??Shortest Day of the Year ??Stocks Sink on New Dangerous Virus Strain ??Politicians Cut Vaccine Line! ??Covid Escape from Cities
??Shortest Day of the Year
Happy Winter Solstice -- Today is the shortest day of the year, and the longest night, marking the beginning of winter. It's when the sun appears the lowest in the Northern Hemisphere sky and is at its farthest southern point over Earth – directly over the Tropic of Capricorn.
For folks living at 23.5 degrees south latitude, not only does this day mark their summer solstice, but they also see the Sun directly over them at local noon. After that, the Sun will start to creep back north again, and days will start getting longer!
Cuomo Calls for Testing British Travelers
NY Governor Andrew Cuomo calls it “reprehensible” and “grossly negligent” to allow UK travelers to fly into JFK Airport without being tested despite a contagious new mutation of the coronavirus shutting down London.
The reports of the new mutation — which researchers said is just as deadly as previous coronavirus strains but 70% more contagious — prompted U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson on to reimpose heavy lockdown measures for much of the country and caused several European countries like the Netherlands and Belgium to ban travelers who enter from the U.K. Cuomo calls it reprehensible the U.S. has not done the same.
Santa Leaves Wall Street Early
Stock are sinking this morning as Congress prepares to vote on a $900 billion coronavirus aid package, including a new round of $600 stimulus checks for most Americans, BUT traders are worried over that new Covid-19 strain in the U.K.
So What Should You Do Now With Your Retirement Account based on all this information? Giserman Group Client Larry Heller, CEO Heller Wealth Management on Yahoo Finance TV with answers:
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??Huh: Politicians Get Vaccine Priority?!?
Essential Workers?: President Trump, Vice President Pence and other top office-holders among the first to be offered COVID-19 vaccines.
Pence got his live on TV ahead of essential health care workers. The shots were scheduled to be given as priority to officials across all three branches of government, including leaders at the White House, in Congress, and on the Supreme Court. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell got theirs ahead of health care workers! President-elect Biden and his wife, Jill, are scheduled to receive an injection on camera Monday.
The FDA approves use of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine, clearing the way emergency use of a second coronavirus vaccine in the U.S., with the first doses expected to be given Monday.
It comes as Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine is now being distributed widely across the U.S.
Brandon Daniels, Exiger President of Global Markets tells Fox Business Network how the vaccine rollout will work and when you can get the vaccine:
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Nearly 100 American Dying Every Hour of Covid
U.S. has its DEADLIEST day of the pandemic so far: 3,700 people die in 24 hours, a record 113,069 are hospitalized
U.S. cases 17 million+, 300,000+ Deaths
President-elect Joe Biden will ask Americans to wear masks for the first 100 days after he takes office, a sign of how Biden's approach to the virus will be dramatically different from President Trump's response.
A new covid relief check may be ahead for millions of Americans. The payments are estimated to be $600 per individual, according to the latest reports from congress-people continuing the long negotiations on the package.
Overseas, Prime Minister Boris Johnson abruptly reversed course on Saturday and imposed a wholesale lockdown on London and most of England’s southeast.The decision, which Mr. Johnson announced after an emergency meeting of his cabinet, came after the government got new evidence of a variant first detected several weeks ago in Kent, southeast of London, which the prime minister asserted was 70 percent more transmissible than previous versions.
President Emmanuel Macron of France has tested positive for the coronavirus, just as his government was trying to lift lockdown restrictions before Christmas and avoid another wave of infections.
Huh??? As Fox News fear-mongers about coronavirus vaccines, a spokesman for owner Rupert Murdoch confirms that Murdoch has received the first dose of a vaccine while in the UK. Murdoch said, "I strongly encourage people to get the vaccine.
Yahoo's Anjalee Khemlani reports on the latest from Brandon Daniels, Exiger president of global markets:
?? Apple Shuts Stores Due to Covid Spike
Apple has closed all 53 of its retail stores in California after the number of coronavirus cases reached new daily records. As of Saturday, nearly 17,400 people were hospitalized in Apples home state — more than double the previous peak reached in July.
”Due to current Covid-19 conditions we are closing stores in these areas,” says an Apple spokesperson “We take this step with an abundance of caution as we closely monitor the situation and we look forward to having our teams and customers back as soon as possible.”
NYC: Be Prepared for Full ShutDown
New York City should prepare for a full shutdown and start making plans to work remotely, Mayor Bill de Blasio said. “The governor said we should prepare for the possibility for a full shutdown, I agree with that,” de Blasio said Monday. De Blasio was responding to comments made by Governor Andrew Cuomo, “You could be looking at the shutdown of New York City within a month,”
The Governor is suspending indoor restaurant dining in New York City indefinitely as of this week.
There's no reopening timeline.
Many wealthy New Yorkers are in turn fleeing to Florida. Palm Beach has seen an influx of virus-weary New Yorkers with cribs and nannies in tow.
California ordered 5,000 more body bags and has dozens of refrigerated trucks on standby as the state experiences its "most intense" COVID-19 surge to date, Gov. Gavin Newsom said.
In Boston, Mayor Marty Walsh announced the closure of museums, movie theaters and indoor fitness centers.
It's a "Perfect Storm" for Home Sales says Tim Rood, Managing Director of Situs/AMC, and former Fannie Mae Executive, as people flee NY and other cities due to the coronavirus pandemic:
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Trump Investigation Heats Up
Joe Biden officially reaches 270 Electoral College vote. The result affirms Biden as the next president after weeks of Trump’s false accusations that the election was stolen from him.
It comes as the Manhattan D.A.’s investigation of the President ramps up with prosecutors interviewing workers at Deutsche Bank and Trump’s insurance broker, according to the NY Times.
The interviews are the latest indication that once Trump leaves office, he still faces the potential threat of criminal charges that would be beyond the reach of federal pardons.
Barr Tenders Resignation
Attorney General Bill Barr is resigning.
Tensions between Trump and Barr had already been running high, and revelations that Barr had worked "for months" during the campaign to conceal a federal investigation of Hunter Biden further enraged the president.
Mouse Roars
Disney shares soaring after the mouse house said its Disney+ streaming service now has 86.8 million subscribers, a number it says could grow to 260 million by 2024.
The company said over the past 2 months, the service has added more than 13 million subscribers. Disney announcing fresh content from its biggest brands. There were new 'Star Wars' Disney+ series like a 'Mandalorian' spinoff starring the character Ahsoka Tano; a live-action 'Pinocchio' starring Tom Hanks; and a slew of Marvel series. The company also hedged its bets with its theatrical releases, saying that Disney Animation's 'Raya and the Last Dragon' is heading to Disney+ while Marvel's 'Black Widow' is still heading to theaters in May."
And get this: Reality television's royal family, the Kardashians, have inked a deal with Disney and will launch new content in 2021 on the entertainment giant's Hulu and Star streaming subsidiaries, the platforms
Facebook Shares Sink on Antitrust Suit
The Federal Trade Commission and 48 states have sued Facebook on antitrust grounds, and the stock is sinking.
A successful antitrust case could place new limits on Facebook's power or even force it to divest prior acquisition like Instagram and WhatsApp.
Apple Takes Bite Out of Peloton
Apple is taking on Peloton, with the launch of a new cheaper digital subscription fitness service.
Stoking the explosive demand for digital fitness as the pandemic forces people to stay at home, Apple's Fitness+ app will allow users to access on-demand workouts and sync their activity with their Apple Watch. While Peloton “separates itself from Apple in its hardware products,” analysts say Apple’s new offering will spark fierce competition in the interactive fitness space. Apple’s monthly service will cost $9.99, Peloton’s goes for $12.99.
Pandemic Pot Sales Soar
Cannabis sales hit record levels over the Thanksgiving weekend, prompting industry predictions the combination of COVID-19 anxiety and a trend toward legalization has triggered a permanent uplift in demand.
One of the top cannabis data aggregator and research companies Akerna said sales on Green Wednesday, as the eve of Thanksgiving is known, climbed by 80 percent above the daily average this year, hitting an all-time one-day record.
It comes as the House on Friday passed a landmark bill that would remove federal penalties on marijuana and erase cannabis-related criminal records. But the stodgy U.S. Senate is not expected to take up the bill.
Let Them Eat Cake: White House Covid Christmas Parties!?!
President Trump's lawyer Jenna Ellis has coronavirus, after attending a senior staff Christmas party. She follows Rudy Giuliani, President Trump’s personal and campaign lawyer, who was treated for the coronavirus and has since left the hospital. The White House is hosting 20 indoor holiday parties this season, even as its own coronavirus task force warns against it. Pictures show attendees not wearing masks,
In stark contrast, former Presidents Obama, Bush and Clinton are volunteering to get their Covid-19 vaccines on camera to promote public confidence in its safety once authorized by the FDA, as will Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Times Person(s) of the Year
Time magazine has named Joe Biden and Kamala Harris 2020's Person of the Year. The two made history on November 7 when they beat Donald Trump in a bitter election that put him in a small club of presidents who served only one term. Harris on that day became the country's first female, first Black and first South Asian vice president-elect.
A Rose (Bowl) By Any Other Name
The Rose Bowl, the most famous postseason game in college football, will be played without spectators on Jan. 1 due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Organizers said the game, which will host one of the College Football Playoff’s national semifinal matchups for this season, will be played, but without fans in the stadium near Los Angeles.
Fighting for Honor:
Giserman Group Delivers for Our Client VMM Law --working to Honor a NY Fire Department Hero 77 Years after His Death via NBC4:
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?Reel News
Every movie on the 2021 Warner Bros. release calendar — including big-budget extravaganzas like “Suicide Squad 2,” “Godzilla vs. Kong,” “Dune” and “The Matrix 4” — will arrive simultaneously in theaters and on the HBO Max. HBO Max subscribers will get instant access to 17 movies in total, a slate that easily represents more than $1 billion in production costs.
Pardon Us: Trump to Preemptive Pardon His Family
President Donald Trump has discussed with advisers whether to grant preemptive pardons to his children, to his son-in-law and to his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani, and talked with Giuliani about pardoning himself as recently as last week, according to two people briefed on the matter.
Trump has told others that he is concerned that a Biden Justice Department might seek retribution against the president by targeting the oldest three of his five children — Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump — as well as Trump’s husband, Jared Kushner, a White House senior adviser.
Biden Transition
Attorney General William Barr says the Justice Department has uncovered no evidence of widespread voter fraud that could change the outcome of the 2020 election, disputing President Donald Trump’s persistent, baseless claims.
Fox News anchor Maria Bartiromo getting criticism from all sides after expressing outrage on her Sunday Show as President Donald Trump leveled a series of baseless allegations of voter fraud in support of the outlandish conspiracy theory that the election was stolen from him.
Bartiromo, whose network Fox News has called the race for Joe Biden, landed the first interview with Trump since he lost re-election. The lengthy phone conversation, which came as top Republicans prepare for a Biden administration and the Trump administration begins the transition, focused almost entirely on Trump’s claims that the election was stolen through fraud.
Biden has named Former Fed Chair Janet Yellen as his Treasury Secretary, the first woman to ever serve in that position.
The President-elect announced he’s selected an all-female communications team to work for his administration. It’s the first time in history that the senior communications roles in the White House will be filled entirely by women. Jennifer Psaki, who worked as President Barack Obama’s communications director will be Biden’s press secretary.
Elon Musk 2nd Richest in World
Tesla's Elon Musk is now the world’s second richest person after he leapfrogged Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index.
The 49-year-old entrepreneur, who is also the co-founder of space exploration firm SpaceX, saw his net worth rise by $7.2 billion to $128 billion after the news that the electric car company will be admitted to the S&P 500 index in December.
The only person ahead of Musk now is Amazon boss Jeff Bezos, who took the top spot from Gates in 2017 and has stayed there since.
Do as We Say, Not as We Do
CEO Lachlan Murdoch wrote Fox employees to let them know the company has "delayed our reopening date to no earlier than April 2021,” and employees will continue working from home.
This decision comes as Fox News hosts rail against lockdowns.
NYC Reopening Some Schools, Bars are Open!?!
New York City reopening some of its public schools again, joining Los Angeles, Chicago and others.
The nation's largest school system resumed some classes Monday for students in Grade K-5 elementary schools as well those enrolled in 3-K and Pre-K programs, but all other students continue online learning.
Giserman Group Client Attorney Joseph Trotti of Vishnick McGovern Milizio on the News 12 Network says there are legal ramifications to reopening schools everywhere:
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Pope Support Same-Sex Civil Unions
Pope Paul says he supports same-sex civil unions.
Giserman Group client VMM Attorney Joseph Milizio on 1010 WINS with what the Pope's endorsement means for LGBT legal rights:
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Walmart Fires Robots, Hires Humans
Walmart is parting ways with robots used to monitor store inventory as the retail giant realizes humans are just as capable.
The robot layoff is the result of the company cutting ties with startup Bossa Nova Robotics, which provided six-foot-tall inventory-tracking machines.
Walmart executives determined they can use their own store employees to effectively keep tabs of inventory. Walmart US chief executive John Furner has also expressed concern over shopper reactions to the hulking robots.
Santa Won’t Get Vaccine Early
Ho, Ho, huh? The Trump administration has halted a coro-n-avirus ad-vertis-ing cam-paign funded by $250 mil-lion in taxpayer money, af-ter it offered early access to vac-cines to an un-usual set of es-sen-tial work-ers: Santa Claus perform-ers
The De-partment of Health and Hu-man Services now says the Santa plan will be scrapped. The deal according to the Wall Street Journal was the brain-child of lMichael Caputo, the HHS assistant sec-re-tary, who took a 60-day med-ical leave last month. The rest of the cam-paign now is un-der an HHS re-view.
Barbie Sales Skyrocket in Pandemic
Peace at any price. Parents buying Barbie dolls in record numbers for their kids during this coronavirus pandemic.
Mat-tel’s flag-ship doll posted a 29% sales in-crease in the third quarter, lead-ing the toy com-pany to 10% rev-enue growth. It was the largest quar-terly in-crease posted by Bar-bie go-ing back at least two
Christmas May Be Late This Year
FedEx and UPS may be the grinch that deliver your holiday packages late this year.
Both FedEx and United Par-cel Ser-vice have told some of their largest ship-pers that most of their ca-pac-ity is al-ready spo-ken for, and that any ex-tra trail-ers with hol-iday or-ders will have to wait to be picked up, ac-cording to ship-ping con-sul-tants and re-tail-ers.
The warning comes as Amazon reportedly raked in more than $10 billion during its Prime Day sale. The record-breaking number represents a 45.2 percent increase over last year’s Prime Day event in July, according to a report by Digital Commerce 360.
All this may mean your Christmas and Chanukah presents won’t arrive till late January.
CVS Hiring 15,000 to Deal With Covid, Flu
CVS plans to hire 15,000 employees nationwide to better support communities during the fall and winter when the number of Covid and flu cases are projected to rise.
A majority of the roles – more than 10,000 of the positions – will be full- and part-time licensed pharmacy technicians that are considered "vital to administering COVID-19 tests," the company said.
Boss Should Pay for Your Work From Home Coffee
Should remote workers be compensated for everyday expenses usually covered by their employer?
In the Netherlands, the National Institute for Family Finance Information has calculated that employers should pay $2.50 a day to cover the costs of coffee, electricity, water, and toilet paper used by staff on the boss's time. So have another cup of Joe.
Banks Make Billions on PPP as SmallBiz Fail
Banks made $18 billion in fees for processing small business Paycheck Protection Program relief loans during the pandemic as over 110,000 small businesses across the country were forced to shut down permanently because of coronavirus restrictions.
Giserman Group Client, Attorney Avrohom Gefen, of Vishnick McGovern Milizio, on the News 12 Network across NY, NJ and on FacebookLive on how your business can reopen safely, legally and stay healthy.
Happy Virtual New Year
New Year’s Eve in Times Square will not look like this:
Instead, this year’s celebration will be virtual. Organizers say that the celebrations will be visually compelling and different from previous years, bringing the energy of Times Square and the ball drop digitally to viewers around the world. An extremely limited group of in-person honorees, socially distanced, who will reflect the themes, challenges and inspirations of 2020 will take part in the celebration.