• The former head of investment banking at Bank of America, Christian Meissner, is said to be in the running to take over as an executive at Swiss lender UBS, Bloomberg reported.
• Long standing CEO Sergio Ermotti is set to leave the bank in the coming years as part of major changes to the lender's upper echelons. 
• Meissner is in talks to join in a senior role at UBS that would eventually lead to his taking over as CEO. UBS is also considering other executives.

Ex-investment banking head at Bank of America, Christian Meissner, is in the running for a top role at UBS which could see the executive take over as CEO from Sergio Ermotti. 

According to Bloomberg, Meissner is in talks to join in a senior role at UBS that would eventually lead to his taking over as CEO. UBS is also considering other executives.

The Swiss lender is planning for the eventual end of Ermotti's reign at UBS, which began in 2011, as he moved the bank towards wealth management in the wake of the financial crisis. Ermotti joined UBS from UniCredit, having previously worked for Merrill Lynch (before it was taken over by Bank of America).

Meissner, 49, left Bank of America last year following a row about the bank's risk appetite after it reined in its exposure to some market sectors. The former executive, born in Austria and educated at Princeton University, has worked at Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers as well as Japanese lender Nomura before being poached by Bank of America. 

The potential move for Meissner comes as UBS looks to realign its management following the departures of its top dealmaker Andrea Orcel and wealth-management head Juerg Zeltner, Bloomberg reported.

SEE ALSO: UBS has chosen Frankfurt as its post-Brexit EU base

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• Susie Moore is an entrepreneur and life coach who runs her own business. After years of sleeping until 8 a.m. or later, she started waking up at 5 a.m. every day.
• When people hear she's getting up three hours earlier than ever before, they always ask: Isn't it torture?
• According to Moore, it's easy to adapt to setting the alarm earlier; it's hard to adapt your thinking to realize that it's possible.
• She says some days are harder than others, but she thinks hard decisions like getting up early make for an easier day, and an easier life, overall.

When people hear I've started waking up at 5 a.m. every day after years of sleeping until 8 a.m. or later, they always seem to have the same question:

“Isn’t it like… daily… torture?”

And I get it! Because I thought that, too — just weeks ago.

A 5 a.m. alarm conjures images of pain, being attacked by an intruder — the “brrrrrriiiinnnnng!!!!!” of an alarm clock — in those juicy, deep sleep hours (only to open your eyes to utter darkness and the stiff breeze of 30°F outside).

The answer is yes, well, kinda. Meaning ... it was. Initially.

But there’s an old quote I like from Mark Matteson: “Good habits are hard to form and easy to live with. Bad habits are easy to form and hard to live with.”

I think of it like this: hard decisions, easier life. Easy decisions, harder life.

And a hard decision doesn’t create an easy life overnight. But with just a few days in a new groove, you realize you’re surprisingly adaptable. We humans are. It’s our thinking that’s the most rigid, and I’ve come to believe that the mindset of thinking it’s possible is harder to change than the new time punched into your alarm clock. In "The 5AM Club," author Robin Sharma calls it “mind over mattress.”

Read More:6 bad mental habits everyone should unlearn, according to a life coach who teaches people to be happier

So yes — some days more than others it’s a hard decision to not snooze through to 6 a.m. or later, or to just wake up whenever you want. But with the structure and discipline of an earlier bedtime, it becomes a habit just like anything else (going to work, taking a shower, ordering your favorite sandwich at the same place).

Despite no after-parties for me, the ease that follows with this new habit keeps paying off in multiple ways which keeps me hooked:

1. Endless hours in the day to complete whatever you want. What would you do with additional hours in your day?
2. A sense of calm because “not getting the to-do list done!” is a major cause of daily stress.
3. Time to yourself without anyone calling, texting, or talking to you (introverts rejoice)!
4. Magical space to goal-set, meditate, read, reflect, do yoga … something just for you.
5. Getting in a workout class and what Sharma calls a “second wind” workout — like an hour-long walk in the park late afternoon. This is a major shift, personally. Following through on any workout is a win for me.
6. A feeling of being self-directed. Who cares if other people stay up late? Nothing good happens after 10 p.m.
7. Satisfaction that you’re using your best brain. Some studies suggest that your brain is actually bigger in the morning. Personally, I don’t do any great or creative work even after lunchtime. Be honest, night owl — are you really creating that masterpiece after 7 p.m.?
8. A feeling of control. Self-control in one area of your life really boosts self-esteem! And control feels good.

And you know what doesn’t feel good? Being out of control.

Given that how we spend our days is essentially how we live our lives, an unintentional day (added up with lots more unintentional days) can start to feel like torture. Like being powerless. 

So when people ask if getting up three hours earlier than usual is torture, my answer now is, “Not anymore! It’s oddly quite a relief.”

Susie Moore is a life coach and author based in New York City who has been featured on the Today show and Forbes. Sign up for her free weekly confidence tips via her website.

SEE ALSO: After years of sleeping in, I started waking up at 5 a.m., and I'm blown away by how it changes my day

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NOW WATCH: What happens when a night owl lives like an early bird

• Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff told CNBC that it was clear Facebook was a "train wreck" even before its year of scandals.
• Benioff attacked Facebook in January 2018 at The World Economic Forum in Davos, claiming it was as addictive as tobacco and should be regulated.
• Benioff said Sheryl Sandberg got in touch afterwards to say she would send him a "variety of materials" disproving his claims. Benioff said the materials never arrived, Facebook said they were sent.

Marc Benioff said in an interview with CNBC that Facebook looked like a "train wreck" even before it was beset by a series of crippling scandals last year.

In January 2018, the Salesforce CEO publicly attacked Facebook at the World Economic Forum in Davos, saying it needed to be regulated like the cigarette industry because its product was equally addictive.

Benioff told CNBC that he hadn't planned to come after the social network in advance. It was conversations with hedge fund billionaire Tom Steyer and tech investor Roger McNamee, who initially was an advisor to Mark Zuckerberg but has since become one of Facebook's most vocal critics, that got him thinking.

Read more:Mark Zuckerberg's former mentor spent a week attacking Facebook for becoming "toxic"

Benioff said he came to the conclusion that Facebook "was a train wreck and that the management team was making it worse."

Since making the comments in Davos, Facebook was embroiled in the giant Cambridge Analytica data scandal and has been firefighting issues including fake news, inappropriate content, and election meddling.

After the footage of Benioff attacking Facebook went viral, COO Sheryl Sandberg got in touch.

"Her response and others was that it wasn't true what I was saying and they were going to send me a variety of materials to prove to me that I did not understand the situation," said Benioff.

"I said I'd be happy to change my position if they sent me those materials that showed I was wrong. Maybe I was wrong, and I'm happy to fall on my sword."

"But of course those materials never arrived," he added.

When contacted by CNBC, Facebook said it had sent him the materials on April 6. It did not make clear what these documents consisted of. Business Insider has contacted the company for comment.

Whether or not Facebook sent the materials, Benioff's position seems unchanged, as he doubled down on the cigarette analogy in November in an interview with Kara Swisher for MSNBC News.

SEE ALSO: Marc Benioff says ditching his iPhone and iPad on holiday helped him make a huge decision about Salesforce's future

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• A group of hospitals have built a nonprofit generic drugmaker called Civica Rx. 
• On Monday, another 12 health systems joined the organization. 
• The hope is to make generic drugs that are in shortage or have artificially high prices based on what hospitals need. 

Hospitals have a creative plan to tackle the high price and frequent shortages of generic drugs. 

The nonprofit company, dubbed Civica Rx, was first announced in early 2018, and has gained a lot of attention from other hospitals around the US who are interested in being a part of the venture. 

On Monday, the organization said that another 12 health systems had joined its ranks, including Illinois and Wisconsin-based Advocate Aurora Health, Michigan's Spectrum Health, and NYU Langone Health. Together, they make add another 250 hospitals to the venture.

They join a slew of hospitals, including Catholic Health Initiatives, HCA Healthcare, Intermountain Healthcare, Mayo Clinic, and Providence St. Joseph Health that serve as governing members. The Department of Veterans Affairs is also consulting with Civica to make sure the agency is getting what it needs for patients. 

Read more:Hospital groups and the VA are trying to upend the generic drug business

In September, Civica Rx named Martin VanTrieste as its CEO. VanTrieste is the former chief quality officer for Amgen who spent most of his career working at large pharma companies like Abbott and Bayer on sterile injectable drugs. He'd been in retirement for two years and had one condition to coming back: no salary. Instead, the funds that may have gone to his compensation will be used for other aspects of the company.  

To start, Civica will focus on making 14 drugs that are used in hospitals, typically injectable drugs. Those are expected to come in 2019. The company's priorities include making essential medicines that have been on the FDA drug shortage list, and taking on decades-old drugs that have artificially higher prices because they don't face any competition. 

In those cases, companies made business choices that led to those shortages. Some drug shortages are related to manufacturing problems. In other cases, some of the companies making the drug simply stop making it, or a drug is only being produced by a single manufacturer, which can lead to price hikes. There's also been a consolidation of the manufacturers that produce generic drugs.

For years, health systems have been on the hook for skyrocketing drug prices for injections or drugs delivered through IV solutions. And as of Thursday, there were 205 drugs currently facing shortages, according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. Those shortages include everything from bags of saline solution to common antibiotics and a type of epidural used for pregnant women during childbirth. 

• Read more:
• The US is running out of commonly used drugs including ones used in epidurals, and it’s put us on ‘the brink of a public health emergency’
• We got 6 big predictions about how Amazon could disrupt healthcare from execs in the tech giant's backyard
• The hospital in Amazon's backyard has a plan to disrupt itself before being disrupted by big tech companies
• Bristol-Myers Squibb and Celgene said their huge merger has about $2.5 billion in 'synergies.' That should make employees nervous.

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This is a preview of a research report from Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service. To learn more about Business Insider Intelligence, click here. Current subscribers can read the report here.

Consumers are finally starting to adopt smart home devices, with nearly 60% owning at least one device. This presents an opportunity for e-commerce companies to enter the smart home and encourage purchasing through the devices.

The smart speaker has become the face of the smart home in many ways, attracting the lion’s share of attention as companies look for ways to take advantage of the growing platform. But there’s a problem: Consumers aren’t using the smart speaker to actually buy products very often.

Instead, one of the clearest opportunities outside of the smart speaker is home goods and grocery replenishment through large appliances. Smart devices in the home — especially appliances — can take advantage of built-in sensors to either tell consumers when they need to buy more of a product, or make that purchase autonomously. This will create an opportunity for appliance manufacturers, e-commerce vendors, and product suppliers to ink supply agreements to meet consumers' needs.

In this report, Business Insider Intelligence examines several areas of opportunity for e-commerce companies to leverage smart home technologies to provide new and better services to their customers. First, we explore how smart appliances, including connected dishwashers and laundry machines, are building on one-click purchasing systems to enable automated replenishment. We then discuss the smart fridge and detail how apps, cameras, and voice assistants are enabling takeout and grocery delivery through these appliances. Finally, we examine the role of the voice interface beyond smart speakers as it relates to purchasing products in the home, and how omnipresent voice will be used to organize and interact with automated services.

The companies mentioned in this report are: Amazon, Blue Apron, Costo, GE, Google, Instacart, Keurig, KitchenAid, LG, Ocado, P&G, Plated, Reynolds, Samsung, Target, Walmart, Whirlpool.

 Here are some key takeaways from the report:

• Companies have a clear opportunity to leverage sensors, cameras, and connectivity in a variety of home appliances to revolutionize the way consumers buy home goods.
• Smart appliance manufacturers, e-tailers, and CPG companies will be able to collaborate and partner to develop new methods of resupplying consumers' homes.
• The smart fridge will transform into the hub of the kitchen and become the autonomous organizing device that oversees grocery purchasing and food delivery.

In full, the report:

• Provides an overview of the key players and types of products in the smart appliance space.
• Highlights the models that companies can adopt to take advantage of the developing sector.
• Identifies the key services that will boost automated e-commerce engagement in the home.

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The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

• Retail price prescription medication is prohibitively expensive. If you have insurance, your policy still doesn't always cover as much as you'd like. 
• Blink Health is a no-commitment, no-fee service that offers access to over 15,000 medications for a fraction of their retail price. 
• Here's the quick and easy process: search for your medication on its site, pay the low price online, then pick it up at a major or local pharmacy near you. 

I never particularly enjoy picking up a new prescription from the pharmacy because I know I'll stand at the counter in fraught silence, waiting for the pharmacist to tell me how much it's going to set me back.

Even though I have insurance, it doesn't always cover a lot, and I'm often surprised at how much I still have to pay out of pocket. If you don't have insurance, the damage is even worse. In either case, you feel like you have no choice but to pay for expensive prescriptions, or face the repercussions on your health. 

It's a dilemma that millions have to face, but shouldn't. Though you don't have the power to negotiate prices, an online company called Blink Health does. Blink Health works with pharmacies, pharmacy benefit managers and pharmaceutical manufacturers to bring you lower prices on over 15,000 medications.

There are no membership fees or hidden fees, and the process is pretty simple. As long as you have a prescription from your doctor, you can use Blink Health's website or app. 

You start by searching for your medication, making sure to match the medication form and dosage to that of your prescription. You'll see two prices, one that's available at major pharmacies and an even lower one available at one specific pharmacy near you. 

Here's an example of how much Blink Health saves you on some common medications. It also has a price match guarantee on generic medications. If you find a lower price elsewhere, it will refund you the difference.

After paying online to lock in the price, you receive a "Blink Card," which you can either print out or show on your phone to the pharmacist. Bring this and your prescription to your chosen pharmacy, and they'll fill it like any other prescription. You should pay $0 at the pharmacy. 

Its network consists of over 30,000 pharmacy partners nationwide, including major stores like Walmart and Albertsons as well as local independent pharmacies, so it's easy to pick up your prescription at a location convenient for you, or you can have it delivered to you for free in two days. 

Whether you're uninsured, insured, or have Medicare, it's always helpful to check Blink Health to see how much you could be paying instead. Especially if you're taking a medication for a long period of time, the significant monthly savings are worth the few minutes of extra effort to look up your medication. 

Search for your medication at Blink Health here

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• TuSimple says it will have the largest self-driving trucking fleet by June, bringing its autonomous truck total to 40.
• The company, based in San Diego and Beijing, is beating Tesla, Waymo, and other big names in the race for driverless trucks. 
• According to a Morgan Stanley report, the labor savings from implementing driverless trucks would save the industry $70 billion per year.

The electric Tesla Semi has been, in part, ballyhooed for its semi-autonomous driving options; it can travel in a convoy where one semi leads other vehicles autonomously.

Trucking executives see the autonomous feature as a way to cut labor costs.  According to a Morgan Stanley report, the labor savings from implementing driverless trucks would save the industry $70 billion per year. Productivity would be up 30% because driverless trucks would run 24/7.

But while Tesla is getting significant attention when it comes to driverless technology, it's losing out in the race for scalable, commercial, autonomous trucking. TuSimple, founded in 2015, announced today that, by June 2019, it will expand its fleet from 12 to 40 autonomous trucks on the road. That will make it the largest self-driving truck solutions company in the world. 

Based in Beijing and San Diego, California, TuSimple is operating three to five revenue-generating trucking routes in Arizona. This year, TuSimple will expand to Texas.

Chuck Price, chief product officer at TuSimple, told Business Insider that the company can't reveal its 12 contracted customers, but they include international Fortune 100 companies and household names.

"We are the only company that is operating multiple revenue-generating routes from depot to depot (warehouse to warehouse)," Price told Business Insider. 

Read more:One of the biggest problems facing self-driving trucks has little to do with the technology

The fact that TuSimple is actually making money is a key differentiator from others in the autonomous trucking race. Tesla Semi is only available for pre-ordering right now; Walmart, UPS, FedEx, and other major companies have already pre-ordered the electric big-rig.

Waymo is hauling freight in autonomous trucks, but only for the data centers of its parent company, Google. It hasn't announced commercial operations. 

Volvo's latest self-driving truck model, which lacks a cabin, is still under development, and the company doesn't know when it will be available commercially. (Volvo does have a driverless truck operating in a highly controlled Norwegian mine.)

And Uber shut down its self-driving truck program altogether this summer. 

Other autonomous trucking companies have made headway into commercial operation. Starsky Robotics has been hauling freight with autonomous trucks since April 2017. Embark has also been moving goods with autonomous trucks since 2017.

To be sure, these trucks aren't fully driverless. Price said each TuSimple truck has a systems engineer and a driver in them at all times when they're running. Their peers also have one or two people in the cabin still, and Starsky has drivers controlling the trucks from afar. 

What sets TuSimple apart

Price said the ultimate goal for TuSimple is full autonomy without any human driving intervention. Other models of driverless trucks suggest that it would be better to bring trucks to huge distribution centers right outside of key highways, then human drivers would take the loads to the final destinations at preexisting distribution centers and warehouses.

"We would rather automate the process end to end," Price said. "We are demonstrating today in our testing and revenue runs full autonomy on these routes to deliver full depot-to-depot solutions. Our solution integrates seamlessly into existing fleet operations."

That tactic is a bit more complicated as it requires local driving, which is less straight-forward than highway driving.

To convince their Fortune 100 clients to sign on as customers, Price said TuSimple brings potential customers into the truck and onto the open road, rather than create a highly controlled testing environment as his competitors do. 

"We've been as transparent as we can be with these folks," Price said.

He continued: 

If you go to an autonomous vehicle company and say, 'I want do a demo,' most will give you a pretty controlled experience. They'll operate on a route that has controlled traffic or no traffic.

We tend to not do that. We take them out in the worst traffic we can find and the worst conditions we can find. We let the demo operate in natural conditions. The truck handles it all and they see that. We're completely open with them and that's what gives us confidence.

As for TuSimple's bigger-name competitors like Tesla or Waymo, Price said TuSimple simply has better technology than others. TuSimple's trucks have a vision range of up to 1,000 meters and a 360-degree camera.

"We believe we have the most advanced system on the market," Price said.

SEE ALSO: Driverless technology might actually add as many jobs as it destroys, but the new roles will be 'the worst trucking jobs around'

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• The government shutdown is now in day 17 and shows no sign of ending.
• The shutdown is already having an effect on government agencies, including closures and delays.
• But as the shutdown drags on, the effects will only get worse.
• Millions of Americans could start losing access to rent assistance and food stamps, airport security will get worse, and damage to national parks could increase.

Despite daily negotiations between the two sides, neither President Donald Trump nor Democrats appear to be close to backing down in the battle over the government shutdown.

The shutdown, which Trump kicked off by refusing a bipartisan, short-term funding extension before Christmas, appears poised to challenge the record for the longest federal funding lapse in the modern budgeting era.

Already, the shutdown is starting to affect federal departments that are currently without funding. Everything from the National Zoo's panda cam to paychecks for hundred of thousands of federal workers have become affected.

Read more:Here's what happens to Social Security and disability benefits during a government shutdown»

As the shutdown drags on, the fallout will only get worse. Many key programs are running on reserve funds during the month of January. When those wells run dry, everything from rent assistance to food stamps could be cut off.

Here are a few examples of how a lengthy shutdown could get worse:

• Federal workers and contractors are going to start missing paychecks: Paychecks for 800,000 federal workers covering the latter half of December went out at the start of January, but without a funding bill these workers will not get their next paycheck on January 15.
• 40 million Americans could lose SNAP benefits: The US Deparment of Agriculture has said that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), also known as food stamps, has enough funding to get through January. The USDA also has a reserve fund of $3 billion for February, but the program costs around $4.7 billion a month. This means the more than 20 million households receiving assistance could start to go without aid next month. Other food programs including the USDA's Child Nutrition Programs will also run out of funding in February.
• Americans depending on rent assistance could be evicted: The Department of Housing and Urban Development sent a letter to more than 1,500 landlords who have tenants that utilize rent assistance programs asking owners not to evict those tenants. According to The Washington Post, HUD officials didn't even realize the funding for those programs would lapse and were taken by surprise. Additionally, as NBC News reported, HUD has suspended health and safety inspections for low-income housing that receives funding from the agency.
• Deteriorating airport security: Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers are currently working without pay during the shutdown. According to TSA union officials, some employees are starting to call in sick. The number of absent workers appears to already be taking a toll on wait times at some airports.
• Air travel could get less safe: Federal Aviation Administration employees are working without pay, including air traffic controllers. Representatives for pilot unions have warned that the lack of oversight for critical safety equipment during the shutdown will also make flying riskier. 
• A possible delay in tax refunds: While the Trump administration has said tax refunds will continue to go out during the shutdown, it is unclear if there is legal justification for the move. Depending on the legal standing for the administration's decision, millions of Americans filing their 2018 tax returns could see a delay in refunds.
• National parks could get worse: At National Parks across the US, human waste is already piling up as many areas are understaffed or not monitored. The Interior Department has authorized parks to use money from entrance fees to cover cleaning expenses, a move that is legally questionable. There have also been multiple reports of damaged wildlife due to a lack of patrols, and parks have begun to close some areas due to safety concerns. These parks could also decide to close entirely, as many did during the 2013 shutdown, to prevent further degradation of the lands.

SEE ALSO: The government shutdown is in its 17th day and there's no end in sight. Here's how Trump and Congress got into this mess.

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The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

• Whether you've seen its ads on social media or have admired its flats on your co-worker, San Francisco shoe startup Rothy's seems to be everywhere. 
• Rothy's flats are more than just a pretty work shoe. Its rounded flats ($125), pointed flats ($145), and loafers ($165) are made from 100% post-consumer plastic water bottles and other recycled materials, are machine-washable, and feel light and flexible on your feet. 
• Rothy's innovative approach results in a comfortable, stylish, and sustainable shoe that you'll love wearing. 

Despite my mother's frequent pleas to wear heels more often ("They'll make your legs look longer!""They'll force you to stand up straighter!"), I've always been more of a flats girl. I've encountered few pairs of heels I can walk around in for more than an afternoon, but many pairs of flats I wouldn't mind living in. 

Stephen "Hawthy" Hawthornwaite and Roth Martin realized such all-day comfort is important to women, but so is style, and increasingly, sustainability. Combining their names and these three priorities, they created Rothy's in 2016.

In two short years, Rothy's flats have become the favorite work shoe for women in the exact two hubs that Allbirds, another San Francisco-based shoe startup known for innovations in comfort, style, and sustainability, has also seduced: the Bay Area and New York City. 

Though both are trendy metropolitan areas, they're wildly different in pace of life and professional culture. That Rothy's is popular among both markets speaks to its quality, versatility, and understanding that geographic and cultural differences notwithstanding, women just want a pair of quality flats in their closet. 

Rothy's makes three types of shoes: The Flat ($125), The Point ($145), and The Loafer ($165). These three classic silhouettes have a few modern twists, which speak directly to the conscious consumer who is more critical than ever of where her purchases come from and how they represent her personal style and values.

The unique upper knits of the shoes are made from 100% post-consumer plastic water bottles, which are hot washed, sterilized, then fused into a fiber that is then knit into yarn. The company has repurposed 12 million water bottles (and counting) and joins the growing movement of brands also using recycled plastic to make sneakers, leggings, and even watch bands. 

The use of sustainable materials doesn't stop there. The insoles contain recycled foam, while the rubber soles are carbon-free. The adhesives used are non-toxic and vegan. The packaging the shoes come in is made from post-consumer recycled materials and is biodegradable.

Because of how they're made, Rothy's shoes have a distinctive feel and functional advantages that other flats don't. The seamless construction means there are no uncomfortably hard seams or edges (and is also less wasteful because this 3D process knits to the exact size of each pair and doesn't require any cutting), and the shoes are very light and flexible. They're moisture-wicking, fighting against sweat and rain, regardless of the season. They're also easy to maintain since they're machine-washable. 

When it comes to style, you have plenty of options to choose from. There are more than 20 styles each of The Flat and The Point and eight styles of The Loafer, from the simple Black Flat and casual weekend essential Taupe Heather Loafer to the made-for-summer Marigold and sophisticated Lapis Python Point. 

We tried four different pairs ourselves to see if they lived up to the brand's promises. Though there are other flats we favor in terms of perfect comfort, we did love the look and eco-friendly construction and would overall recommend Rothy's to anyone looking to invest in a pair of stylish, reliable flats. 

Sally Kaplan, Insider Picks editor: The Point in Flax Birdseye, $145

I am extremely picky about flats, mostly because it's hard to find ones that are the perfect storm of cute, affordable, and comfortable. This pair almost meets all three of those criteria, with the exception of the price being slightly over what I'd normally pay. That said, they are quickly becoming my go-to pair for work. I won't call them the most comfortable flats in the world (that title is reserved for the Everlane Day Glove), but they are exceptionally easy to commute in and I don't pray for the moment I can take them off every time I wear them. 

The one thing I will say is that if you have wide feet, the pointy-toe style is not for you. I'd go for the loafers in that case. I don't have wide feet but they're not narrow either — and these fit perfectly for me. My pinky toe rubbed against the seam a little bit, but not enough to cause a blister, so I'd call that a win. 

Overall, the lack of break-in period (for me, at least) and the little bit of stretch afforded by the knit upper are the two features I've loved most and I'd definitely recommend these to anyone looking for a stylish work flat. 

Connie Chen, Insider Picks reporter: The Point in Emerald, $145

I’ve noticed quite a few women wearing Rothy’s because of their signature blue stitching and sleek look, so I was excited to finally give them a try. I love pointed flats, especially because I have small feet for my height and the shape helps elongate my feet, so right off the bat I liked Rothy's well-designed take on the style. Work flats tend towards neutral colors, but I had plenty of pretty and jewel-toned options to choose from, including this deep Emerald green. 

When I first slipped my foot in, it almost felt like the flats would be too big, but they turned out to hug my feet perfectly. Though they are designed to have a slight give, the company does recommend ordering half a size up if you have wide feet. As with many flats, there was a slight break-in period, but the plus is that they were very light on my feet the whole time, making the process a bit more comfortable. 

Plastic water bottles don't initially sound like they would translate well into a good pair of flats, so I was impressed with how well Rothy's did pull it off. 

Malarie Gokey, Insider Picks guides editor: The Loafer in Lollipop, $165

Rothy's Lollipop Loafers almost feel like slippers, but they look much nicer. I really like that they're made out of recycled plastic — it's something anyone who is eco-conscious will appreciate.

I don't typically wear flats, but these are perfect for throwing on when I need to run errands around the neighborhood. They're comfortable, breathable, and flexible enough for wearing in the summer. Rothy's loafers aren't quite as supportive or comfortable as Everlane's Day Glove flats, so I wouldn't wear them if you're going on a really long walk — especially if you're in a city. However, I think they're perfect for office wear.

Personally, I'd love the exact same pair of shoes with a 1 1/2- or 2-inch heel for a bit more impact absorption and height, but that's me. If you love flats and you don't plan to walk more than 3 miles any given day, Rothy's are a wonderful, eco-friendly, stylish choice.

Ellen Hoffman, Insider Picks senior editor: The Point in Red Camo, $145

Some women really love pointed-toed shoes, and others really really don’t. I fall in the former camp since they help elongate my 5'3" frame and since, aesthetically, I’m drawn to the silhouette. I was attracted to The Point flat in particular because the style looked sleek and professional for work, and importantly, promised seamless comfort and support in the form of a 3D knit upper and removable insole.

The Point was feather-light and very breathable, so walking around Manhattan in 90-degree weather was never a hindrance. I was able to wear the shoe right out of the box with virtually no break-in period, although I suggest opting for The Flat or The Loafer if shoe width is concern since The Point did squish my right foot's toes together a bit too tightly for my liking.

I got the "red camo” color for something different since I usually play it safe with black or another neutral, but there are 22 other colors to choose from should you want something not quite as bold. 

Mara Leighton, Insider Picks reporter: The Point in Red Camo, $145

I love Rothy’s sustainable ethos — and for the most part, I loved the shoe in reality, too. But I also live a bit more than a mile away from the subway station I take every morning and night, so my shoes need to be disproportionately comfortable. For this, the Rothy’s were a tad narrow for all-day comfort in my right foot, though this isn’t the first time that has been an issue. I have average to narrow feet, so if you have wide feet I could see this being an issue for The Point style.

In terms of aesthetics, they’re some of my favorite flats; the red camo print is vibrant and unique, and the pointed toe elevates a blazer and jeans. And for other areas of comfort, the Rothy’s also deliver with machine-washability, removable insole, and a knit upper for seamless bending and breathability.

All in all, I really liked the Rothy’s, and I’ll continue to wear them. But if you’re going to be power walking a couple miles in them daily, you might want to save these to change into once you get to the office. —Mara Leighton 

Ranging from $125 to $165 a pair, Rothy's are a step up from the average pair of flats, not only in price, but also in quality, style, and ethos. Shoppers are realizing they don't have to compromise on any of the criteria they care about, and Rothy's is a prime example of how to live up to those high expectations. 

Shop flats and loafers at Rothy's here

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• Iconic hedge-fund billionaire Seth Klarman's Baupost Group loaded up on 14,479,790 shares of PG&E, California's biggest utility provider, in the third quarter. 
• The utility has been under pressure, sliding 60% since November, as it may be responsible for the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history.
• It's unclear if Baupost sold any PG&E shares in the fourth quarter. If the firm held on to its entire position, it could have lost $290 million in the final few months of 2018 on the bet.
• On Monday, PG&E was down more than 22% after a report out late Friday said it was considering filing for bankruptcy protection.
• Watch PG&E trade live.

Iconic hedge-fund billionaire Seth Klarman could have taken a huge hit on an investment in PG&E — California's biggest utility provider — after the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history.

PG&E shares have plunged 60% since November 8, when the wildfirebroke out. The utility said it was having trouble with its transmission lines when the blaze erupted, and that it may be responsible.

Klarman's Baupost could be paying the price. Baupost loaded up 14,479,790 shares on PG&E in the third quarter, becoming the utility's sixth-largest shareholder with 18,979,790 shares, according to Bloomberg data.

The 14.5 million shares were trading at around $45 in the third quarter, and closed the fourth quarter at $25 apiece. It's unclear if Baupost sold any PG&E shares in the fourth quarter. If the firm held its entire position through the end of the year, it could have lost $290 million in the final few months of 2018.

Things have gone from bad to worse for PG&E entering the new year. On Monday, shares were down more than 22%, at $18.98 a share, after a report out late Friday said it was considering filing for bankruptcy protection as it fears a massive charge related to potential liabilities from the wildfire. 

Baupost declined to comment on its investments. 

Baupost is not the only investment firm that recently increased its stake in the California utility. BlueMountain Capital Management, which manages $21 billion, told investors in a recent letter obtained by Business Insider it has doubled down on its investment into the utility as it believes the market has overreacted to the impact of the deadly Camp Fire.

Now read:

• $21 billion hedge fund BlueMountain Capital has upped its bet on PG&E, the utility that's crashed 60% since the California wildfires. Here's why.
• PG&E is tanking after report says it's considering filing for bankruptcy protection (PCG)
• California's biggest utility provider has seen half its market value wiped out since the wildfires started 
• California's biggest utility provider spikes after regulator eases fears of bankruptcy following deadly wildfire

SEE ALSO: $21 billion hedge fund BlueMountain Capital has upped its bet on PG&E, the utility that's crashed 60% since the California wildfires. Here's why.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The equity chief at $6.3 trillion BlackRock weighs in on the trade war, a possible recession, and offers her best investing advice for a tricky 2019 landscape

• China's economy is showing signs of extreme stress, and not just because of President Donald Trump's trade war.
• Economic data is showing that China's debt problems are gobbling up cash faster than more Chinese people can become consumers.
• To change this narrative and calm markets, China will have to make a deal with Trump by March 1.
• The deal will likely be a sham.
• But the best outcome for China is that Trump pretends it's good so that he can declare victory, and Wall Street and the rest of the world can pretend China's economy has a catalyst for recovery.

China's best hope for stabilizing its economy is a massive, coordinated, global game of pretend.

Here's what that would look like: On March 1, Trump's administration emerges victorious from its trade talks with Beijing. It strikes some sort of deal that fundamentally changes what China's leaders have been planning for and investing in their their economy for years, and helps US companies with issues like Chinese intellectual-property theft and forced joint ventures.

Then, Wall Street deems it safe to go back into China's waters and foreign investment starts pouring in while domestic money stops heading out. 

After that we can all pretend the Chinese economy doesn't have dangerous structural issues that threaten to pull parts of the world into recession — at least for a while.

This is the best we can do.

For the last week or so — since Apple warned about weakness in the Chinese economy affecting its revenue going forward — Wall Street and Washington have been debating whether or not China's economic troubles are mostly being caused by Trump's trade war.

They are not. That is why all we have left is pretend.

It's the foundation

Let's go back to what China has been saying it was going to do with its economy for years now, which is switch it from one based on investment to one based on consumption.  That would make China's economy more like the US — more able to support its own growth on the back of consumer buying power.

It's not there yet. Not by a long shot.

That means for the economy to keep growing, it still very much needs outside investment and consumption. Or it needs to keep handing out credit and letting debt build up. The latter is dangerous. The more debt that builds up in the system, the more money is spent paying it rather than doing more productive things.

The more debt that builds up, the slower the economy goes until it grinds down to stall speed.

And so a few years ago,Chinese leaders said they were going to slow credit creation and clamp down on shadow banking. Last year was supposed to be the year we saw the fruits of that labor. But it wasn't, the economy started sputtering in June. And according to Leland Miller, the founder of survey firm China Beige Book, only private firms ever slowed their borrowing, and not for long.

"Halfway through 2017 private firms were already dialing back their hiring, borrowing, and investing, but not SOEs [state owned enterprises], they kept their pedal to the metal all the way into 2018," he told Business Insider. "So a 2018 slowdown was inevitable regardless of what was happening around the globe, or with Trump trade."

If you pay attention to Chinese media, this is something entrepreneurs have been angry about. Many feel that they've had to take on all the burden of China's credit reforms even though state-owned enterprises hold most of the debt. According to the Chinese credit-rating agency Chengxin, 83% of the companies that have defaulted on debt payment since 2014 are private. They're the ones dealing with all the moral hazard.

And so billionaire tycoons like Chen Hongtian, founder of Cheung Kei Group, are predicting "the difficulties will be larger than expected" going forward. That's what he told a gathering of The Harmony Club, a Shenzen-based group of 150 of China's richest businessmen.

"The winter will be very cold," he said according to the South China Morning Post."I would like to remind again … it’s hard to predict and all that I can say is that difficulties [for private enterprises] are much bigger than people expected."

So in China we have more and more good money chasing a growing pile of bad money. Policymakers have tried to enact measures targeted at private and smaller businesses to free up more good cash. Tax cuts, for example. But they haven't done anything to turn the economy around. Most recently, policymakers announced a cut in Chinese banks' reserve ratio requirement, but Miller says a lack of access to credit has never been the problem, so it won't be the solution.

All Trump's trade war has done is make this even worse. For one thing, it has added a measure of uncertainty that has scared off China's much-needed foreign investors. Foreign direct investment plummeted to $25.2 billion in Q3 from $52.7 billion in Q2, and Citigroup estimates that about $26.2 billion left China over the same period. 

"The current weakness is not due primarily to the trade war," Miller said. "It's a major pressure point, certainly, but much of the weakness we picked up this year — particularly in manufacturing — predates the imposition of large scale tariffs.

"A March 1st US-China trade agreement would relieve a great deal of uncertainty from the rest of 2019, but it would only keep things from getting worse, not necessarily help the economy get better."

Come play with us

So China's best near-term hope is that this trade war ends, and that —true or not— China bulls on Wall Street can sound the all clear to get back in the water.

To achieve this, policymakers have three options:

1. Cave to Trump's demands and significantly and transparently change the course of its economy. This would be a massive admission of defeat.
2. Pretend to cave to Trump's demands and risk a return to war in the future if their game is found out. 
3. Kick the can down the road and wait for another, kinder administration in the US. This risks freaking out financial markets as investors get doubtful of, or impatient with progress. In the meantime, the Chinese economy will suffer.

It's not hard to see that pretending, if China can pull it off, is the best solution for the time being. So trade negotiators will be looking out for loopholes and hollow wins. The head of Trump's trade delegation, Robert Lighthizer, seems adamant that the president will not accept those as total victory.

But Trump loves (at least to claim) victory, so maybe he'll decide to play along with China.

And maybe, since Wall Street loves fast cash and stability, it'll take "the trade war is over" narrative and run with it, pouring much needed investment back into the country.

That's the absolute best case here, and it's vapor.

SEE ALSO: It's time to stop listening to Ray Dalio on China

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NOW WATCH: 6 airline industry secrets that will help you fly like a pro this holiday season

• Much to the chagrin of the undefeated No. 2 Michigan Wolverines and No. 4 Virginia Cavaliers, the Duke Blue Devils sit at the top of the AP Top 25 Poll for the third consecutive week.
• The ACC leads all conferences with six teams in the rankings, followed closely by the Big 12 with five and the SEC and Big 10 with four teams apiece. The Pac-12, meanwhile, has no representation in the AP Top 25 Poll for the second consecutive week.
• Here are the four biggest winners and losers of Week 9 of the college basketball season.

Winners

▲ No. 5 Gonzaga Bulldogs — Up 2 spots in the AP Top 25 Poll

The No. 5 Gonzaga Bulldogs have been one of the elite teams throughout this college basketball season. They managed to take down Zion Williamson and the mighty Blue Devils at the Maui Invitational before suffering their first losses of the season back-to-back against the Tennessee Volunteers and North Carolina Tar Heels. Since then, the Bulldogs have been flying high, outscoring their last five opponents by a 43.6 point margin on average and climbing two spots in the AP Top 25 Poll this week. Even so, the most significant thing that happened for Gonzaga this week was the return of star big man Killian Tillie, who had been recovering from an ankle injury for the first half of the season. If the Bulldogs could compete — and even beat — the top teams in the nation without their leading returning scorer from last season, imagine what they will do with him back in the ranks.

▲ No. 20 Iowa State Cyclones — Enter AP Top 25 Poll

Early season losses to the Arizona Wildcats and the Iowa Hawkeyes took the No. 20 Iowa State Cyclones out of the conversation with the top teams in the country, but Iowa State hasn't lost since. This week, they took down the then-No. 5 Kansas Jayhawks in dominant fashion, stretching a four-point halftime lead into a commanding 17-point gap by the final buzzer. Now the Cyclones find themselves in the top 20 of the AP Top 25 Poll with two more matchups against ranked opponents coming later in the month.

• "The Bachelor" returns to television Monday night, January 7, on ABC.
• The average age of a woman competing on "The Bachelor" is 26, while the average age of a guy competing for the heart of "The Bachelorette" star is 29. 
• Women on "The Bachelor" are on average 4.8 years younger than the lead.
• 85% of women on "The Bachelor" are younger than 30, compared to 60% of men on "The Bachelorette."

The 23rd season of "The Bachelor" kicks off tonight on ABC, with 30 women vying for the heart of former football player Colton Underwood.

For the overwhelming majority of those women, this ends badly: either in a curt farewell at a rose ceremony or some other telegenic end to their relationship with Colton. But it seems like every year, these contestants on "The Bachelor" get younger, right?

They don't, the rest of us are just getting older. 

We pulled the data on every participant on "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette" for all the seasons recorded on the Bachelor Nation Wiki, the most extensive repository for "Bachelor" franchise data online. While information about a few early seasons is missing, we've got details on 481 women who competed on "The Bachelor" and 366 men who competed on "The Bachelorette." 

Read more:Meet the 30 women who will be competing for Colton's heart on 'The Bachelor'

Generally, women were way younger than the men. The average woman who appeared on "The Bachelor" was a little over 26, while the average man on "The Bachelorette" was 29.

The age window for women on the show was considerably tighter, too: 79% of female contestants were aged 28 or younger, compared to 48% of men. Two-thirds of women who compete on "The Bachelor" are aged 23 to 27. For comparison, two-thirds of the men on the show are 28 or older.  

That age gap somehow expands even further when you compare the age of the contestants to the leads of the show. The average contestant on "The Bachelor" is 4.8 years younger than the male lead, while the average contestant on "The Bachelorette" is 1.3 years older than the female lead. 

This actually ends up having a pretty significant effect! The age difference between "The Bachelorette" star and the winner on her season was on average 1.2 years, in line with the overall average age difference. But the stars of "The Bachelor" pick winners who are on average younger than the overall contestant: Across the 16 seasons where we have data, the woman who wins "The Bachelor" was on average 5.6 years younger than the lead. 

Read more:A former 'Bachelorette' reveals why no one actually falls in love on 'The Bachelor'

According to the 2014 Current Population Survey, among heterosexual couples, the average age difference is 2.3 years. 

So if it seems like the contestants get younger every year, there are shifts but the general trend is fairly flat. The average contestant age in each season stays pretty consistant, and the average age has never been more than 1.2 years off of the overall contestant age.

The liklier reality is that the rest of us are getting older, and gradually aging out of the age demo of the contestants pool. This graph will show you where you'd stand among the hundreds of hopefuls who fought for that final rose: 

Visit INSIDER's homepage for more.

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NOW WATCH: Bernie Madoff was arrested 10 years ago today — here's what his life is like in prison

This is a preview of a research report from Business insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service. To learn more about Business Insider Intelligence, click here. 

Telehealth — the use of mobile technology to deliver health-related services, such as remote doctor consultations and patient monitoring — is enabling healthcare providers and payers to address the US healthcare industry’s growing list of problems.

The proliferation and rapid advancement of mobile technology are spurring telehealth adoption, and many believe that 2018 could be the tipping point for the telehealth market.

In this report, Business Insider Intelligence defines the opaque US telehealth market, forecasts the market growth potential and value, outlines the key drivers behind usage and adoption, and evaluates the opportunity telehealth solutions will afford all stakeholders. We also identify key barriers to continued telehealth adoption, and discuss how providers, payers, and telehealth companies are working to overcome these hurdles.

Here are some of the key takeaways:

• Telehealth is enabling healthcare providers and payers to address the US healthcare industry’s growing list of problems, including rising healthcare costs, an aging population, and the transformation of healthcare from service-centric to consumer-centric, which is straining healthcare system resources and threatening to drive up payer costs.
• Although telehealth solutions aren't suitable for all patients, right now, about 45% of the US population, or 147 million consumers, falls within the addressable market.
• Despite low usage rates, most consumers are open to using telehealth solutions, according to the 2018 Business Insider Intelligence Insurance Technology Study. 
• A range of companies are well-positioned to generate savings in terms of revenue and avoid potential pitfalls by deploying telehealth solutions.

 In full, the report:

• Offers an overview of different types of telehealth services and their applications in the US healthcare ecosystem. 
• Highlights the growth drivers and opportunities of these applications.
• Includes exclusive data and insights from the 2018 Business Insider Intelligence Insurance Technology Study. 
• Provides examples of key players in the telehealth market, including insurers, medical device makers, and health networks. 
• Gives recommendations on how health networks and payers should approach using and deploying telehealth solutions.

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• Samsung announced new laptops at CES 2019 that finally look as good as those from rivals like Apple or Dell. 
• If you've never thought about Samsung laptops as an option before, the new Notebook 9 Pro might change your opinion. 
• The new Notebook Flash is inexpensive at $350, but it looks better than anything else you can get for under $500. 

If Samsung's latest laptops were just a simple power upgrade over previous models, I wouldn't even bother to give them a second glance. 

But the new Samsung PC models, announced today at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, come with fresh new designs that finally earns them a place next to the modern and beautiful machines from makers like Apple, Dell, Lenovo, or HP.

Indeed, there are plenty of laptops that can rock a powerful Intel Core i7 processor — Samsung seems to have finally realized that aesthetics matter as much as specs when it comes to standing apart from the competition. 

Check out Samsung's latest laptops announced at CES 2019, the Notebook 9 Pro and the Notebook Flash:

SEE ALSO: Samsung's new screen that clamps to your desk is incredibly simple — and it's the best thing to happen to computer monitors in years

Samsung's Notebook Pro 9 is a tidy little powerhouse designed for power users looking for portability and great design.

The new Notebook 9 Pro I saw at CES 2019 has a 13-inch FHD display, a powerful Intel Core i7 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. Those are pretty standard specs for the high-end that pretty much any laptop from any company could sport — and many do. 

It also comes standard with Samsung's Active Pen stylus, which is handy for taking notes or annotating and signing documents. It's good that Samsung includes the Active Pen with the Notebook 9 Pro — Microsoft sells its Surface Pen stylus separately. A laptop stylus is the kind of thing that's handy, but not usually useful enough to buy separately.

The Notebook 9 Pro weighs in at a lightweight 2.84 pounds, which is a hair heavier than the 2018 MacBook Air. It's also 0.55 inches thick, which is actually thinner than the 2018 MacBook Air, which measures in at 0.61 inches at the thickest point. 

Any laptop can have great specs, so Samsung improved the one area where it has the most control — design

Any laptop can have great specs. It's become clear over the last few years that design is becoming more and more important — it's one of the few areas where laptop makers have the most control when differentiating their devices from others. This year, Samsung seized control of the design of its own laptops.

With narrow bezels, sleek black borders, sharper and more modern edges, and a solid aluminum exterior, Samsung's latest Notebook 9 Pro has caught up with modern laptop design, where its previous models always felt laggard in terms of looks. 

It also has three "diamond-cut" strips around the edges that gives it a little extra flair over its competitors. There's a slight retro vibe around the strips that I'm actually quite fond of. 

There's no price tag as of yet, but the Notebook 9 Pro will be available in 'early 2019.'

• The billing practices of the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital are under fire after a Vox article detailed how some privately insured patients have been surprised to receive a bill as high as five figures.
• The public hospital was named after Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, after the couple made a $75 million donation in 2015 to build a trauma center. 
• Some people are now criticizing Zuckerberg himself on social media, despite the fact that he has no impact on the day-to-day operations of the hospital.

People are criticizing Mark Zuckerberg for the billing practices of a San Francisco-based hospital named after him that has reportedly left some privately insured patients with five-figure debts.

Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, formerly called San Francisco General Hospital, was named after the Facebook founder in 2015 after he and his wife, Priscilla Chan, made a $75 million donation. However, Zuckerberg himself has no impact on the day-to-day operations, though it is largely associated with his likeness.

Emergency room bills reviewed by Vox detailed how the hospital is considered "out-of-network" for those with private insurance. This means it doesn't accept the kind of health-insurance coverage that most people get through their jobs, which can leave people with large bills if they visit the hospital for care — for example, one woman ended up with a $31,250 bill for a broken ankle.

On social media, some people have been criticizing the Facebook founder for the hotel's policies, showing just how sticky it can be to have a hospital with your name on it. 

But the crucial context is that Zuckerberg is not currently involved in implementing policy at the hospital. The public hospital, in its own words, is there to serve those who are "underserved" by only accepting public health coverage (i.e. Medicaid, Medicare, and all the programs that fall underneath), according to the Vox report. 

Yes, "the less sexy reality," as one Googler put it, is far more nuanced. But with his name front and center on the hospital, the Facebook CEO has found himself in this position before. Take for example just last month, when a San Francisco politician asked the city attorney to remove Zuckerberg's name from the hospital amid Facebook's latest privacy scandal.

Though, the fact remains: denying all private insurance is quite rare and, frankly, frowned upon by many healthcare advocates.

The Vox report examines how when someone is involved in a traumatic accident near Zuckerberg Hospital, they are most likely going to be taken there — potentially without recollection or the ability to search for an in-network provider — making it more likely they will be surprised when the bill comes in the mail.

It's a valid concern, and some politicians are already looking into how to combat these "surprise" ER bills, but that's a different discussion than as to whether Zuckerberg is to blame for patient experiences at the hospital he donated to.

And finally, in case the answer to that sarcastic question wasn't clear —  no, Zuckerberg doesn't control what gets billed and how much.

Sarah Kliff, writer of the Vox piece, explains in her reporting how she found the city of San Francisco, or more pointedly, the city's Board of Supervisors, is the one setting the prices. 

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NOW WATCH: We put the 7 best smartphones of 2018 head-to-head and there was a clear winner for the best value

• The Coast Guard was able to secure enough money for payroll on December 31, despite the government shutdown.
• But officials say they won't be able to repeat that maneuver for the next payday, January 15, potentially making them the only uniformed military service to go without pay during the shutdown.
• There's a bill in the Senate to pay the Coast Guard, but their salaries are still at the mercy of political wrangling.

A surprise maneuver at the end of December ensured Coast Guardsmen got their final paychecks of 2018, despite the government shutdown that began on December 22.

But the shutdown has dragged on, and the income for some 50,000 personnel, including 42,000 deemed essential personnel and required to work during the shutdown, remains in doubt as the first payday of 2019 approaches.

Read more: The Coast Guard turned down a request for an Arctic exercise out of concern the US's only heavy icebreaker would break down and Russia would have to rescue it

Salaries for the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps are covered by the Defense Department, which got its full funding the for the fiscal year in the fall. But while the Coast Guard is a military branch, it is part of the Department of Homeland Security, funding for which had not been approved by the time the shutdown began.

Coast Guard operations have continued, however.

On December 23, Coast Guard crews on training exercises in Hawaii were diverted twice, first to medevac a snorkeler who was having a medical emergency and then to rescue passengers from a capsized vessel. This month, Coast Guard crews in the Pacific have been involved in searches for crew members from two different vessels.

Officials said on December 28 that the Homeland Security Department had found a way to supply about $75 million needed to cover pay for the December 31 pay period, but they said they would be unable to repeat it for the January 15 payday.

Read more: We got aboard a Coast Guard chopper to see how they bust smugglers and save boaters in the crowded waters around Miami

There is some money within the Homeland Security Department that has moved around to keep things going, but some activities, like issuing licenses, has been curtailed. Funding for other services, like child-care subsidies, is also running out, further complicating life for service members and their families.

During the first week of January, the Pay Our Coast Guard Act was introduced to the Senate by Republican Sen. John Thune, cosponsored by Republican Sens. Roger Wicker, Susan Collins, Cindy Hyde Smith, and Democratic Sens. Marla Cantwell, Richard Blumenthal, Doug Jones, and Brian Schatz.

The bill would pay active, retired, and civilian Coast Guard personnel despite the shutdown. It would also fund benefits for retired members, death gratuities, and other payouts.

Thune's measure was first introduced in 2015 but died after being referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee. After a grassroots effort generated 141,015 letters to congressmembers asking for its reintroduced, the bill was resubmitted on January 3, the first day of the 116th Congress.

Read more: An ISIS-inspired tactic is raising concerns in US ports

"All we know so far, is that if this isn't resolved by the 10th they will not get paid on the 15th," Coast Guard spouse Stephanie Lisle told ConnectingVets.com. "Hopefully the bill gets passed."

The bill garnered support from more than a dozen veterans groups, but it would also have to pass the House of Representatives, which is now controlled by Democrats, and be signed by President Donald Trump.

Last week, Trump said he was prepared to keep the government shut down for "months or even years" after he and Democratic leaders again failed to resolve his demand for billions in funding for a border wall.

"We won’t be opening until it’s solved," Trump said on January 4. "I don’t call it a shutdown. I call it doing what you have to do for the benefit and the safety of our country."

• Read more:
• Coast Guard crews are capturing record amounts of cocaine — here's how they chase down high-seas smugglers
• The Coast Guard is catching record amounts of cocaine, and activity is growing around a smuggling hotspot
• Billions of dollars of cocaine are smuggled into the US by sea every year, and the Coast Guard says it can only stop one-quarter of it
• The Coast Guard is catching more drug-running subs, but most 'very stealthy' narco subs are probably going undetected

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Inside the Coast Guard's 8-week boot camp where recruits go through extreme physical tests and brutal 'smoke sessions'

• An attorney seeking to subpoena Azealia Banks in a lawsuit centered on Tesla CEO Elon Musk's "funding secured" tweet is arguing that Musk's lawyers "seem to be pressuring" Banks to conceal and destroy information based on a now-deleted tweet by Banks. 
• Tesla investors claim that Banks — who was at one of Musk's properties soon after he posted the tweet — could have information relevant to the case. Their motion argues that information on social media is prone to being discarded inadvertently. 
• Banks said on Monday that she had told Musk's lawyers she did not want to testify in the case, a reversal from her prior excitement. 
• "If investors are looking to me to give them the iconic, succinct, truthful, legendary, dramatic-pop-culture-courthouse monologue ... they will absolutely get it," Banks told Business Insider last week. 

The battle to subpoena Azealia Banks in a lawsuit against Elon Musk and Tesla is heating up. 

Last week, Dean Kristy of Fenwick & West, an attorney representing Musk, filed an opposition arguing against the allowance of a subpoena of Azealia Banks, as well as those of Grimes, Business Insider, Gizmodo, and The New York Times. Kristy argued that the motion for leave to serve preservation subpoenas was primarily an attempt to "sensationalize" proceedings.

On Monday, Adam M. Apton of Levi & Korsinsky, the firm representing the investors, fired back.

Apton told Business Insider that the firm is seeking to subpoena Banks in part due to concerns that Musk, Tesla, or others connected to them could pressure the rapper to destroy information that could be relevant in the case. 

"Granting the motion would allow the plaintiffs to preserve this evidence and help provide a fair opportunity to take discovery for all parties," Apton said in an email on Monday. 

Citing a now-deleted tweet that Banks posted to her private Twitter account on Friday, Apton added a further concern that "lawyers seem to be pressuring Ms. Banks to conceal and/or destroy evidence." The tweet said that Musk's lawyers had previously taken her phone and suggested they tried tampering with information.  

Kristy and a representative for Musk did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment. Tesla declined to comment.

The investors are suing Tesla and Musk in a class-action lawsuit, claiming that Musk made false and misleading statements when he tweeted about plans to take the company private at $420 a share. These tweets, the complaint alleges, negatively impacted people who purchased Tesla stock soon after Musk tweeted about his plans, as they falsely believed that he had funding secured to take the company private.

Banks, for her part, told Business Insider on Monday that she was no longer interested in testifying in the case, a reversal from the previous excitement she expressed on the topic. Banks said that she had told Musk's lawyers about her reticence earlier in the day on Monday. 

"I never TRULY wanted to go to court, it was just something to joke about," she said in an Instagram DM. "I'm not getting paid to be a prosecutor so it's ultimately a waste of time for a musician to be in court." 

Read more:Azealia Banks reveals why she thinks Elon Musk was right to settle with the SEC and who Tesla should tap as its new chairman

The problems caused by 'funding secured'

The motion asking the court for permission to serve preservation subpoenas is related to a lawsuit filed against Tesla and the company's CEO, Elon Musk, in August, after Musk tweeted that funding was "secured" to take Tesla private at $420 a share. Banks was staying at one of Musk's Los Angeles properties soon after he posted the tweet, and told Business Insidershe saw Musk "scrounging for investors" when she stayed at his house.

In December, attorneys representing the investors led by Apton moved for permission to subpoena Banks and Grimes, the singer and songwriter whose real name is Claire Boucher, who was dating Musk at the time. The motion also proposes subpoenaing Business Insider — which interviewed Banks regarding her time at Musk's property — as well as Gizmodo and The New York Times, which interviewed Musk.

Read more: Rapper Azealia Banks claims she was at Elon Musk's house over the weekend as he was 'scrounging for investors'

"Ms. Boucher and Ms. Banks were in close contact with Mr. Musk before and after the tweet and are believed to be in possession of relevant evidence concerning Mr. Musk’s motives," Apton told Business Insider on Monday. "Business Insider also appears to have relevant evidence in light of its relationship with Ms. Banks."

The motion to serve subpoenas seeks to require the parties to preserve information, such as Twitter and Instagram messages, that could be relevant to the case. The filing argues messages posted on social media and shared via text message are "highly susceptible to deletion." 

On Friday, Banks had said she would be happy to share whatever information attorneys are seeking. 

"Since I will be under oath, I have no choice but to tell the exact same honest truth I told in the past — except this time it won't be vulgar," Banks said at the time. 

"The courthouse isn't the internet, so if investors are looking to me to give them the iconic, succinct, truthful, legendary, dramatic-pop-culture-courthouse monologue ... they will absolutely get it." 

However, on Monday, Banks told Business Insider she had changed her mind and told Musk's lawyers she no longer wished to testify. 

"I don't have any relevant information to add tbh," she said on Monday. "I'm not a stock analyst." 

Banks declined to say whether Musk's lawyers reached out to her over the weekend. She also declined to answer a question on the validity of Apton's concerns. Banks said she plans to wait until the court decides to grant or decline permission to serve the subpoenas to speak on the topic further. 

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• Chris Concannon has left his role as president of Cboe Global Markets for MarketAxess, one of the largest electronic trading platform for US bonds.
• Concannon will serve as president and chief operating officer effective January 22.
• The industry veteran brings his experience in electronic trading to a market that still largely trades over the phone.

Chris Concannon loves a good challenge.

The former president and chief operating officer of Cboe Global Markets will soon get it, as he aims to help disrupt a market with little transparency where most trades are still conducted over the telephone. On Monday it was announced that Concannon had left his role at the exchange operator for a new role helming MarketAxess, the largest electronic trading platform for US bonds.

Concannon, who was CEO of Bats Global Markets until it was acquired by Cboe in 2017, is a veteran of electronic trading, having also spent time at Nasdaq, trading platform Instinet and market maker Virtu.

His experience in electronic trading will prove vital — research from Greenwich Associates in 2018 estimated only 26% of trading in US high-grade and high-yield bonds was done electronically.

Still, that’s a 7% uptick from the previous year, showing the industry is ripe for change.

“I am someone that loves watching large asset classes go through evolutionary changes,” Concannon told Business Insider in an interview. “I just see MarketAxess sitting at the center of this evolutionary change happening within the global bond market. It is a shift from a manual, dealer-driven market to a much more automated electronic market.”

Concannon, who will start at MarketAxess on January 22, is at the right place to lead that change, as the trading platform holds significant market share. In data compiled by Greenwich Associates in third quarter of 2018, MarketAxess handled 85% of electronic trading done on US high-grade and high-yield bonds.

And while he brings a wealth of knowledge from his time on the equities side, he admitted it’s not an exact comparison. Concannon pointed to the size of the fixed income market, and how it continues to grow thanks to the debt loads corporations and governments around the world have taken on.

“The fixed income market is the mother of all markets. … I have only graduated out of equities into fixed income,” Concannon said. “It is just this unbelievably large asset class that is going through an evolution that will happen once in a lifetime. To participate in that evolution is just what excites me the most about this opportunity.”

Meanwhile at Cboe, Chris Isaacson, who had served as the chief information officer, has been promoted to COO. Ed Tilly, Cboe’s CEO and chairman, will take on Concannon’s title of president. While Isaacson will manage day-to-day operations, Tilly will take over the business lines Concannon oversaw.

“Bittersweet to see Chris go, but our day-to-day operations will be unchanged,” Isaacson told Business Insider. “The path we set for 2019 and beyond is really not impacted."

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• President Donald Trump recently claimed past presidents privately offered their support for his border wall, but there's no evidence to support this.
• "I have not discussed the border wall with President Trump, and do not support him on the issue," former President Jimmy Carter said in a statement.
• Carter echoed recent statements from former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
• Former President Barack Obama reportedly hasn't spoken with Trump since Inauguration Day in 2017, and has repeatedly made it clear he opposes the president's immigration policies.

President Donald Trump recently claimed past presidents privately offered their support for his border wall and expressed regret they did not already build one, but there's no evidence to support this.

"This should have been done by all of the presidents that preceded me, and they all know it," Trump said of his wall during a press conference in the Rose Garden at the White House last Friday. "Some of them have told me that we should have done it."

Former President Jimmy Carter on Monday rejected the notion he ever condoned Trump's plan to build a massive wall along the US-Mexico border, an edifice that Trump has been obsessing over since the 2016 campaign season.

Carter in a statement said, "I have not discussed the border wall with President Trump, and do not support him on the issue."

Carter's statement echoed recent statements from spokespersons for former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.

Read more:Trump's insistence on a border wall ignores the fact roughly half of all undocumented immigrants entered the country legally

Angel Ureña, spokesman for Clinton, recently told Politico that Clinton "did not" discuss the border wall with Trump. "In fact, they’ve not talked since the inauguration," Ureña added in reference to Clinton and Trump.

Bush spokesman Freddy Ford told Politico the former president had also not discussed the wall with his successor.

Meanwhile, former President Barack Obama reportedly hasn't spoken with Trump since Inauguration Day in 2017.

Obama did not immediately respond to a request for comment from INSIDER, but he has repeatedly made it clear he opposes Trump's immigration policies – including building the border wall.

"Suggesting that we can build an endless wall along our borders, and blame our challenges on immigrants – that doesn't just run counter to our history as the world's melting pot; it contradicts the evidence that our growth and our innovation and our dynamism has always been spurred by our ability to attract strivers from every corner of the globe,"Obama said in 2016. "That's how we became America. Why would we want to stop it now?"

Trump has made building a border wall the centerpiece of his approach to immigration, repeatedly presenting it as a virtually foolproof means of combatting undocumented immigration and related issues.

Read more: Trump averaged 15 falsehoods a day in 2018

The president's insistence on obtaining funding for a border wall, and Democratic opposition to his plan in Congress, have pushed the federal government into a partial government shutdown that has persisted with no end in sight for more than two weeks.

Trump has made a slew of false assertions regarding immigration since his presidential campaign, but particularly in relation to his border wall. His claim past presidents have supported him on this endeavor is yet another addition to an already long list of falsities from Trump on immigration and beyond.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from INSIDER.

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