Month: November 2022

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10 Tips For Building A Positive Community Around Your Business

10 Tips For Building A Positive Community Around Your Business

On a primary amount, a profitable business is just one that generates ample revenue to switch a gain each 12 months. However, if business homeowners want to manage that results more than a prolonged interval of time, a single tactic that is generally handy is developing a positive neighborhood all over your products, service or company. Performing so provides your consumers a position to interact with each other as effectively as with you and your workforce, and fosters loyalty and enthusiasm in your admirer foundation.

Even so, creating a neighborhood all over your enterprise does not transpire right away, and it will acquire time and a very well-considered-out plan to realize. To assistance, 10 members of Younger Entrepreneur Council share their finest tips for creating a community—online or otherwise—and why executing so is so impactful for your enterprise.

1. Create An Open up Area For Men and women To Hook up

The expression “community” is utilized a large amount these days, but one particular point is apparent: If you happen to be not developing meaningful connections concerning men and women, you never have a community, you have an audience. It is significant to produce an open up area for your customers to discuss, and to persuade an open dialogue that doesn’t normally involve you or your business location the tone. Also, don’t forget that, at its main, a local community is a basic human need—people normally want to belong and feel that they belong. Regularly enable your community know that they are valued. Don’t forget that there is no substitute for in-human being relationship. On line communities are a terrific starting off point for strategies and new friendships, but real-existence conversations are in which all those associations develop into serious. – Greg Ashton, Develop

2. Rally All over A Induce

It is least complicated to develop a neighborhood around a social bring about linked to your item or company. For illustration, if you happen to be in the small business of production or providing splendor merchandise, you can commence a neighborhood the place individuals share their favourite makeup appears and construct each individual other’s self-esteem. When there is a prevalent social bring about, individuals respond to it and uplift every other. You can start constructing this neighborhood inside of your do the job loved ones. Encourage your staff members to interact with your on-line audience. They have to believe in the bring about to be equipped to market the brand name to the group. Be client. It normally takes time and work to set up group connections. Share instructional and impactful content in just your shared place, and before long more than enough, more users will be inspired to share their possess stories. – Bryce Welker, Crush The GRE

3. Leverage Person-Generated Content

A person piece of advice I have for building equally an on line and offline local community all-around a product or service, assistance or brand name is to source written content from true buyers. The price of developing information from scratch can be debilitating for new makes, in particular with the ever-growing calls for of material frequency. Paying out for skilled pictures on each and every social media put up is just not feasible for the wide the vast majority of enterprises leveraging these marketing and advertising channels. As an alternative, have somebody in the corporation with a fantastic eye for layout and storytelling curate content material from genuine shoppers. Tons of individuals post substantial-good quality content on social media about brand names. Reposting is usually welcome, assisting to not only build model loyalty with the creator, but also show shoppers the model genuinely connects with them. – Richard Fong, Disability Enable

4. Resolve A Difficulty Without the need of Promoting

Most corporations these days try to make communities to obtain traction from their respective audiences and promote their items or expert services. This is a frequent mistake you ought to avoid. Engagement is the prerequisite for building a effective group. No matter if it can be men and women assisting some others or enterprises serving to consumers locate fitting methods, the core objective of a group is to address the troubles of its associates. So, if you try to create a group, make 1 that will help folks request the answers they are hunting for—not one particular that advertises how excellent your goods or companies are. This will help you build a local community that persons will gladly want to be a part of. – Stephanie Wells, Formidable Sorts

5. Appoint A Focused Group Supervisor

The most vital point you can do when making a neighborhood close to your merchandise, services or enterprise is to use the ideal group manager. This is someone who will be dependable for fostering interactions and driving engagement in the local community. The proper community supervisor will have a deep knowing of your solution or service and be passionate about its achievements. They will also be capable to effectively converse your eyesight for the group and rally some others around it. Additionally, they will be proficient in running challenging conversations and be capable to resolve conflicts rapidly and efficiently. An helpful neighborhood manager will be the glue that retains the neighborhood collectively and ensures that it is a constructive, supportive environment for all. – Abhijeet Kaldate, Astra WordPress Theme

6. Switch Customers Into Brand Ambassadors

Create a devoted brand ambassador application and really encourage your loyal consumers to join. Brand name ambassadors are passionate about your merchandise and can assist distribute the phrase about it. They can enable advertise your solution on social media, at occasions and as a result of word-of-mouth, as very well as construct a group by creating an on-line forum or Facebook team in which men and women can talk to thoughts, give suggestions and share suggestions and tricks. All of these need to have to come about to construct an interactive group all-around your solution. Produce a site or blog and offer special written content for users only. This will give men and women an incentive to join and turn out to be active members. You can also hold gatherings and meetups for customers to get collectively and interact in human being. – Candice Georgiadis, Electronic Working day

7. Inspire Prospects To Interact And Share

I consider the finest way to establish a neighborhood is to inspire other folks to share their ideas and encounters. Men and women are on the lookout for brands to help with their troubles, but they also want a position for open discourse. I advise sharing interactive posts that really encourage your viewers customers to converse their minds. For instance, you could question a probing issue, share a startling statistic or invite end users to share their activities with other people. – John Brackett, Smash Balloon LLC

8. Be Legitimate

The initially move to setting up a group is to be legitimate. I have witnessed a great deal of persons attempt to leverage the electricity of social media to expand their companies and establish their makes, but they don’t appear to fully grasp the relevance of authenticity. They just publish generic messages, or they try out to be also intelligent by 50 {ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550}. But if you’re not staying honest, who’s likely to have confidence in you? The greatest issue you can do is merely be on your own and share what you really like with the planet. Folks will experience connected with you mainly because they can see that you will find a true human being powering the products or service—and that individual cares about what they are executing! – Brian Greenberg, Insurist

9. Supply Academic Methods

As organization owners, we cannot only focus on the here and now. We must concentration on disrupting the market, effecting modify and giving merchandise and expert services that stand the exam of time. What better way to do this than to develop a group that supports and believes in what we’re marketing? This is why it’s amazingly vital to build advisory and academic expert services to assist prospects establish and refine their techniques utilizing field finest practices. No matter whether you do this by online gatherings, no cost assets or on the web message boards is up to you. What is crucial is realizing that currently being a successful entrepreneur is occasionally a lot less about advertising anything and much more about sharing your industry information to aid our communities attain a lot more. – Riccardo Conte, Virtus Flow

10. Obtain The Suitable System For Engagement

Initial, obtain a way to distinguish your brand name. The additional you established your firm or product or service apart from your competitors, the a lot more desire present-day and likely people will choose in it. Then, set up the creating blocks for your group. Focus on social media platforms or marketing and advertising channels that are interactive and let you to dive deep—and let your users to dive deep with you. It could be Twitch, Discord, Pinterest, a branded podcast and so on. Lean into channels that your viewers now makes use of or that seem to get the job done perfectly for your opponents. – Andrew Schrage, Money Crashers Personalized Finance

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Student loan refund checks on their way to millions: Here’s what to do if you don’t benefit

Student loan refund checks on their way to millions: Here’s what to do if you don’t benefit

Millions are acquiring university student bank loan refund checks many thanks to a CARES Act provision, but a lot of will not qualify for any financial debt aid. (iStock)

As the White House’s scholar loan forgiveness application faces ongoing authorized battles, refund checks are currently being despatched to debtors who manufactured university student mortgage payments throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

The checks occur immediately after the CARES Act paused payments for federal student financial loan debtors throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout this time, federal student loan payments ended up paused and interest fees dropped to {ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550} as part of the pandemic reduction package deal passed in March 2020.

“If you made voluntary payments throughout the payment pause (from March 13, 2020, by Dec. 31, 2022) and your current loan balance is under the volume of personal debt aid you will obtain, immediately after you efficiently implement for and obtain personal debt aid underneath the administration’s personal debt reduction strategy, we’ll routinely refund the total you paid out all through the payment pause (only up to the remaining amount of money of your suitable debt aid),” the Business office of Federal Pupil Assist states on its site.

Nonetheless, about 9.1 million federal scholar bank loan borrowers have produced at the very least just one payment from April 2020 to March 2022, according to the Place of work of Federal Pupil Aid. 

The pause is established to expire on December 31, 2022, next various extensions. Borrowers can call their pupil personal loan servicers to request refunds, according to the Business office of Federal College student Support. 

However, most federal student loan reduction doesn’t apply to private university student loan debtors. If you have private student loans and are hunting to lower your month-to-month payment, you could contemplate taking out a loan refinance to reduced your desire price. Go to Credible to review diverse college student bank loan loan providers, devoid of impacting your credit score rating.

Very good News: Private University student Financial loan Fascination Charges PLUNGE FOR 5- AND 10-Year Financial loans

Biden administration says scholar loan payment pause will not be extended

Even though federal scholar personal loan payments are presently paused and payments are optional, the Biden Administration declared in August the remaining extension of the “pause on pupil bank loan repayment, fascination, and collections through December 31, 2022.”

That suggests tens of millions of borrowers will want to get started building payments when all over again starting January 2023. The common monthly pupil financial loan payment for the latest graduates is $393, according to details from Credible. But more than 50 percent of college student financial loan debtors say they will not or may perhaps not be in a position to make payments when the pause ends, according to a review by Early morning Consult. 

If you have private scholar financial loans, they do not qualify for the federal college student personal loan payment pause. But you can reduce your month to month payments by refinancing.  Take a look at Credible to evaluate many student bank loan loan companies at after and find the interest charge which is ideal for you. 

HOW TO GET YOUR Funds All set FOR THE Finish OF THE College student Bank loan PAYMENTS PAUSE

University student bank loan forgiveness currently being battled in court

In August, President Joe Biden introduced his strategy to deliver one particular-time university student financial loan forgiveness of up to $10,000 to thousands and thousands of borrowers, or up to $20,000 for individuals who applied Pell Grant financial loans in faculty. To qualify, federal university student bank loan debtors ought to make less than $125,000 for each 12 months or $250,000 for married couples. 

But that plan is now remaining challenged in courtroom. A federal appeals court docket on Oct. 21 issued a non permanent block on the pupil personal loan forgiveness application as it considers lawful troubles raised by 6 states: Nebraska, Missouri, Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas and South Carolina. 

Prior to this determination, a federal district judge dismissed the circumstance, arguing plaintiffs did not exhibit that the plan straight harms their states. But the states appealed the decision. As the legal battle proceeds, the Biden Administration urged debtors to retain making use of for pupil mortgage forgiveness. 

But if Biden’s scholar mortgage forgiveness program goes into effect, private pupil personal loan borrowers won’t profit. If you have non-public university student loans, you can likely minimize your regular scholar financial loan payment by refinancing to a decreased desire price. Go to Credible to discover your personalised desire amount in minutes.

BIDEN ADMINISTRATION REVISES College student Financial loan FORGIVENESS FOR SOME Debtors

Have a finance-linked dilemma, but you should not know who to talk to? Email The Credible Funds Pro at moneyexpert@credible.com and your issue could be answered by Credible in our Cash Expert column.

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Newtek Business Services Corp. Reports Third Quarter 2022

Newtek Business Services Corp. Reports Third Quarter 2022

Record SBA 7(a) Loan Fundings of $223.0 Million Increased by 36.0{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550} in the Third Quarter of 2022 Over the Same Period Last Year

Raised Full Year 2022 SBA 7(a) Loan Funding Guidance to Approximately $775 Million

BOCA RATON, Fla., Nov. 07, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Newtek Business Services Corp. (“Newtek” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: NEWT), an internally managed business development company (“BDC”), announced today its financial and operating results for three and nine months ended September 30, 2022.

Third Quarter 2022 Financial Highlights

  • Total investment income of $23.6 million for the three months ended September 30, 2022; an increase of 90.0{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550} compared to total investment income of $12.4 million for the three months ended September 30, 2021.
  • Net investment income (loss) of $0.2 million, or $0.01 per share, for the three months ended September 30, 2022, which represents a 103.3{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550} increase, on a per share basis, compared to net investment income (loss) of $(6.7) million, or $(0.30) per share, for the three months ended September 30, 2021.
  • Adjusted net investment income (“ANII”)1 of $15.0 million, or $0.62 per share, for the three months ended September 30, 2022; an increase of 10.7{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550}, on a per share basis, compared to ANII of $12.6 million, or $0.56 per share, for the three months ended September 30, 2021.
  • Debt-to-equity ratio of 1.41x at September 30, 2022; proforma debt-to-equity ratio was 1.26x after taking into account the sales of government-guaranteed portions of SBA 7(a) loans prior to September 30, 2022, which sales settled subsequent to the balance sheet date.
  • Total investment portfolio increased by 10.3{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550} to $785.6 million at September 30, 2022, from $712.5 million at September 30, 2021.
  • Net asset value (“NAV”) of $391.8 million, or $16.04 per share, at September 30, 2022 compared to NAV of $16.23 per share at September 30, 2021.

Financial Highlights For the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2022

  • Total investment income of $63.2 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022; a decrease of (24.5){ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550} over total investment income of $83.7 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2021 which included $50.0 million of fee income from the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”), which, as previously disclosed, is not recurring.
  • Net investment income (loss) of $(1.1) million, or $(0.04) per share, for the nine months ended September 30, 2022, which represents a (103.7){ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550} decrease, on a per share basis, compared to net investment income (loss) of $24.0 million, or $1.07 per share, for the nine months ended September 30, 2021, which included $50.0 million of fee income from the PPP which, as previously disclosed, is not recurring.
  • ANII1 of $50.3 million, or $2.08 per share, for the nine months ended September 30, 2022; a decrease of (26.0){ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550}, on a per share basis, compared to ANII of $63.1 million, or $2.81 per share, for the nine months ended September 30, 2021, which included $50.0 million of fee income from the PPP which, as previously disclosed, is not recurring.

    Additional Third Quarter Highlights

  • On September 21, 2022, the Company announced its future rebranding strategy in anticipation of the acquisition of the National Bank of New York City (“NBNYC,” and the “Acquisition”), which is pending approval of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Office of the Comptroller of Currency and the U.S. Small Business Administration (“Regulatory Approvals”) and satisfaction of closing conditions.
    • Upon receipt of the pending Regulatory Approvals and the close of the Acquisition, Newtek plans to change its name to “NewtekOne®” and to rename NBNYC, the 59-year-old nationally chartered bank, “Newtek Bank, National Association.”
  • On September 7, 2022, the Company closed its twelfth small business loan securitization, with the sale of $116.2 million of Unguaranteed SBA 7(a) Loan-Backed Notes, Series 2022-1, consisting of $95.4 million of Class A Notes and $20.8 million of Class B Notes, rated“A- (sf)” and “BBB- (sf)”, respectively, by S&P Global Ratings.

2022 Dividend Declarations & Payments

  • On September 30, 2022, the Company paid a third quarter 2022 cash dividend of $0.65 per share to shareholders of record as of September 20, 2022.
  • On September 28, 2022, the Company forecasted a fourth quarter 2022 cash distribution of $0.70 per share, which includes a spillover dividend of Company retained earnings in anticipation of the Company converting from a BDC and discontinuing its election to be regulated under the Investment Company Act of 1940, subject to Regulatory Approvals of the pending Acquisition and other conditions described in the Company’s proxy statement filed with the SEC on May 2, 2022, after which the Company would no longer qualify as a regulated investment company (“RIC”) for federal income tax purposes and will no longer qualify for accounting treatment as an investment company. This dividend is subject to Board approval.2
  • If this fourth quarter 2022 distribution is declared by the Board, the Company expects to pay approximately $2.75 per share in cash dividends and distributions to shareholders in 2022.

Lending Highlights

  • Newtek Small Business Finance, LLC (“NSBF”) funded a record $223.0 million of SBA 7(a) loans during the three months ended September 30, 2022; a 36.0{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550} increase over the $163.9 million of SBA 7(a) loans funded for the three months ended September 30, 2021.
  • NSBF funded a record $586.9 million in SBA 7(a) loans for the nine months ended September 30, 2022, which represents an 61.9{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550} increase over $362.6 million SBA 7(a) loan fundings for the nine months ended September 30, 2021.
  • NSBF funded $64.1 million SBA 7(a) loans in October 2022.
  • From January 1, 2022 through October 31, 2022, NSBF funded a record $650.9 million of SBA 7(a) loans; a 68.3{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550} increase over $386.8 million of SBA 7(a) loans for the same period last year.
  • NSBF increased its full year 2022 SBA 7(a) loan funding guidance to approximately $775 million, which would represent a 38.2{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550} increase over $560.6 million of SBA 7(a) loans funded in 2021.
  • Newtek Business Lending (“NBL”), a wholly owned portfolio company, closed $101.0 million of SBA 504 loans year-to-date through October 31, 2022; an increase of 22.6{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550} over $82.4 million of SBA 504 loans closed during the same period in 2021.
  • NBL forecasts closing approximately $150 million of SBA 504 loans for the full year 2022, which would represent a 66.5{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550} increase over $90.1 million of SBA 504 closings in 2021.

Barry Sloane, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer said, “We are extremely proud of our results for the third quarter and first nine months of 2022. While 2022 has been challenging, due to the preparation for the repositioning of the Company in anticipation of converting to a bank holding company through the pending Acquisition of NBNYC, which remains subject to Regulatory Approvals; an increase in interest rates; and the impacts of inflation on our operating businesses as well as those of our clients, we are thrilled with the results we have been able to produce. We believe net investment income of $0.01 per share for the third quarter of 2022 exceeds analysts’ consensus estimates of $(0.05) per share, and we believe our ANII for the third quarter 2022 of $0.62 per share, exceeds analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 per share. We are pleased to have been able to beat analysts consensus estimates. In addition, it is important to remind our investor base that our results for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 compared to the same period in 2021, do not include the benefit of the extraordinary performance the Company had in funding loans under the PPP, which PPP fee income is non-recurring.”

Commenting on Newtek’s SBA 7(a) loan program Mr. Sloane said, “We had record SBA 7(a) loan fundings in the third quarter of 2022, which followed record SBA 7(a) fundings in the second quarter of 2022. In fact, year-to-date through October 31, 2022, we have funded a record $650.9 million in SBA 7(a) loans which represents a 68{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550} increase over the $386.3 million SBA 7(a) loans funded for the same period last year. Furthermore, from January 1, 2022 through October 31, 2022, we funded a total of 1,037 SBA 7(a) loan units, which represents an 86{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550} increase over the 557 SBA 7(a) loan units for the same period last year. With our strong SBA 7(a) funding performance thus far this year, coupled with the fact that there is less than two months left in 2022, we are raising our full year 2022 SBA 7(a) loan funding guidance to $775 million. In addition, with these record fundings, it is important to note that that the Company has been mindful in tightening its credit standards as evidenced by the weighted average FICO score in NSBF’s most recent securitization, which equaled 725 on its guarantors versus a weighted average FICO score of 704 in our SBA 7(a) loan portfolio at December 31, 2021.”

Mr. Sloane continued, “The Company also anticipates NBL closing a record number of SBA 504 loans in the fourth quarter of 2022 and achieving record SBA 504 loan closings of $150 million for the full year of 2022. The performance of NBL’s SBA 504 and non-conforming conventional loan program demonstrates the ability to acquire, assemble, underwrite, fund, and manage loans of all sizes, types and credit quality among the Company’s independent business owner client base. NBL’s SBA 504 loan program, which has originated $388.4 million of SBA 504 loans since 2017, has not experienced any charge offs or defaults In addition, we have originated $132.5 million in non-conforming conventional loans since the inception of the program in 2019, and have not experienced any charge offs or defaults. Furthermore, during the third quarter of 2022, the Company entered into a new joint venture agreement with a $15 billion asset management company to provide up to $100 million of equity capital to fund non-conforming conventional loans. Additionally, the joint venture is preparing to close on a $150 million leverage facility from a well-known investment bank. We believe we will be able to fund $600 million of non-conforming conventional loans in 2023 and over $1.0 billion non-conforming conventional loans in 2024, which will be part of our forecasts going forward.”

Mr. Sloane further commented, “We also are pleased that, despite turbulent market conditions, our wholly-owned controlled portfolio companies, Newtek Merchant Solutions and Newtek Technology Solutions, are expected to generate approximately a combined $20 million of EBITDA in 2023. The Company, during this transformative period of anticipating conversion from a BDC to a bank holding company, has been limited in its ability to forecast future earnings and dividends beyond 2022 due to the pending Acquisition of NBNYC. We are reaffirming our forecast for a fourth quarter 2022 distribution of $0.70 per share, which would bring total cash dividends and distributions for 2022 to $2.75 per share. The fourth quarter 2022 forecasted distribution of $0.70 per share, which includes a spillover dividend of Company retained earnings in anticipation of the Company converting from a BDC, is expected to be paid on or about December 31, 2022.”

Discussing rising interest rates, Mr. Sloane concluded, “We have been asked regularly how increases in interest rates affect our business model. We believe that anyone stating that rising interest rates is good for business is not giving the full picture. In our case, we believe that we are well positioned as our floating rate SBA 7(a) loan portfolio primarily adjusts at Prime plus 275 basis points without a cap; moreover, new SBA 7(a) loan originations will be at Prime plus 300 basis points in accordance with new SBA rules. Prime is currently at 7.00{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550}, however based on the SOFR futures market, we believe Prime will increase by an additional 50 basis points in December, and as such it’s likely our SBA 7(a) portfolio will adjust to a 10{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550} to 10.5{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550} coupon in January 2023. We believe converting to a bank holding company and owning a bank will carve out an attractive future for us as it will enable us to finance our growth with core deposits. We look forward to the possible Regulatory Approvals of the Acquisition in the fourth quarter of 2022. Once we have a clear path to converting to a bank holding company, we anticipate forecasting earnings as a bank holding company for the next 24 months.”

Third Quarter 2022 Conference Call and Webcast

A conference call to discuss third quarter 2022 results will be hosted by Barry Sloane, President, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Nicholas Leger, Chief Accounting Officer, tomorrow, Tuesday, November 8, 2022 at 8:30 a.m. ET.

Please note, to attend the conference call or webcast, participants should register online at http://investor.newtekbusinessservices.com/events-and-presentations. To receive a dial-in number, participants are requested to register at a minimum 15 minutes before the start of the call. The corresponding presentation will be available in the ‘Events & Presentations’ section of the Investor Relations portion of Newtek’s website at http://investor.newtekbusinessservices.com/events-and-presentations. A replay of the call with the corresponding presentation will be available on Newtek’s website shortly following the live presentation and will be available for a period of 90 days.

1Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures – Newtek Business Services Corp. and Subsidiaries

In evaluating its business, Newtek considers and uses ANII as a measure of its operating performance. ANII includes short-term capital gains from the sale of the guaranteed portions of SBA 7(a) loans and conventional loans, and beginning in 2016, capital gain distributions from controlled portfolio companies, which are reoccurring events. The Company defines ANII as net investment income (loss) plus net realized gains recognized from the sale of guaranteed portions of SBA 7(a) loan investments, less realized losses on non-affiliate investments, plus the net realized gains on controlled investments, plus or minus the change in fair value of contingent consideration liabilities, plus loss on extinguishment of debt, plus or minus an adjustment for gains or losses on derivative transactions.

We do not designate derivatives as hedges to qualify for hedge accounting and therefore any net payments under, or fluctuations in the fair value of, our derivatives are recognized currently in our GAAP income statement. However, fluctuations in the fair value of the related assets are not included in our income statement. We consider the gain or loss on our hedging positions related to assets that we still own as of the reporting date to be “open hedging positions.” While recognized for GAAP purposes, we exclude the results on the hedges from ANII until the related asset is sold and/or the hedge position is “closed,” whereupon they would then be included in ANII in that period. These are reflected as “adjustment for realized gain/(loss) on derivatives” for purposes of computing ANII for the period. Management believes that excluding these specifically identified gains and losses associated with the open hedging positions adjusts for timing differences between when we recognize changes in the fair values of our assets and changes in the fair value of the derivatives used to hedge such assets.

The term ANII is not defined under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or U.S. GAAP, and is not a measure of operating income, operating performance or liquidity presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. ANII has limitations as an analytical tool and, when assessing the Company’s operating performance, investors should not consider ANII in isolation, or as a substitute for net investment income, or other consolidated income statement data prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Among other things, ANII does not reflect the Company’s actual cash expenditures. Other companies may calculate similar measures differently than Newtek, limiting their usefulness as comparative tools. The Company compensates for these limitations by relying primarily on its GAAP results supplemented by ANII. Reconciliation tables showing the adjustments made to net investment income to determine NII are attached to this press release.

2 Note Regarding Dividend Payments

Amount and timing of dividends, if any, remain subject to the discretion of the Company’s Board of Directors. The Company’s Board of Directors expects that it will maintain its status as a BDC and regulated investment company (“RIC”) in the near term, and therefore expects to maintain a dividend policy with the objective of making quarterly distributions in an amount that approximates 90 – 100{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550} of the Company’s annual taxable income. The determination of the tax attributes of the Company’s distributions is made annually as of the end of the Company’s fiscal year based upon its taxable income for the full year and distributions paid for the full year.

Newtek Business Services Corp., Your Business Solutions Company®, is an internally managed BDC, which along with its controlled portfolio companies, provides a wide range of business and financial solutions under the Newtek® brand to the small- and medium-sized business (“SMB”) market. Since 1999, Newtek has provided state-of-the-art, cost-efficient products and services and efficient business strategies to SMB relationships across all 50 states to help them grow their sales, control their expenses and reduce their risk.

Newtek’s and its portfolio companies’ products and services include: Business Lending, SBA Lending Solutions, Electronic Payment Processing, Technology Solutions (Cloud Computing, Data Backup, Storage and Retrieval, IT Consulting), eCommerce, Accounts Receivable Financing & Inventory Financing, Insurance Solutions, Web Services, and Payroll and Benefits Solutions.

Newtek® and Your Business Solutions Company®, are registered trademarks of Newtek Business Services Corp.

Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements. Words such as “believes,” “intends,” “expects,” “projects,” “anticipates,” “forecasts,” “goal” and “future” or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations reflected in or suggested by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, include our ability to close the pending acquisition of the National Bank of New York City (the “Transaction”), obtain required regulatory approvals for the pending Transaction, the timing of the closing of the Transaction, the timing of the Company’s discontinuance from regulation as a BDC under the 1940 Act, projections concerning or considering the pending Transaction, the timing of our our ability to originate new investments, achieve certain margins and levels of profitability, the availability of additional capital and the ability to maintain certain debt to asset ratios, intensified competition, operating problems and their impact on revenues and profit margins, anticipated future business strategies and financial performance, anticipated future number of customers, business prospects, legislative developments and similar matters. Risk factors, cautionary statements and other conditions, which could cause Newtek’s actual results to differ from management’s current expectations, are contained in Newtek’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available through http://www.sec.gov/.    Newtek cautions you that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected or implied in these statements.

SOURCE: Newtek Business Services Corp.

Investor Relations & Public Relations
Contact: Jayne Cavuoto
Telephone: (212) 273-8179 / jcavuoto@newtekone.com

NEWTEK BUSINESS SERVICES CORP. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES
(In Thousands, except for Per Share Data)
  September 30, 2022   December 31, 2021
ASSETS (Unaudited)    
Investments, at fair value      
SBA unguaranteed non-affiliate investments (cost of $502,400 and $431,970, respectively; includes $438,045 and $344,266, respectively, related to securitization trusts) $ 488,376   $ 424,417
SBA guaranteed non-affiliate investments (cost of $21,648 and $65,728, respectively)   22,949     72,970
Controlled investments (cost of $168,237 and $157,289, respectively)   272,928     260,398
Non-control investments (cost of $1,360 and $1,000, respectively)   1,360     1,000
Total investments at fair value   785,613     758,785
Cash   7,355     2,397
Restricted cash   74,777     184,463
Broker receivable   71,634     44,537
Due from related parties   947     4,395
Servicing assets, at fair value   33,530     28,008
Right of use assets   6,381     7,310
Other assets   26,298     26,666
Total assets $ 1,006,535   $ 1,056,561
       
LIABILITIES AND NET ASSETS      
Liabilities:      
Bank notes payable $ 67,500   $ 50,000
2024 Notes (par: $38,250 and $38,250 as of September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021)   37,847     37,679
2025 6.85{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550} Notes (par: $0 and $15,000 as of September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021)   —     14,545
2025 5.00{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550} Notes (par: $30,000 and $0 as of September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021)   29,246     —
2026 Notes (par: $115,000 and $115,000 as of September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021)   112,666     112,128
Notes payable – Securitization trusts (par: $302,253 and $249,750 as of September 30, 2022 and December 31, 2021)   298,125     246,250
Notes payable – related parties   150     11,450
Due to related parties   1,849     1,490
Lease liabilities   7,945     9,056
Deferred tax liabilities   12,908     12,733
Due to participants   34,660     146,225
Derivative instruments   —     183
Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities   11,840     10,935
Total liabilities   614,736     652,674
       
Commitment and contingencies      
Net assets:      
Preferred stock (par value $0.02 per share; authorized 1,000 shares, no shares issued and outstanding)   —     —
Common stock (par value $0.02 per share; authorized 200,000 shares, 24,425 and 24,159 issued and outstanding, respectively)   485     483
Additional paid-in capital   370,703     367,663
Accumulated undistributed earnings   20,611     35,741
Total net assets   391,799     403,887
Total liabilities and net assets $ 1,006,535   $ 1,056,561
Net asset value per common share $ 16.04   $ 16.72
NEWTEK BUSINESS SERVICES CORP. AND SUBSIDIARIES
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS (UNAUDITED)
(In Thousands, except for Per Share Data)
       
  Three Months Ended
September 30,		   Nine Months Ended
September 30,
    2022       2021       2022       2021  
Investment income              
From non-affiliate investments:              
Interest income – PPP loans $ —     $ 269     $ —     $ 49,989  
Interest income – SBA 7(a) loans   8,804       7,131       23,915       19,328  
Servicing income   3,575       2,819       9,931       8,346  
Other income   2,552       1,446       6,499       3,829  
Total investment income from non-affiliate investments   14,931       11,665       40,345       81,492  
From non-control investments:              
Interest income   —       126       —       374  
Dividend income   19       23       62       70  
Total investment income from non-control investments   19       149       62       444  
From controlled investments:              
Interest income   753       594       2,087       1,703  
Dividend income   7,205       —       19,989       51  
Other income   672       —       672       —  
Total investment income from controlled investments   8,630       594       22,748       1,754  
Total investment income   23,580       12,408       63,155       83,690  
Expenses:              
Salaries and benefits   4,772       2,351       14,380       12,727  
Interest   6,917       5,177       17,412       15,217  
Depreciation and amortization   58       72       181       236  
Professional fees   1,509       1,418       4,322       3,465  
Origination and loan processing   2,866       4,586       7,202       10,555  
Origination and loan processing – related party   5,430       3,177       14,698       10,830  
Loss on extinguishment of debt   —       —       417       955  
Other general and administrative costs   1,823       2,322       5,619       5,663  
Total expenses   23,375       19,103       64,231       59,648  
Net investment (loss) income   205       (6,695 )     (1,076 )     24,042  
Net realized and unrealized gains (losses):              
Net realized gain on non-affiliate investments – SBA 7(a) loans   14,767       19,272       49,953       38,079  
Net realized gain (loss) on derivative transactions   —       (268 )     445       (268 )
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on SBA guaranteed non-affiliate investments   (297 )     123       (5,942 )     2,533  
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on SBA unguaranteed non-affiliate investments   (3,611 )     998       (6,473 )     2,583  
Net unrealized appreciation on controlled investments   2,040       7,305       1,582       1,760  
Change in deferred taxes   (118 )     (2,843 )     (175 )     (2,120 )
Net unrealized appreciation (depreciation) on non-control investments   —       (3 )     —       521  
Net unrealized appreciation on derivative transactions   —       341       183       304  
Net unrealized depreciation on servicing assets   (1,624 )     (1,616 )     (3,964 )     (3,322 )
Net realized and unrealized gains $ 11,157     $ 23,309     $ 35,609     $ 40,070  
Net increase in net assets resulting from operations $ 11,362     $ 16,614     $ 34,533     $ 64,112  
Net increase in net assets resulting from operations per share $ 0.47     $ 0.74     $ 1.43     $ 2.85  
Net investment (loss) income per share $ 0.01     $ (0.30 )   $ (0.04 )   $ 1.07  
Dividends and distributions declared per common share $ 0.65     $ 0.90     $ 2.05     $ 2.10  
Weighted average number of shares outstanding   24,299       22,541       24,204       22,468  

NEWTEK BUSINESS SERVICES CORP. AND SUBSIDIARIES
NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES-
ADJUSTED NET INVESTMENT INCOME RECONCILIATION:

    Nine months ended       Nine months ended    
(in thousands, except per share amounts)   September 30, 2022   Per share   September 30, 2021   Per share
Net investment income (loss)   $ (1,076 )   $ (0.04 )   $ 24,042     $ 1.07
Net realized gain on non-affiliate investments – SBA 7(a) loans     49,953       2.06       38,079       1.69
Adjustment for realized gain on derivatives (1)     1,010       0.04       (7 )     —
Loss on debt extinguishment     417       0.02       955       0.04
Adjusted Net investment income   $ 50,304     $ 2.08     $ 63,069     $ 2.81

Note: Amounts may not foot due to rounding

(1)   The following is a reconciliation of GAAP net realized gain/(loss) on derivative transactions to our adjustment for realized gain/(loss) on derivatives on closed transactions presented in the computation of ANII in the preceding tables:

    Nine months ended       Nine months ended    
(in thousands, except per share amounts)   September 30, 2022   Per share   September 30, 2021   Per share
Net realized gain on derivatives   $ 445   $ 0.02   $ (268 )   $ (0.01 )
Hedging realized result on open hedging positions     —     —     261       0.01  
Hedging realized adjustment on hedging positions closed during current period     565     0.02     —       —  
Adjustment for realized gain on derivatives   $ 1,010   $ 0.04   $ (7 )   $ —  

Note: Amounts may not foot due to rounding

NEWTEK BUSINESS SERVICES CORP. AND SUBSIDIARIES
NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES-
ADJUSTED NET INVESTMENT INCOME RECONCILIATION:

    Three months ended       Three months ended    
(in thousands, except per share amounts)   September 30, 2022   Per share   September 30, 2021   Per share
Net investment income (loss)     205     0.01   $ (6,695 )   $ (0.30 )
Net realized gain on non-affiliate investments – SBA 7(a) loans     14,767     0.61     19,272       0.85  
Adjustment for realized gain on derivatives (1)     —     —     (7 )     —  
Adjusted Net investment income   $ 14,972   $ 0.62   $ 12,570     $ 0.56  

Note: Amounts may not foot due to rounding

(1)   The following is a reconciliation of GAAP net realized gain/(loss) on derivative transactions to our adjustment for realized gain/(loss) on derivatives on closed transactions presented in the computation of ANII in the preceding table:

    Three months ended       Three months ended    
(in thousands, except per share amounts)   September 30, 2022   Per share   September 30, 2021   Per share
Net realized gain on derivatives   $ —   $ —   $ (268 )   $ (0.01 )
Hedging realized result on open hedging positions     —     —     261       0.01  
Adjustment for realized gain on derivatives   $ —   $ —   $ (7 )   $ —  

Note: Amounts may not foot due to rounding

NEWTEK BUSINESS SERVICES CORP. AND SUBSIDIARIES
DEBT-TO-EQUITY RATIO – ACTUAL AT SEPTEMBER 30, 2022

(in thousands):

Actual Debt-to-Equity Ratio at September 30, 2022      
Total senior debt   $ 553,153  
Total equity   $ 391,799  
Debt-to-equity ratio – actual   1.41x  
       

NEWTEK BUSINESS SERVICES CORP. AND SUBSIDIARIES
DEBT-TO-EQUITY RATIO – PROFORMA AT SEPTEMBER 30, 2022

(in thousands):

Broker receivable, including premium income receivable   $ 71,634    
Less: realized gain on sale included in broker receivable     (5,893 )  
Broker receivable     65,741    
       
90{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550} advance rate on SBA guaranteed non-affiliate portions of loans sold, not settled   $ 59,167    
       
       
Proforma debt adjustments at September 30, 2022:      
Total senior debt   $ 553,153    
Proforma adjustment for broker receivable     (59,167 )  
Total proforma debt   $ 493,986    
       
       
Proforma Debt-to-Equity ratio at September 30, 2022:      
Total proforma debt   $ 493,986    
Total equity   $ 391,799    
Debt-to-equity ratio – proforma   1.26x    
       

 

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Kathy Griffin suspended from Twitter for impersonating Elon Musk

Kathy Griffin suspended from Twitter for impersonating Elon Musk


New York
CNN Enterprise
 — 

Twitter has suspended comic Kathy Griffin for impersonating the company’s new operator, Elon Musk.

Griffin appeared to be the 1st superstar to lose her tweeting privileges immediately after a wave of distinguished people impersonated Musk around the weekend, with the objective of underscoring possible flaws in the social media company’s options for a revised verification procedure.

Musk has built an $8 Twitter subscription approach his signature bid to bolster the company’s profits. The new prepare was unexpectedly rolled out about the weekend ahead of the corporation eventually decided to hold off the service right until just after the midterms.

The updated Twitter Blue subscription system offers spending customers the capacity to get a blue look at mark on their profiles, an alternative beforehand accessible exclusively to verified superstars, politicians, journalists and other general public figures. Musk proposed the new characteristic as a way to combat spam on the system.

But the partially rolled-out approach faced popular backlash, and in a display of defiance, some celebs on the system posed as Musk about the weekend, total with a blue test mark on their profiles.

Comic Sarah Silverman applied her verified account to troll Musk, copying his profile photograph, address picture and identify. The only detail distinguishing a tweet coming Silverman’s account was the @SarahKSilverman handle.

“I am a flexibility of speech absolutist and I try to eat doody for breakfast each individual working day,” Silverman tweeted Saturday. Her account also retweeted posts supporting Democratic candidates.

Silverman’s account was labeled as “temporarily restricted” Sunday, with a warning that “there has been some abnormal action from this account” revealed to people right before clicking by to the profile. The comic then modified her account back to its regular type, complete with her individual name and picture.

Tv actress Valerie Bertinelli in the same way transformed her account identify to the Twitter CEO’s, tweeting Friday that “[t]he blue checkmark simply intended your identification was verified. Scammers would have a tougher time impersonating you. That no for a longer period applies. Very good luck out there!” She then answered a follower who requested how the checkmark no more time applies, creating, “[y]ou can obtain a blue check out mark for $7.99 a month with out verifying who you are.”

Following changing her profile name to Musk, Bertinelli tweeted and retweeted aid for a number of Democratic candidates and hashtags, which includes “VoteBlueForDemocracy” and “#VoteBlueIn2022.”

The actress altered her account name again to Valerie Bertinelli Sunday, tweeting, “[o]vital-dokey I have had my entertaining and I believe I manufactured my stage.”

On Sunday, Musk tweeted that, “Going forward, any Twitter handles partaking in impersonation devoid of plainly specifying ‘parody’ will be forever suspended.” He also tweeted that a identify transform on Twitter will “cause non permanent decline of confirmed checkmark.”

On top of that, Musk claimed Twitter users will no for a longer time obtain warning just before getting suspended. “This will be evidently identified as a problem for signing up to Twitter Blue,” he tweeted.

Griffin’s account remained suspended Monday morning, and it was unclear how extensive it would remain in result. Musk mocked Griffin Sunday, quipping that “she was suspended for impersonating a comedian.” Musk also tweeted that Griffin could get her account back again by shelling out $8 a thirty day period for Twitter Blue, though it wasn’t clear regardless of whether Musk was significant.

CNN fired Griffin in 2017 immediately after the comic was photographed holding up a bloody head resembling that of then-President Donald Trump. Griffin had co-hosted the New Year’s Eve program together with Anderson Cooper for a decade.

The crackdown on accounts will come in the wake of Musk obtaining the company and pledging to restore the accounts of consumers who ended up beforehand banned from the system, most notably Trump. Musk has also reported he will limit the company’s articles limits and demand the compensated subscription for account verification.

In current months, Musk has shared conspiracy theories about the attack on Paul Pelosi, called Democrats the get together of “division & dislike,” in comparison Twitter’s previous CEO to Joseph Stalin and warned that “the woke thoughts virus will destroy civilization.”

Posted on

Scaling the financial education program in Jordan

Scaling the financial education program in Jordan

A expanding physique of analysis has proven that economical inclusion can be a highly effective device for addressing financial progress, poverty reduction, and gender and cash flow inequality. Nevertheless there are also pitfalls connected with economic companies, and therefore, it is crucial for money inclusion to be accompanied by endeavours to boost financial literacy. Early publicity to fiscal awareness and competencies is specifically critical for encouraging youth deal with advanced economic choices and acquire healthy lengthy-phrase economic behaviors.

In recognition of the significance of financial literacy for young people, Jordan set up the National Money Training Method (FEP) as a core pillar of its Nationwide Fiscal Inclusion Tactic. The FEP features a complete curriculum committed to economic literacy that is built to be interactive, partaking, and appropriate to students’ day by day life. Considering the fact that 2014, the Ministry of Education and learning (MoE), the Jordanian nonprofit INJAZ, the Central Lender of Jordan and crucial companions from the financial and education sectors have been involved in developing, creating, and applying a phased rollout of the software across the state. Now FEP is a compulsory course for all faculty learners in grades 7-10, and an optional elective for students in grades 11 and 12.

Finding out the FEP scaling journey

The Centre for Universal Instruction (CUE) at Brookings has been investigating endeavours to scale and maintain proof-based mostly initiatives primary to substantial-scale advancements in children’s studying. CUE has been employing a sequence of collaborative motion exploration initiatives known as Serious-time Scaling Labs (RTSL), in partnership with neighborhood institutions in many countries. The goal of these RTSLs is to generate evidence and offer practical recommendations all around the course of action of scaling in global education—encouraging a stronger url in between study and observe.

This new report focuses on a single of the scaling labs in Jordan, released in 2019 in collaboration with the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ), the MoE, and INJAZ. The lab concentrated on this partnership-led method of applying, adapting, and scaling the National Fiscal Instruction System (FEP) in grades 7-12 across the place. Though this report is concentrated on the tale of the FEP, it also serves as a circumstance study into more substantial questions of how an evidence-dependent initiative can realize progress towards national sustainable scale, with classes that are transferable outside of FEP and Jordan.

Area a person of the report gives a short history on the case, which includes an overview of the training ecosystem, motion to endorse bigger economical inclusion in Jordan, and temporary descriptions of vital actors and initiatives engaged with FEP. Section two facts the story of implementing, adapting, and increasing FEP in Jordan to date—exploring essential variables, opportunities, and troubles linked to its design and style, shipping, funding, and enabling environment.

The report delves into some of the good reasons for the thriving scaling of the FEP, like a general public-non-public partnership (PPP) product that broke with traditional strategies of working and introduced together contributions from numerous actors for funding, advocacy, and implementation a lengthy timeframe to consistently exam and refine the technique a world motion for economic inclusion and a solid local enabling environment that supported scaling and flexibility amid all functions to adapt ideas and respond to a modifying context in the wake of an intercontinental pandemic.

The report also highlights some recurring issues confronted in the scaling system, which include checking and information selection, maintaining large-quality training at scale, and preserving get-in at all levels—from the classroom up to the stakeholders in just the MoE. To try and address some of these difficulties, the RTSL identified, adapted, and tested a collection of change suggestions, such as direct instructor schooling digitizing the FEP curriculum by means of films and interactive platforms and instructor finding out circles to develop peer help, mentorship and invest in-in among FEP teachers.

The report concludes with criteria for crucial stakeholders in Jordan with regards to the future section of FEP, as very well as scaling takeaways drawn from the FEP encounter that can notify upcoming scaling attempts in education in Jordan and beyond. The Jordanian government’s attempts to scale and maintain FEP—in partnership with the CBJ, INJAZ, and quite a few other actors—has offered a interesting situation of what it will take to achieve nationwide scale, and this tale will probably proceed to give abundant insights into scaling and education and learning transformation for Jordan and many countries all over the environment in the long run.

Picture credit history: Abdelhadi Qallab  

Obtain the comprehensive report»

Down load the government summary»

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5 things to know for Nov. 4: Twitter, Flu, January 6, Student Loans, Brittney Griner

5 things to know for Nov. 4: Twitter, Flu, January 6, Student Loans, Brittney Griner



CNN
 — 

The enormous rocket at the heart of NASA’s mission to return humans to the moon is being rolled out of its hangar today. After a series of issues and poor weather thwarted the first two launch attempts, the agency has spent weeks troubleshooting and is now gearing up for another attempt to get the rocket off the ground.

Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day.

(You can get “5 Things You Need to Know Today” delivered to your inbox daily. Sign up here.)

Elon Musk will begin laying off Twitter employees this morning, according to a memo sent to staff, as several employees sue the billionaire alleging the layoffs are in violation of labor law. An email sent Thursday evening notified employees that they will receive a notice by 12 p.m. ET today that informs them of their employment status. The memo comes after previous reports said Musk had planned to lay off up to half of the company’s staff after acquiring it last week for $44 billion. Twitter had around 7,500 employees prior to Musk’s takeover. He started his tenure at Twitter by firing its CEO and two other executives, according to two people familiar with the decision. Musk also dissolved Twitter’s former board of directors.

Health officials are reinforcing their recommendations for people to get flu vaccines as this year’s strain picks up its pace across the US. There have been at least 880,000 cases of influenza, nearly 7,000 hospitalizations and 360 deaths from the flu so far this fall – including one pediatric death – according to data from the CDC. The numbers also show there haven’t been this many cases of influenza so early in the season since 2009. After recently receiving Covid-19 vaccines and boosters, some people have been waiting until later in the season to get the flu vaccine, CNN Medical Analyst Dr. Leana Wen said. However, since it takes about two weeks to reach optimal immune protection after receiving a flu vaccination, people who haven’t gotten one yet should do so now.

exp TSR.Todd.triple.threat.RSV.Covid.flu_00003501.png

Triple threat emerging: flu, Covid, RSV


02:52

– Source:
CNN

The House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol has interviewed more Secret Service witnesses, including the head of former Vice President Mike Pence’s detail. The committee is also expected to interview at least another half dozen Secret Service witnesses in the coming weeks, including current and former officials and agents, multiple sources told CNN. The panel’s efforts to secure testimony from an expanding list of current and former Secret Service agents during the closing months of its probe shows the committee is intensifying its push to learn more about what the Secret Service knew about looming threats to Pence and other government officials ahead of the attack. 

A sign with the U.S. Secret Service shield is cleaned before a briefing at the service's headquarters November 07, 2019 in Washington, DC.

Why Jan. 6 committee is asking Secret Service agent to testify again

President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program remains on hold while a federal appeals court considers a legal challenge brought by six Republican-led states. The Biden administration is still accepting applications for student loan forgiveness, which is worth up to $20,000 per borrower, but it is not currently allowed to cancel student loan debt until the hold is removed. The Biden administration is also facing lawsuits from an attorney general and conservative groups that claim he does not have the legal authority to broadly cancel student loan debt. As for what happens next, an appeals court will decide whether to grant a preliminary injunction requested by the states. If granted, the student loan forgiveness program could be kept on hold while the court hears from both parties. If it’s not granted, debt cancellation may begin while the appeal plays out. The ruling could come at any time.

Cody Hounanian student debt crisis center bernal

College alum tells CNN: The only way to open the door was to take on student loan debt

US Embassy officials visited detained WNBA basketball star Brittney Griner in Russia on Thursday and “saw firsthand her tenacity and perseverance despite her present circumstances,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement. They had not been able to visit Griner since early August but spoke with her by phone last month. After months of internal debate, the Biden administration previously offered to exchange a convicted Russian arms trafficker serving a 25-year US prison sentence as part of a potential deal to secure the release of Griner and Paul Whelan, who has been detained in a remote prison camp in Russia on espionage charges since 2018. US officials say they have continued to follow up on their offer and emphasized that the Americans’ detentions remain a top priority. 

Kyrie Irving apologizes amid Twitter controversy and suspension by Brooklyn Nets

The NBA star apologized on Instagram late Thursday, hours after the Nets announced a five-game suspension over his “failure to disavow antisemitism.”

Netflix launches a new plan with ads

After much anticipation, the platform’s cheaper plan with ads debuted in the US on Thursday. Here’s how it differs from existing plans. 

Miller Lite is selling a Christmas tree stand that doubles as a beer keg

Beer lovers are taking “holiday cheers” to a new level… This product was designed to “make it seem as if beer is being poured from the tree,” a company spokesman said. 

Jay-Z and Jeff Bezos are interested in buying the Washington Commanders together

The two billionaire businessmen already have major sports ties. Now, they’re in talks on a possible joint venture to buy an NFL team.

Iranian artist’s paintings of women take on a new sense of urgency

These symbol-laden paintings are charged with emotion and allude to issues that have recently sparked protests across Iran.

Which “extremely rare” item is expected to fetch up to $30 million at an upcoming auction?

A. George Washington’s journal

B. Key to the White House

C. First-edition copy of the US Constitution

D. Original senate gavel

Take CNN’s weekly news quiz here to see if you’re correct!

36

That’s the typical age of a first-time homebuyer in the US in 2022, up from 33 last year. A new report from the National Association of Realtors shows that first-time buyers made up just 26{ac23b82de22bd478cde2a3afa9e55fd5f696f5668b46466ac4c8be2ee1b69550} of all homebuyers in the year ending in June – an all-time low over approximately four decades. Financial analysts say many factors have made it a challenging environment for Millennials and Gen Zers to remain competitive in the market, including rising home prices, climbing mortgage rates, and the fact that younger generations have less cash saved for a down payment.

“Violence has no place in politics.”

– White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, condemning the reported assassination attempt on Thursday of Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan. The country’s ex-leader was shot in the leg at a political rally outside the town of Gujranwala, Punjab province, Pakistani officials said. He was transported to Lahore to receive treatment and was in stable condition. An unnamed man suspected of firing shots at the rally has been detained, according to police. Khan has repeatedly claimed, without any evidence, that the US was behind his loss of power after he was ousted as Prime Minister in a no-confidence vote in April.

friday svr wx

Risk of severe storms for the South


03:08

– Source:
CNN

Check your local forecast here>>>

Indoor ocean simulator

The US Navy is testing its equipment in a massive pool that can replicate any wave situation in the world. Take a look inside. (Click here to view)