-and-beam barns are being reborn into party spaces.


04/20/2016 AT 06:25 PM EDT

Former Disney star Kelli Berglund ran into a little legal trouble Friday at Coachella.

star, 20, was arrested for allegedly attempting to use a fake ID, an Indio Police Department public information officer confirms PEOPLE. The star was given a citation but was not further detained.

, which first reported the news, that the actress had been attempting to gain access to a restricted area to meet with friends.

thanks for the love coachella 2k16! pic.twitter.com/Elbj3vLB1X

The star shared some photos of herself enjoying the festival,

Coachella continues this weekend in Indio, California.

Summary: The star received a citation but was not further detained


Floyd Mayweather Jr. insists he did nothing wrong in taking an IV solution to rehydrate after the weigh-in for his fight against Manny Pacquiao.

Doping officials on Thursday also backed Mayweather, saying he disclosed the infusion to them before taking it and that it contained no prohibited substances.

A report Wednesday by SB Nation said representatives of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency saw that Mayweather had taken the IV when they went to collect urine samples from him after the weigh-in. The report said the Mayweather did not receive a formal exemption from the USADA for the IV until three weeks after the fight.

But the USADA said it was aware of the IV prior to it being taken and that the Nevada Athletic Commission and Pacquiao's representatives were notified. In a statement, the agency referred to what it called "numerous unfounded and false accusations" in the article, saying they were either a "genuine misunderstanding of the facts or an intentional desire to mislead."

"It is simply absurd to suggest that we would ever compromise our integrity for any sport or athlete," the statement said.

The substances in the IV -- a saline solution and vitamins -- are not banned by the USADA. But the World Anti-Doping Agency does not allow the high volume that Mayweather took because it can mask other substances.

"Although Mr. Mayweather's application was not approved until after his fight with Mr. Pacquiao and all tests results were reported, Mr. Mayweather did disclose the infusion to USADA in advance of the IV being administered to him," USADA's statement read.

It added that once the therapeutic use exemption was granted, the Nevada commission and Pacquiao were immediately notified even though the practice is not prohibited.

Mayweather, who is fighting Andre Berto on Saturday, said he has always been a strong supporter of athletes being clean. His insistence on having the USADA do random testing was one reason his fight with Pacquiao took place five years after it was originally proposed.

"I did not commit any violations of the Nevada or USADA drug testing guidelines," Mayweather said in a statement. "I follow and have always followed the rules of Nevada and USADA, the gold standard of drug testing."

Summary: Floyd Mayweather Jr. says he did nothing wrong in taking an IV solution to rehydrate after the weigh-in for his fight against Manny Pacquiao.


05/06/2016 AT 08:10 PM EDT

If directing, acting, being married to

– and oh yeah, raising six kids – isn't enough,

's schedule is getting even busier.

has been expanding her humanitarian work thanks to a partnership with two British foreign policy experts, Chloe Dalton and Arminka Helic, who she first collaborated with four years ago while working on the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative, to end war zone rape.

Since then, the trio have set up a partnership – called Jolie Pitt Dalton Helic – to work on issues ranging from women's rights to refugee issues, health, education, international justice, and violence against women. "We have been officially working together for a year and are very much looking forward to continuing our joint efforts on our shared international interests," Jolie Pitt tells PEOPLE.

Bosnian-born Helic, who was a Special Adviser to former U.K. Foreign Minister William Hague, was made nominated to the House of Lords and named a Baroness in 2014. Dalton was most recently Special Adviser to the U.K. Foreign Secretary at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Last month the three women

in the Hague, where Helic is a member of the Board of Directors of the Trust Fund for Victims.

, where she reunited with teenage Syrian refugee Hala, who

during a 2015 trip to the refugee camp in the Bekka Valley.

Prior to that, Jolie Pitt, Helic and Dalton

ahead of he country's national elections, where

Aung San Suu Kyi on the campaign trail and talked to members of the Burmese Army about sexual violence in conflict areas.

Next up is a visit to the BBC in London on May 16 as part of a day of events to find solutions to the global refugee crisis, where Jolie Pitt will deliver the keynote speech.

Summary: The UNHCR Special Envoy has teamed up with two British foreign policy experts to strengthen her humanitarian work


If you’re not a “morning person,” then you understand the feeling of desperately wanting to be one. To night owls like me, morning people are an alien life form which cannot be understood or explained. The world runs on their time. I feel spite and envy toward them and the world in which they thrive.

I’ve tried all manner of tricks, from apps that track REM cycles to vibrating pillows and blue-light-blocking sunglasses. I bought the Clocky runaway alarm clock only to retire it when I returned from a trip to find a very distressed Clocky stuck in a corner of my apartment. The little guy had been darting around on full blast all week, and it felt like I’d committed a form of robot abuse.

But abusing myself in the quest to wake up in the morning? Yes please. For the past week and a half, I’ve tested out the Shock Clock Wake Up Trainer. Shock Clock is the latest creation from Pavlok, a wearable device startup founded by Maneesh Sethi, a blogger who became Internet-famous when he hired a woman to slap him every time he mindlessly opened Facebook. The company is promoting its new alarm product with a campaign on Indiegogo, the online crowdfunding platform.

People have used Pavlock to quit habits like biting their nails or smoking. ShockClock is the company’s foray into getting our sleepy bums out of bed. “You have an internal clock and your body decides whether it wants to abide by the internal clock,” says Sims McGrath III, Pavlock’s director of marketing. “The shock clock forces your body to abide by it.”

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Once I set up the bracelet, using Bluetooth to pair it with a corresponding app on my smartphone, I zapped myself with a test shock. Users can choose the strength of zap; a medium-strength shock was plenty of shock for me. I let out a surprised “Ah!” at the zap, even though it was self-administered. The shock isn’t painful, but it is an unpleasant feeling.

As I prepared to go to bed, the only thing I could think about when I looked at the bracelet was not wanting to feel another shock. It was the same tension and dread one might experience looking at a giant needle at the doctor’s office.

You can set the alarm in a variety of combinations; I chose one that beeps for a few seconds, then vibrates, then zaps. It’s meant to motivate people to get up and turn off their alarm before they get shocked. That’s the carrot, but you can also choose the stick: ShockClock can also be set to shock you when if you hit the snooze button.

In the end my dread of the zap was not necessary; I slept right through it. I’m a deep sleeper.

The ShockClock worked on mornings when I was already partly awake—if my normal alarm had already gone off, if my significant other was already up, or if my sleep was interrupted by noise outside. I felt the vibration, then the beep. On a few days, I avoided the shock, turned off the alarm, got up, and felt like a champion. On others, my sleepy brain was crafty enough to avoid the shock. With one eye half-open, I simply removed the watch, tossed it aside, and hit the snooze button. Merely wishing to be a morning person is not enough. Your subconscious has to be on board, too.

On the mornings I didn’t move fast enough and got zapped, I was always surprised by how painless it was compared to the feeling I’d been imagining. The idea of the shock is more powerful than the actual shock. That, or I was still half-asleep.

I have had more luck using the Pavlock unit to fix other bad habits in my life—namely, the office snack bar. Whenever I crave a giant handful of dark chocolate M&M’s covered in peanut butter (eaten with a spoon like it’s soft serve ice cream, don’t judge, you’d do it too if your office had fresh peanut butter on tap), I zap myself. There is something twisted about this kind of masochism. I feel like Silas, the Opus Dei monk from “The Da Vinci Code,” and Pavlock’s orange rubber bracelet is my cilice. A more accurate metaphor might be a dog with a shock collar. Every time I go near the snack bar my shock collar jerks me away.

There is a reason dog shock collars are popular—they work. I now associate my bowl o’ PB&M&M with the unpleasant feeling of a shock, and it holds less appeal. Unlike dogs, which sometimes build up the rebellious courage to bound through the electric fence to freedom, I can take the bracelet off and the craving is still diminished.

My half-asleep self doesn’t have that kind of control, but I made peace with that reality years ago. Becoming a morning person may not be realistic goal for some of us night owls.

Summary: It's not pleasant.


NEW YORK — Billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong, a biotechnology pioneer, wants to bring the print newspaper back to life.

On Monday, Tribune Publishing Co. said Soon-Shiong’s Nant Capital had made a $70.5 million investment in the publisher, a move seen as an attempt to fend off a hostile takeover by Gannett Co. Soon-Shiong will become vice chairman of the board, and Nant Capital will have a 12.9 percent stake, making it Tribune’s second-largest shareholder.

In an interview, Soon-Shiong, a 63-year-old surgeon and chief executive of NantKwest Inc., a cancer-research firm, said he wants to use “machine vision” technology he’s developed to transform the experience of reading a print newspaper. The Tribune’s portfolio of newspapers includes the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune.

For example, a reader could pan a camera across a physical newspaper and the photos could be turned into video. Focus the camera on a photo of basketball star Kevin Durant or Donald Trump and “you’d hear him speaking or Kevin Durant would be dunking,” he said.

“You’d be bringing to life whatever you see on the newspaper,” Soon-Shiong said. “Every page, every picture, every commercial is merely a TV channel activated by the picture itself through machine vision recognition.”

Tribune owns newspapers including the Hartford Courant, The Los Angeles Times, and The Chicago Tribune.

Soon-Shiong became a billionaire after selling two drug companies he founded. He sold APP Pharmaceuticals Inc., a supplier of drugs given through injections and intravenous drips, to Fresenius SE in 2008 for $4.6 billion. He then started Abraxis BioScience, maker of breast cancer drug Abraxane, and sold the company to Celgene Corp. for $2.9 billion. Abraxane still accounts for about 10 percent of Celgene’s product sales, bringing in $967.5 million in the 2015.

Soon-Shiong received a $329.7 million pay package as NantKwest CEO in 2015, making him the highest-paid US executive last year, according to the Bloomberg Pay Index, a ranking of the top-paid executives at companies that trade on US exchanges.

Soon-Shiong said he’s known Tribune chairman Michael Ferro for years. After Ferro became Tribune’s top shareholder earlier this year, the publishing executive visited Soon-Shiong in Los Angeles and saw the company’s technology firsthand, Soon-Shiong said.

The entrepreneur said his technology has helped blind people recognize print money and encouraged children to brush their teeth via an app called the Disney Magic Timer.

“We thought we could take this amazing technology and transition from what I’m doing in health care into the future of publishing,” he said.

Soon-Shiong’s health-care experience aligns with Tribune’s new leadership. Ferro and chief executive Justin Dearborn led Merge Healthcare Inc., whose software helps doctors manage medical images. IBM acquired the company last year for $1 billion.

Soon-Shiong also is a co-owner of the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team, a marquee professional sports team in Tribune’s biggest media market. Soon-Shiong said he planned to speak with LA Times management about how the paper and team could work together.

On Monday, Tribune rejected Gannett Co.’s latest takeover offer, escalating the battle between the newspaper companies. Gannett’s revised proposal is “clearly inadequate,” Dearborn said in a statement. The $15-a-share proposal from the publisher of USA Today was 22 percent more than its original bid of $12.25 offered publicly on April 25. Tribune sank in New York trading.

Soon-Shiong’s investment would put his company ahead of Oaktree Capital Management, which called last week for a board committee free of Ferro’s influence to consider Gannett’s offer. The moves announced Monday are the most aggressive yet by top shareholder Ferro to fend off Gannett.