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Trump's lawyers want to review and edit Mueller's report before it's out. William Barr said there's no way he'll allow that.

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William Barr

  • William Barr, President Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general, told lawmakers Tuesday that he will not allow Trump's lawyers to review and edit the special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian election interference before it's released to Congress or the public.
  • Barr's commitment flew in the face of Rudy Giuliani's comments last year and earlier this month, when he said Trump's team wanted to "correct" Mueller's report before it comes out.
  • But Barr left the door open for Trump's lawyers to object to the report's release based on claims of executive privilege.
  • Giuliani told INSIDER in September that Trump's team would waive executive privilege if "we had an adequate opportunity to review the report before it was released to the public."

Rudy Giuliani, President Donald Trump's lead defense lawyer, told INSIDER last year that the White House wants to review and edit the special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian election interference before it's released to the public.

On Tuesday, William Barr, Trump's nominee for attorney general, told lawmakers there's no way he'll approve that.

When Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy asked Barr if he would allow Trump's team to "correct" the report, Barr responded: "That will not happen."

He did, however, leave the door open for Giuliani to object to the report's release based on claims of executive privilege.

As prosecutors put together the report, Trump's current and former lawyers have said all the information contained in it will be protected by executive privilege. For that reason, they say the White House needs to sign off on the report's final version in the event that deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein — who is overseeing Mueller — chooses to release it to Congress or the public.

Giuliani told INSIDER that Trump's team would waive executive privilege if "we had an adequate opportunity to review the report before it was released to the public; if we felt that — even if we disagreed with its findings — it was fair; and if we had the chance to release a rebuttal report simultaneously that addresses all of Mueller's allegations."

But as of now, he said, the White House "reserves its privilege." He added that Trump's legal team had a commitment to that effect from Mueller. When he was asked whether Mueller agreed to allow Trump's team to review a draft of the report before it is released, Giuliani said he wasn't sure if the two sides had reached a consensus on that.

Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor in Chicago, told INSIDER earlier that while the White House could theoretically claim that certain information in a report from Mueller is protected by executive privilege, a court would most likely strike that argument down.

"What the White House would essentially be saying then is that a prosecutor can obtain information from the president or the White House, but they can't do anything with it," Mariotti said. "That's a very weak argument."

SEE ALSO: Rudy Giuliani doubles down on his dubious claim that the White House should be able to review and correct Mueller's report before it's released

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NOW WATCH: MSNBC host Chris Hayes thinks President Trump's stance on China is 'not at all crazy'


There’s a wait list of 8 months to receive new semi-trucks as manufacturers work through a massive backlog of 300,000 orders

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semi trucks

  • As the trucking industry comes down from one of the biggest boom years ever, there's still a massive backlog of semi-truck orders.
  • The backlog totals around 300,000.
  • That is more than three times the normal rate.

 

A semi-truck normally just takes 10 weeks to produce. 

But now, companies are waiting seven to eight months for their new truck, said Michael DiCecco, who is executive managing director of Huntington Bank's asset finance sector.

"It's a pretty hefty backlog," DiCecco told Business Insider. 

The last year has been anything but normal for the freight truck industry, leading to that long wait time.

A safety law cut truck driver capacity, forcing retail behemoths like Walmart to advertise for new truck drivers on television and overhaul their training process. Spot rates to move goods regularly broke records in 2018. And, as a result, consumer products ranging from the price for Amazon Prime to Hasbro toys to Tyson Foods meat crept up to make up for the skyrocketing cost of freight. 

Read more: Household staples from Hershey's chocolate to Crest toothpaste will get more expensive next year, and executives are partially blaming the 'overrun' trucking industry

Now, the freight market is slowing down, trucking analysts told Business Insider. Steve Tam, vice president of ACT Research, said order numbers for December were "indicative of a normal or average market."

"Freight is still growing at this point," Tam told Business Insider. "It's just that it's growing at a slower pace."

While orders have slowed considerably from the three-digit year-over-year growth rates of 2018, the backlog of orders is still filling up. That wait time was around six months in August. Then it expanded to a surprising nine months in Q3 2018. Now, as companies have caught up to orders, it's back to around seven to eight months. 

Read more: New truck orders plunged by 43% in December, but trucking insiders remain strangely cheery

In total, Tam said there's a backlog of around 300,000 trucks right now. Usually, it's around 80,000 to 100,000 units. 

What that means for retailers, manufacturers, and others is that, even though orders have slowed, the production side still needs time to catch up to the craziness of 2018.

SEE ALSO: Buying furniture from the internet has become normal — and trucking companies are investing millions in the e-commerce boom

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These are the top five trends shaping the future of digital health

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Digital Health

The healthcare industry is in a state of disruption. Digital solutions are becoming a necessary part of the new global standard of care for patients and regulation is being fast-tracked to catch up to digital health innovation.

These rapid changes will have ripple effects across the entire healthcare system, impacting incumbents and new entrants alike.

Based on our ongoing analysis, understanding of industry trends, and conversations with industry executives, Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider’s premium research service, has put together The Top Five Trends Shaping The Future of Digital Health.

To get your copy of this free report, click here.

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China's trade data 'will get nastier,' economist says

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China shipping container us trade war

  • Recent trade data from China pointed to further concerns about a slowdown in the second-largest economy.
  • Policymakers have vowed to roll out stimulus programs in coming months.
  • While economists see a recovery eventually, they say imports and exports have further to fall in the near-term. 

A dimming economic outlook in China has rattled global markets in recent weeks. In trade, things could get worse before they get better.

China's exports fell by the most in two years in December, the General Administration of Customs data said Monday, shedding 4.4% from a year earlier. Imports, meanwhile, fell 7.6% in their largest drop since 2016.

Officials have rushed to try to shore up confidence, vowing various stimulus programs from easier lending rules to tax cuts. And while the economy is expected to recover eventually, experts say there is still plenty of room for activity to fall.

“China's trade data will get nastier,” said Freya Beamish, chief Asia economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. "The most prescient indicators, however, suggest that the recovery should be V-shaped."

Recent factory-activity data has pointed to further headwinds for exports, Beamish said. In December, China's manufacturing sector contracted to its lowest level in more than three years.

"The PMIs suggest deepening near-term pain," she said. "The new export orders subindex of the official PMI is not reliable on a month-to-month basis, but does offer a robust three-month lead on the trend. It currently is giving a very strong downward signal."

Screen Shot 2019 01 15 at 11.07.41 AM

Imports, for their part, are expected to bottom out in the middle of 2019.

"China's overall import growth could be suppressed by weaker domestic demand, even though its imports of US goods will likely pick up notably in coming months as a part of the US-China negotiation process," Bank of America Merrill Lynch's Xiaojia Zhi said.

Hundreds of billions of dollars worth of tariffs levied between China and the US have exacerbated a policy-engineered slowdown in the country. Apple, Samsung and a string of other major companies around the world have recently warned of weakening Chinese demand.

Additionally, China's low production costs have diminished as standards of living rises and domestic competition becomes more challenging.

"The current US-China trade war, which broke out in 2018, obviously was not the trigger," UBS analysts wrote in a recent research note. "Underlying the development, instead, are a couple of structural factors."  

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JPMORGAN: One slice of the stock market is set to explode higher — here are the 5 reasons, and how you can get involved

Bank of America asked a group of investors overseeing $645 billion how companies should be spending their money — and the responses show just how scared they are of a credit meltdown

 

SEE ALSO: Global markets bounce as China pledges support for its stuttering economy

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A Coca Cola-owned brand will sell sparkling water made with carbon dioxide captured from the atmosphere

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Climeworks plant

  • The company Climeworks specializes in capturing carbon-dioxide emissions from the atmosphere. 
  • Climeworks has partnered with the sparkling water brand Valser to sell beverages containing CO2 that's captured from the air.
  • Louise Charles, the communications manager at Climeworks, said the company also captures carbon dioxide for airborne fertilizers and renewable methane. 
  • The company's goal is to help curb climate change by capturing 1% of global carbon-dioxide emissions.

Valser, a Swiss sparkling water brand owned by Coca-Cola, will soon sell beverages containing carbon dioxide that comes directly from the atmosphere.

Coca-Cola HBC Switzerland, a vendor that makes Valser water, has partnered with Climeworks, which specializes in removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Louise Charles, the communications manager at Climeworks, told Business Insider that the new drinks will hit stores within the first three months of 2019.

Climeworks is building machines with filters that suck in carbon dioxide as air passes through. After a filter becomes saturated, it is heated to about 212 degrees Fahrenheit, which releases the carbon dioxide and allows the gas to be collected. One filter can be reused for several thousand cycles, according to Climeworks.

The machines are meant to help reduce the effects of global warming, which is projected to produce devastating effects in the next several decades. Human activities, from forest clearing to fossil fuel burning, have played a large role in causing temperatures to rise, and Earth's atmosphere has never contained as much carbon dioxide as it does now

Read more:Global carbon emissions set to rise further this year: study

Climeworks has expanded to 14 locations across Europe, including three flagship sites and some that are still under construction. Charles said the company works in three different markets — food, beverage, and agriculture; renewable fuels; and carbon dioxide removal.

The Valser partnership falls under the first category. Since May 2017, Climeworks has also operated a Swiss power plant that supplies carbon dioxide to a greenhouse, which uses the gas as an airborne fertilizer for vegetables. 

In October 2017, the company launched a power plant in Iceland to permanently and safely remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. At the plant, Climeworks mixes captured carbon dioxide with water and pumps it underground, where it is mineralized.

One of the most recent Climeworks plants, which opened in Italy during October 2018, focuses on creating renewable methane.

"Being active in food, beverage, agriculture, and renewable fuels and materials is great, because the CO2 is being recycled," Charles said. "But we are not actually reducing the CO2 content in the air with those two markets. We can only do that with the carbon dioxide removal."

Climeworks is also working on reducing the cost of its technology. The company spends about $600 per ton to remove carbon dioxide from the air, though Charles said she anticipates a drop to about $200 per ton in the next three or four years. Within the next decade, Climeworks aims to hit its long-term goal of $100 a ton.

While the Coca-Cola partnership is currently limited to Switzerland, Charles said Climeworks technology could one day be used all around the world. The company also plans on selling its carbon dioxide removal service to individuals. Charles said the final product is still being developed, though Climeworks hopes to launch it during the second quarter of 2019. 

A study released in December said global carbon-dioxide emissions have reached a record-high of 37.1 billion tons per year. Right now, Climeworks only collects about 2,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year, but Charles said the team aims to capture 1% of the world's emissions by 2025.

"Ultimately what we are trying to do is halt climate change, or even reverse climate change, so be able to scale up to the size that could really make an impact," Charles said. 

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William Barr says it would be a crime for Trump to pardon someone in exchange for their silence

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trump

  • William Barr, President Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general, told lawmakers Tuesday that it would "be a crime" for the president to pardon someone in exchange for their silence.
  • Trump often touts his pardon power and once said he has the "complete power to pardon" anyone for any reason.
  • Trump's former lawyer, John Dowd, reportedly floated pardons to former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and former national security adviser Michael Flynn — both of whom have since pleaded guilty — in the summer of 2017.
  • Trump also frequently tweets in support of Manafort, who DOJ veterans say may still be angling for a pardon, and falsely accused Mueller of coercing people to "flip and lie." 

William Barr, President Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general, said during his confirmation hearing Tuesday that it would be illegal for the president to pardon someone in exchange for that person's silence.

Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy asked Barr if a president can "offer a pardon in exchange for the witness's promise not to incriminate the president."

"No, that would be a crime," Barr replied.

Trump often touts his pardon power and once said he has the "complete power to pardon" anyone — including himself — for any reason.

Trump's relationship with Paul Manafort, his former campaign chairman, has also invited scrutiny from legal scholars who have speculated that Manafort may be angling for a pardon in exchange for protecting Trump from Mueller's scrutiny.

The New York Times has also reported that John Dowd, Trump's former defense lawyer, floated pardons to Manafort and former national security adviser Michael Flynn in the summer of 2017, when the Russia investigation began ramping up in earnest.

Manafort pleaded guilty in September to conspiracy and obstruction charges and struck a plea deal with prosecutors.

The Times reported that one of Manafort's lawyers, Kevin Downing, had repeatedly briefed Trump's team on what Mueller was asking Manafort about. And Trump's lead defense lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, told The Times Downing had given him specifics on what prosecutors wanted to know.

There is no technical or legal guideline that bars an attorney for one target of a criminal investigation from communicating with lawyers representing another target, whether or not a joint defense agreement exists.

But such communications could severely undermine, or even tank, a cooperation agreement if lawyers for one side revealed too much information to lawyers on the other side.

Manafort's guilty plea came after a lengthy court battle, during which his lawyers put up an aggressive defense against Mueller by challenging his authority and arguing that he had overstepped the scope of his mandate when he charged Manafort with crimes unrelated to Russian collusion.

Legal experts said at the time that Manafort's refusal to flip could have been part of an effort to angle for a presidential pardon. His lawyers' unusual decision to stay in touch with Trump's team, even he pleaded guilty, may point to the same strategy.

"It does seem that Manafort is trying to keep all his options open for as long as possible," Jeffrey Cramer, a longtime former federal prosecutor who spent 12 years at the Justice Department, told INSIDER earlier. "He is a career fraudster so he is consistent, if nothing else. He was easily convicted and then decided to cooperate rather than go through another trial and more prison time being added to his sentence."

"But a pardon is still the holy grail for Manafort," he added.

Trump, for his part, often tweets his support of Manafort and has falsely accused Mueller of coercing people to "flip and lie" to prosecutors.

Barr Bush

Barr on Tuesday was questioned by Leahy on the presidential pardon power in relation to his role in encouraging former President George H.W. Bush to pardon Reagan administration officials involved in the Iran-Contra scandal.

The infamous Iran-Contra affair involved the illegal sale of arms to Iran and anti-government guerrillas in Nicaragua.

As attorney general in the early 1990s, Barr urged Bush to pardon a number of key figures involved in the scandal who were facing charges, including former Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger.

Discussing the matter in 2001 at an oral history interviewwith the University of Virginia, Barr said he'd asked his staff and "seasoned professionals" at the Justice Department "to look into the indictment that was brought, and also some of the other people I felt had been unjustly treated and whether they felt that they would have been treated this way under standard Department guidelines."

Read more:Meet William Barr: What you need to know about the possible once and future attorney general

Barr said that based on the discussions that took place, he "went over and told the president I thought he should not only pardon Caspar Weinberger, but while he was at it, he should pardon about five others."

Bush ultimately went against Congress to pardon Weinberger, who'd been indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice, mere days before the case went to trial. Historians cite this move as among the most controversial examples of a president exercising the executive pardon power

SEE ALSO: What Paul Manafort's highly unusual move to brief Trump's team on his discussions with Mueller reveals about his strategy

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NOW WATCH: MSNBC host Chris Hayes thinks President Trump's stance on China is 'not at all crazy'

4 movies and TV shows coming to Netflix this week that are worth watching, including Netflix's documentary on the disastrous Fyre Festival

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fyre festival doc netflix

  • Netflix adds new movies and shows almost daily.
  • INSIDER has rounded up four movies and shows hitting the streaming service this week that are worth watching.
  • One option is Netflix's Fyre Festival documentary.

Netflix constantly adds new titles to watch on the streaming service. 

Trying to choose something to watch when given so many options can be difficult, so INSIDER looked through the list of new movies and shows hitting the service this week to see what's worth watching.

Here are four TV series and movies you should watch this week. 

"American Gangster" (Movie — coming Wednesday, January 16) 

american gangster

Oscar-nominated film "American Gangster" stars Denzel Washington as real-life drug trafficker Frank Lucas with Russell Crowe playing Detective Richie Roberts. Though much of the story is fictionalized, it is based on Lucas' life.

The movie also stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Cuba Gooding Jr., Josh Brolin, Ruby Dee, Idris Elba, Norman Reedus, and Common.

"American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace" (TV show — coming Thursday, January 17) 

The Assassination of Gianni Versace

"American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace" has been scooping up awards — including seven Emmys and two Golden Globes — and is finally hitting Netflix. The second season of the anthology series centers on spree killer Andrew Cunanan (Darren Criss) and the murder of fashion designer Gianni Versace (Edgar Ramirez). 

"FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened" (Movie — coming Friday, January 18)

FYRE doc

Netflix's "Fyre" is a documentary about the disastrous Fyre Festival. What was marketed as a VIP luxury experience in the Bahamas, resulted in hundreds of attendees getting stranded with delayed flights, a lack of food and water, and un-pitched tents. In this documentary, organizers and some of the people involved with the festival are telling their stories about what went wrong.

"Marvel's The Punisher" (TV series — coming Friday, January 18)

the punisher season two

Jon Bernthal is back as Frank Castle, aka the Punisher, on the Marvel series' second season. After saving a teen from a murder attempt, Castle has to decide whether to embrace his vigilante Punisher persona or try to return to a normal-ish life. 

Visit INSIDER's homepage for more.

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A transgender woman says she was repeatedly misgendered by an employee at a video game store

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tiffany moore

  • A transgender woman says she was repeatedly misgendered while returning a video game at a GameStop store in Albuquerque, New Mexico, KOB 4 reports
  • Tiffany Moore says that a store employee repeatedly called her "sir," even after she corrected him and said she should be addressed as "ma'am."
  • A video of the exchange between Moore and the employee has circulated online after another customer posted it to YouTube.
  • Moore says she does not regret how she acted in the video because at that point she had been misgendered several times and was very upset.
  • "My actions were justified," she said. "I mean, it was blatant and malicious hate. It was blatant and malicious misgendering."

A transgender woman says she was repeatedly misgendered while returning a video game at a GameStop store in Albuquerque, New Mexico, KOB 4 reports.

This month, Tiffany Moore went to the video game store to return a game she had bought for her son, and while she was there an employee repeatedly called her by a pronoun that she does not identify with, according to the outlet. Moore said that the employee repeatedly called her "sir," even after she corrected him and said she should be addressed as "ma'am."

Read more:Laverne Cox says she used to worry about being misgendered and deadnamed — and it's a common concern for transgender people

A video of the exchange between Moore and the employee has circulated online after another customer who was in the store at the time posted it to YouTube.

"I was so angry at that point because, literally, five or six times he had called me 'sir.' He got me so fuming angry and I was cussing," Moore told KOB 4. 

Read more: A high school assistant principal is accused of harassing a transgender student over his choice of bathrooms

Although she was upset when the video was taken, she said she doesn't regret her actions.

"Yeah, I could have reacted a whole lot better,” she said. "But you know what, I look back at it and if I could, I wouldn't change a single thing. I would do it 100,000 times again. I would kick over that display 100,000 times again. Because my actions were justified. I mean, it was blatant and malicious hate. It was blatant and malicious misgendering."

In a statement to KOB 4, a spokesperson for GameStop called the incident between Moore and the employee "unfortunate."

"We believe our associate acted professionally after mis-speaking by apologizing and remaining calm to de-escalate the situation," the statement said. "Like other corporations committed to inclusiveness, we are continually learning. This incident reminds us to continue pursuing efforts to ensure GameStop remains a diverse, inclusive culture that celebrates every person’s unique value."

Moore said she hopes that this incident will bring visibility and help people to understand her experience as a transgender woman. 

"We're humans just like you,” Moore said. "We're people just like you. We have kids. We have parents. We have brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, we're just trying to live."

A representative for GameStop didn't immediately return INSIDER's request for comment.

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Tekashi 6ix9ine is reportedly writing and producing a new album from prison

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tekashi 6ix9ine

  • Daniel Hernandez — a controversial rapper known as Tekashi 6ix9ine— is working on a new album from prison, according to TMZ.
  • TMZ says h's being inspired by the life stories of his fellow inmates.
  • Federal authorities charged Hernandez with several crimes related to firearms possession and racketeering. If convicted, he could be in prison for decades.
  • His last album, "Dummy Boy," was released in November to strong sales and bad reviews.

Tekashi 6ix9ine — the controversial rapper and alleged gang member whose real name is Daniel Hernandez— is putting together his next album while behind bars, according to TMZ.

Citing sources close to Hernandez, TMZ reported that he's "spending most of his time behind bars writing and producing songs for his next album," being inspired by other people locked up on criminal charges.

"He's actually been getting inspiration from some of his fellow inmates ... listening to their life stories," TMZ wrote. "On the negative side, he's facing possible life imprisonment for the various charges, and the negative forces have inspired some serious writing."

Read more:Here's everything you need to know about Tekashi 6ix9ine, the controversial 22-year-old rapper who could go to prison for life

In November, federal authorities charged Hernandez with a number of crimes related to racketeering and illegal firearms possession, alleging he's part of a gang called the Nine Trey Gangsters. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.

tekashi 6ix9ine court

As his case makes its way through the court system, Hernandez is spending time in a federal prison in Queens, according to Newsweek. Earlier this month, his visitation rules were changed after his girlfriend posted a racy Instagram photo of herself  visiting him in prison.

Read more:Federal authorities are reportedly investigating the possible involvement of rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine in the attempted shooting of rapper Chief Keef

If convicted on all counts, Hernandez could be in prison for decades. He's also reportedly under investigation for the shooting of a rival rapper, Chief Keef, and may be resentenced for a 2015 child sex conviction.

Hernandez's most recent album, "Dummy Boy," was released on November 27, while he was in prison, to poor reviews and excellent sales.

Visit INSIDER's homepage for more.

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Earnings season is kicking into high gear. Here are the most important things investors should watch for.

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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., January 7, 2019.

  • Earnings season is heating up this week, with 34 S&P 500 companies scheduled to report their quarterly results, according to FactSet.
  • Analysts are expecting earnings growth to slow.
  • Strategists across Wall Street are looking for what kind of impact slowing global growth and the US-China trade war are having on results.
  • Notably, on Tuesday, JPMorgan reported quarterly earnings that missed analysts' forecasts for the first time in 10 quarters as revenue in the firm's investment bank was lower than expected.

Wall Street is gearing up for a messy earnings season.

An avalanche of macroeconomic risks are expected to make a dent in corporate result, causing analysts to forecast earnings growth will decelerate. Strategists, economists, and investment advisors are looking, most pressingly, for further signs of an economic slowdown, along with the impact of a rising US dollar, the Trump administration's trade war with China, and some more sector-specific developments. 

After all, Apple seemed to set the stage earlier this year for a shaky round of earnings reports when it warned investors revenue would be lower than previously forecast. The culprit, the company said, was mostly weak iPhone sales in China. On Monday, China — the world's second-largest economy — reported that the value of Chinese imports and exports fell in 2018 by the most in two years. 

Read more: We're entering the most important earnings season in recent memory, and the fate of the stock market hangs in the balance

"Investors should be looking for the impacts of a global slowdown," Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer at Independent Advisor Alliance, told Business Insider. "To the extent that American multinationals have international exposure, they can provide insight into whether or not the economic slowdown is concentrated in particular industries or whether it is widespread."

The stock market's rally off the December lows stands to stall out if there's further evidence of a global-economic slowdown, Zaccarelli said.

More pointedly, as UBS's chief equity strategist Keith Parker told clients on Tuesday, "The market narrative went from synchronized global growth to start 2018 to one of slowing global growth and rising recession risk to end the year."

This week, 34 S&P 500 companies are scheduled to report quarterly results, according to financial data and software company FactSet. For the fourth-quarter, FactSet's senior earnings analyst, John Butters, said 72 S&P 500 companies have issued negative earnings guidance (below the five-year average), and 34 S&P 500 companies have issued positive earnings guidance (above the five-year average).

Read more: Major US companies are facing the same China question, and their answers are slowly shedding light on Trump's trade war impact

To be sure, analysts have been cutting their earnings outlooks for weeks. They are expecting quarterly earnings growth of 14.5%, the weakest since the fourth-quarter of 2017, according to Yardeni Research.

That compares to a 28.4% year-over-year rise for the third-quarter, "which is sure to mark the peak of the current earnings cycle," said the firm's president, Ed Yardeni. More granularly, all S&P 500 sectors except for utilities are expected to report positive year-over-year growth.

On Tuesday, JPMorgan, the nation's largest bank by assets, reported quarterly earnings that missed analysts' expectations for the first time in 10 quarters as the firm's corporate and investment banking revenue disappointed. Meanwhile, Delta, the second-largest US airline, reported quarterly revenue in-line with analysts' estimates.

Foreign-exchange fluctuations will likely take a toll this quarter, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch, as the US dollar has risen 6% in the last year against a basket of its peers. The firm estimates foreign-exchange will be a 1.4 percentage-point headwind to year-over-year growth — the biggest such impact since early 2016.

Netflix is one name poised to see a negative impact from foreign-exchange swings, according to JPMorgan. The firm on Monday trimmed its fourth-quarter revenue and operating income estimates for the streaming giant ahead of its earnings report which was due out on Thursday.

Concerns over slowing global growth has taken hold across sectors, and has already been cited by several public companies. There's been a broad "overestimation in demand," said Boris Schlossberg, managing director at BK Asset Management.

He added: "We've seen a broad swath of warnings from FedEx to Macy's to American Airlines. Both US and Chinese autos — perhaps the primal industrial sector in the world — roll over in both markets."

To follow along this earnings season, here is Markets Insider's earnings calendar.

Now read: 

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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

Burger King brilliantly ribs Trump over 'hamberder' tweet

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Trump fast food Clemson

  • Burger King ribbed Trump for misspelling hamburger as "hamberder" in a tweet he posted Tuesday morning and later deleted. 
  • Burger King tweeted in response: "due to a large order placed yesterday, we're all out of hamberders. just serving hamburgers today."
  • Trump ordered food from McDonald's, Wendy's, and Burger King as he hosted the Clemson football team at the White House on Monday to celebrate its national championship win.

Burger King on Tuesday ribbed President Donald Trump for misspelling "hamburgers" in a tweet about a banquet of fast food that Trump offered the Clemson Tigers football team. 

Trump's original tweet said: "Great being with teh National Champion Clemson Tigers last night at the White House. Because of the Shutdown I served them massive amounts of Fast Food (I paid), over 1000 hamberders etc. Within one hour, it was all gone. Great guys and big eaters!"

Burger King tweeted in response: "due to a large order placed yesterday, we're all out of hamberders. just serving hamburgers today."

Trump's tweet was later deleted and replaced with one correctly spelling "hamburgers." Here's a screenshot:

Screen Shot 2019 01 15 at 11.52.54 AM

Trump ordered food from McDonald's, Wendy's, and Burger King as he hosted the Clemson football team at the White House on Monday to celebrate its national championship win.

The spread included about 300 burgers. 

"I think we're going to serve McDonald's, Wendy's, and Burger Kings with some pizza," Trump had told reporters earlier on Monday outside the White House. "I really mean it. It'll be interesting. And I would think that’s their favorite food. So we’ll see what happens."

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Rihanna is the latest celebrity to wear giant sunglasses that look like ski goggles, signaling the end of tiny frames

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rihanna sunglasses

  • On Sunday, Rihanna stepped out in New York City wearing a pair of oversized, orange-tinted sunglasses, Vogue reported.
  • The following day, the singer rocked a more opaque version of the sporty frames with the Fenty logo on the side, as Sheena Ward of Haus of Rihanna spotted.
  • Giant, ski goggle-like frames began cropping up on runways in early 2018.
  • They've since made their way into celebrities' everyday wardrobes.
  • Like Rihanna, stars like Kim Kardashian West and Jennifer Lopez have also ditched the tiny sunglasses trend.

Rihanna is the latest celebrity to trade in her tiny sunglasses for some much bigger frames.

On Sunday, the singer stepped out in New York City wearing a pair of oversized, orange-tinted sunglasses, embellished with metallic studs around the edges of the lens, Vogue reported.

The bold accessory, which features thick metal arms, added a pop of color to Rihanna's business-casual outfit, which consisted of a pinstripe blue blazer layered over a white hoodie and loose-fitting, wide-leg jeans.

rihanna big sunglasses trendRihanna was spotted wearing another pair of sporty sunglasses when she attended 718 Spank's concert in New York City on Monday.

This time, the singer opted for a more opaque, mirror-like lens, although the design of the frames looked similar to the orange-tinted sunglasses she wore the day before.

As Sheena Ward of Haus of Rihanna, a popular Rihanna fashion blog, pointed out, the glasses also featured the Fenty logo on the side — a possible sign that the frames are part of a yet-to-be-released collection from the singer.

Rihanna paired the sunglasses with an oversized black blazer with bell sleeves, a long-sleeved neon green shirt, black skinny jeans, and black stiletto boots.

rihanna sporty goggle sunglasses trend

Giant, ski goggle-like frames began cropping up on runways in early 2018 and have since made their way into celebrities' everyday wardrobes.

Read more: 11 fashion trends that need to disappear in 2019

Like Rihanna, some of Hollywood's biggest stars have retired the tiny sunglasses look — one of fashion's most divisive trends over the past few years — for good.

rihanna

The earliest converts to the oversized sunglasses trend include, among others, Kim Kardashian West and Jennifer Lopez.

Kim Kardashian West pocket jacketjennifer lopez denim boots

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Delta can't put its new Airbus jets into service because FAA inspectors have been sent home during the government shutdown (DAL)

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Delta Airbus A220 rolls out of paintshop in Mirabel

  • Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian announced on Tuesday that the debut of the airline's long-awaited Airbus A220 jets will likely be delayed due to the government shutdown.
  • The delay is due to the lack of working of federal inspectors who have all been furloughed. 
  • The Airbus A220 was expected to enter service at the end of January.

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian announced on Tuesday that the debut of the airline's brand new Airbus A220 jets will likely be delayed due to the government shutdown.

Bastian and Delta COO Gil West told reporters and industry analysts on its fourth quarter 2018 earnings call that certifications of new aircraft types can't be completed with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspectors furloughed amid the government shutdown. 

Since Delta is the first US airline to operate the A220, formerly known as the Bombardier C Series, federal regulators must certify every from its safety systems to its seats before the jet can carry passengers. 

Delta took delivery of its first Canadian-built A220 in October and the Atlanta-based carrier was expected to put the next-generation carbon-composite airliner into service at the end of January.

Delta has a total of 90 Airbus A220s on order. 

Read more: Delta's CEO said the airline will lose $25 million this month due to the government shutdown.

It's unclear how much of a delay the shutdown has caused. The potential delay in the debut of the A220 is not likely to cause major operational issues the airline said. It will, however, disappoint the aviation fans who purchased tickets on its launch flight. 

According to West, the shutdown could also affect the certification of Delta's incoming fleet of Airbus A330-900neo widebody airliners; another aircraft type for which Delta is the US launch customer. However, the Delta COO explained that the shutdown is not expected to have an immediate impact on the A330neo, but could be problematic downstream if it persists. 

Delta is expected to receive the first of its order of 35 A330-900neos later this year.

Delta Airbus A330 900In addition to delayed aircraft, the shutdown is expected to cost the airline $25 million in lost business due to the lack of government-related travel. 

Delta reported $5.2 billion in pretax income for 2018 on $44 billion in revenues. 

SEE ALSO: Houston Airport has shut down the TSA checkpoints in one of its terminals because there aren't enough TSA officers willing to work unpaid during the government shutdown

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Rewards-related offerings are the leading driver of consumers' credit card choices — but they can be pricey for issuers

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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.

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The average US consumer holds about three nonretail credit cards with a balance over $6,000, according to Experian. As confidence rises, spending is hitting prerecession levels. For banks, that should be a good thing, since credit cards are profitable. But the push to attract a particularly interested and engaged customer base through sign-up bonuses and lucrative rewards offerings has led banks into a rat race, with surging expenses and rising delinquencies that are hurting returns.

To make credit cards as valuable as they could be, and to bring returns back up, issuers need to direct their efforts not just toward becoming one of consumers’ three cards, but also toward becoming their favorite card. Rewards are more important than ever — three of the top four primary card determinants cited by respondents to a Business Insider Intelligence survey were rewards-related — so abandoning them isn’t effective.

Instead, issuers need to be more resourceful with their rewards offerings, focusing on areas that encourage habit formation, promote high-volume spending, and help to offset some of the rewards costs while building engagement and loyalty.

In this report, Business Insider Intelligence sizes the US consumer credit card market, explains why return on assets (ROA) is on the decline, highlights the importance of rewards in attracting customers, and lays out three next-generation rewards strategies that are popular among certain demographics, which issuers can implement to return their card business to profitability. To drive this analysis, we conducted a survey centered on users’ card preferences to over 700 US members of our proprietary panel in May 2018.

Here are some key takeaways from the report: 

  • Competition driven by consumer card appetite in the US is hurting issuer returns. Consumer confidence and regulatory policy that favors credit cards should be a boon to issuers. But the competition has surged expenses to unattainable levels and increased delinquencies, which are causing returns to trend down.
  • Consumers still value rewards above all when it comes to cards. Two-thirds of respondents to our survey cited rewards-related offerings as the leading driver of primary card status, but they can be pricey for issuers.
  • Using resources strategically and offering rewards types that encourage high-volume spending and drive engagement through habit formation, like flexible offerings, rewards for e-commerce, and local bonuses, could be the path to success in the future.

In full, the report:

  • Identifies the factors that are causing high credit appetite to hurt issuer returns.
  • Explains the value of top-of-wallet status, and evaluates the factors that drive it based on proprietary consumer data.
  • Defines three popular next-generation rewards options that issuers can use to drive up spending and engagement without breaking the bank.
  • Issues recommendations about how to offer these rewards and what demographic groups could be most receptive to them.

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How Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, and other popular apps are upending the e-commerce space (FB, GOOG, GOOGL)

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Growth in Share of Retail Site Visits

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

Social media is becoming increasingly influential in shoppers' purchasing decisions. In fact, the top 500 retailers earned an estimated $6.5 billion from social shopping in 2017, up 24% from 2016, according to BI Intelligence estimates.

In addition to influencing purchase decisions, social media is a large part of the product discovery and research phase of the shopping journey. And with more and more retailers offering quick access to their sites via social media pages, and shoppable content becoming more popular, it's likely that social media will play an even larger role in e-commerce. 

In this report, BI Intelligence examines the advantages and disadvantages of each platform, and reviews case studies of successful campaigns that helped boost conversion and increase brand awareness. Additionally, we explore how retailers can bring social aspects into their own sites and apps to capitalize on consumers' desire for social shopping experiences.

Here are some key takeaways from the report:

  • Social media is becoming more influential in all aspects of the purchasing journey.
  • Facebook is the clear winner in social commerce, with its huge user base and wide-ranging demographics.
  • However, retailers should have a presence on every platform their target market is on. Each platform will require a different strategy for retailers to resonate with its users.
  • Retailers can also benefit from bringing social aspects in-house. They can do this by building their own in-house social networks, or by embedding social media posts into their sites.

In full, the report: 

  • Provides an overview of the top social media platforms — Facebook, YouTube, Instagram — that retailers should be using, the demographics of each platform, as well as their individual advantages and disadvantages. 
  • Reviews tools recently developed by these platforms that help retailers create engaging content.
  • Outlines case studies and specific strategies to use on each platform.
  • Examines how retailers like Sephora, Amazon, and Poshmark are capitalizing on consumers' affinity for social shopping by creating their own in-house social networks.

Interested in getting the full report? Here are two ways to access it:

  1. Subscribe to an All-Access pass to BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report and over 100 other expertly researched reports. As an added bonus, you'll also gain access to all future reports and daily newsletters to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and benefit personally and professionally. >>Learn More Now
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A British family was forced to sit on the floor of an airplane after their assigned seats were missing

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TUI boeing 737 MAX

  • Three flyers were forced to sit on the floor of a TUI Airlines flight when their assigned seats were missing from the airplane. 
  • The German airline said an unscheduled plane change meant the family's assigned seats were missing. 
  • The family was seated in jump seats normally reserved for the flight crew, for takeoff and landing.

When Paula Taylor and her family boarded their TUI Airways flight home to Birmingham, England from Menorca, Spain, they said they were shocked to find their assigned seats did not exist, according to a BBC report. 

The three flyers were accommodated in the crew's jump seats during takeoff and landing, the BBC first reported from its show "Rip Off: Britain," but when the flight crew needed the galley space to provide drink service during the flight, there was nowhere for the family to sit except the empty space where their seats should have been.

Blaming the incident on a "last minute plane change," the German airline refunded the family's fares and added a 30 pound ($38.19) "goodwill gesture," the BBC reported.

Read more: TUI Airways has been accused of sexism for giving stickers to boys that said 'future pilot' while girls got 'future cabin crew'

"We made sure we were three hours early at the airport to check in early just to make sure we got seats together," Taylor said on the show, which aired Tuesday, per The Telegraph

"We went straight to the front and we were very excited by the fact we had managed to sit together." 

Britain's Civil Aviation Authority is investigating the incident, according to the BBC. TUI Airways did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

TUI operates the roughly 2.5-hour flight between Birmingham, England's third-largest city, to the Spanish holiday island of Menorca on a seasonal basis, from May to October, according to its published schedules.

SEE ALSO: An airline has been accused of sexism for giving stickers to boys that said 'future pilot' while girls got 'future cabin crew'

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Theresa May's historic defeat on her deal means a Brexit delay is almost certain

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Theresa May

  • Theresa May's Brexit deal has been defeated by MPs.
  • MPs rejected the Withdrawal Agreement by a record-breaking majority of 230 MPs. 
  • With no consensus among MPs and little time to achieve it, an extension to the Article 50 exit process looks all but certain.
  • The prime minister would have to request an extension from the European Union.
  • An extension could be requested for a brief extension to ratify the deal, or in order to hold a general election or referendum.

LONDON — Brexit is going to be delayed. That is the unavoidable conclusion after historic defeat of Theresa May's deal with the European Union on Tuesday evening.

The vote, which the prime minister lost by 432 votes to 202, is the largest government defeat in modern history.

It means the prime minister's original hope of trying to squeeze the deal through the House of Commons on a second, or even third attempt, looks incredibly difficult.

It also means that her chances of doing so before the Brexit day deadline of March 29 looks near on impossible.

So why is that?

It is just about possible to imagine a set of circumstances in which May persuaded enough of her own MPs and enough Labour MPs scared about the prospect of a no-deal, to eventually back a modified version of her deal.

There is nothing in the British legal constitution to prevent the government repeatedly putting the deal before parliament and it is possible that opposition in the Commons will eventually be persuaded to support it.

It is also just about possible to imagine how she could then convert that support into a Brexit Withdrawal Bill that could survive its passage through both houses of parliament.

Similarly, it is possible that other necessary legislation on immigration, customs, trade and finance, could also all eventually win majority support in the Commons.

However, with just two and a half months left to go, it is all but impossible to imagine how May will be able to do all of this before March 29.

That means she will need to seek an extension from the EU to Article 50, meaning that Brexit will not take place on March 29.

Such a request would not automatically be accepted by the EU, which would need unanimous agreement among all member states to say yes to an extension request.

However, there are a series of possible scenarios under which it is possible to see a request being accepted.

A technical extension

big benEU sources have suggested they would be open to a so-called "technical extension" in order to ratify the deal.

However, such an extension could likely only be sought once parliament has approved the deal in principle. Under such a scenario, May could keep on bringing the deal before the Commons, right up to the wire in March before MPs finally back down and approve it. The prime minister would then be forced to return to the EU to seek an extra three or four months to allow parliament to turn the agreement into legislation. The timetable would still be tight and that legislation could still fail.

As one senior Parliamentary official told Business Insider last week "if you think passing the meaningful vote is hard, then you haven't seen nothing yet compared to the Withdrawal Bill."

However, right now this looks like one of the more likely scenarios facing the UK.

Restarting negotiations

Theresa May Jean-Claude Juncker

The EU has been consistent in stating that there will be no fundamental renegotiation of the Brexit deal as long as the prime minister retains her current Brexit red lines on immigration, customs and the role of European Courts.

However, if May were to drop some or all of these then it is possible to see how the EU could agree to a more substantial extension lasting six or more months. This would allow a more fundamental renegotiation of the Brexit deal to take place.

As an EU source in Brussels told Business Insider this week: "Behind closed doors people here are open to Political Declaration tweaks if necessary and will be receptive to Parliament shifting the UK red lines."

A general election

Jeremy CorbynJeremy Corbyn has tonight called a vote of no confidence in the prime minister. With enough support from the DUP and / or in extremis, Conservative backbenchers, this could trigger a snap general election.

Were it to happen then a new government would obviously want to renegotiate the Brexit deal to align with the terms of their winning election manifesto. The EU would likely agree.

This is what Brussels figures refer to as a "political extension."

A second referendum

Anti-Brexit People's Vote campaign protest

A political extension could also be used to allow time for a new referendum. 

As with a general election, there does not currently seem to be a majority in parliament for holding a second Brexit referendum. However, were that to change then it would also be possible to see how the EU could agree to an extension that would allow a referendum bill to pass parliament, a campaign to take place and a vote to be held. Such a process would take at least six months and ultimately could leave Britain back at square one were voters to decide that Brexit must still go ahead.

A no-deal Brexit?

Brexit protestThere is of course one scenario under which an extension would not happen and that is if May opts for a no-deal Brexit.

However, everything the prime minister and senior members of her Cabinet have said in recent weeks suggests that it is very unlikely that this is an option that, for all their threats over recent months, they would actually attempt to go through with it. It is equally difficult to see how such an attempt would be successful given the determination by MPs from across the Commons to prevent it.

Preventing a no-deal is not straightforward. The powers available to MPs are limited and a determined government may be able to force one. However, it is more likely in such a scenario that MPs would find some method, even in calling a vote of no confidence in May, to stop her from doing so.

For all of these reasons, a Brexit delay is looking all but certain. The only questions now are exactly how and when the delay is requested and how far the EU will be willing to accept one.

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HP and Hewlett Packard Enterprise will pay a $25 million settlement to salespeople who sued over messed up pay (HP, HPE)

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Meg Whitman

  • After a nine-year court battle that began years before Hewlett Packard split into two companies, HP salespeople that sued the company are expecting to receive thousands of dollars in settlement fees.
  • The salespeople sued, claiming that HP's computer systems weren't tracking commissions properly and they weren't getting paid in a timely manner.
  • Complaints about pay for salespeople dragged on for years, long after the company split. In 2017, an HP executive apologized to salespeople about the ongoing problems in a mass email.
  • This week, the court approved a $25 million settlement. Both HP and HPE have also promised to fix their pay tracking systems.

About 2,000 of HP's and Hewlett-Packard Enterprise's salespeople will finally be getting their share of a $25 million settlement paid to them by the two companies.

Salespeople had first sued over problems with pay nine years ago, before HP had split into two companies.

In 2017, HP agreed to the $25 million settlement, from which the lawyers will take their cut —  but it was just this week that the court approved the settlement arrangement. That means the money should be soon forthcoming to the plaintiffs at last, according to the final court documents seen by Business Insider.

The company's salespeople had originally sued, claiming that the company's antiquated computer systems were not doing a good job of calculating their commissions. 

They continued to complain about HP's sales and commission-tracking computer systems for years after they first filed suit.

Read: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella describes 2 new kinds of software that will change everything for businesses

Business Insider reported on the situation in 2016, including reporting on a meeting between the company's then-CEO Meg Whitman and her sales leadership team, who lambasted her about the situation. That meeting took place six months after Whitman split the company into two. Thousands of members of the salesforce were not properly being paid properly at that time, the sales managers told her, according to sources.

The wacky pay situation was so bad that some salespeople couldn't make their mortgages and were facing foreclosure, while others were behind in their alimony payments, salespeople told us. HPE had even wrongly told one salesperson that he owed the company over $130,000 after the first quarter of 2016, sources told us.

A year later, on April 27, 2017, the pay situation was still so bad that Cheryl Brown, then the vice president and COO of HPE's Americas Enterprise Group, sent an email to the North American troops and apologized, according to an email seen by Business Insider. Brown left HPE in October, according to her LinkedIn.

Back in 2017, an HPE spokesperson told Business Insider that the company had been paying people properly and on time, and said that the paper records were apparently wrong. That same year, however, HPE settled the case.

A spokesperson for HPE tells Business Insider: "HPE is pleased that the mediated resolution in this dispute that was reached by the parties in 2017 has been approved by the Court.”

A spokesperson for Franklin Azar, one of the lawyers that handled the class-action suit on behalf of the plaintiff, former HP salesperson Jeff Wall, tells us that salespeople will be getting more than a token settlement.

Their cut of the money is based on the last 30 days of their average salary and other variables. Some people are getting several thousand dollars, and others are getting "considerably" more, this spokesperson said.

HP and HPE will also pay almost $1.2 million of the settlement in penalties to the State of California Labor & Workforce Development Agency (LWDA), according to court documents. The companies have also promised to fix their commission tracking systems.

Meg Whitman stepped down from the HPE CEO role in February, 2018. She is now the CEO of NewTV, a TV startup created by DreamWorks cofounder Jeffrey Katzenberg.

SEE ALSO: Amazon's latest cloud product is dangerous for Cisco and Dell but really scary for Hewlett Packard Enterprise, analyst says

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The American Egg Board celebrates an egg becoming the most-liked photo on Instagram and getting 'the recognition it deserves'

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Eggs

  • A picture of an egg is now the most-liked photo on Instagram, with more than 42 million likes. 
  • "We always knew eggs were incredible… now the world has confirmed it," the president of the American Egg Board said in a statement on Tuesday. 
  • The American Egg Board is donating millions of eggs to celebrate the Instagram-famous egg's success, and has reached out to the person who posted the egg to collaborate. 

The American Egg Association is celebrating the triumph of an egg-turned-Instagram celebrity. 

On Sunday, a photo of a humble egg posted by world_record_egg for the sole purpose of becoming the most-liked photo on Instagram did exactly that. The photo has been liked more than 42 million times as of Tuesday, surpassing the record previously held by reality show star and entrepreneur Kylie Jenner. 

Read more: A picture of a humble egg just became the most-liked Instagram post ever

On Tuesday, the American Egg Board announced plans to donate millions of eggs to celebrate the egg's success. "The Incredible Egg," the industry group's marketing slogan, and American egg farmers pledged to donate more than 1 million eggs per month by Easter. 

"On behalf of America’s egg farmers, The Incredible Egg is thrilled to see the egg get the recognition it deserves," American Egg Board CEO Anne Alonzo said in a statement. "We always knew eggs were incredible… now the world has confirmed it." 

Take that little egg

A post shared by Kylie (@kyliejenner) on Jan 13, 2019 at 6:04pm PST on

 

The Incredible Egg commented on an Instagram video of Kylie Jenner smashing eggs. 

"Instead of throwing all those eggs people are sending you on the ground, put them to better use with some recipes at www.incrediblegg.org," the Incredible Egg account commented. "Who knows, maybe you'll create the world_record_omelet. The real question is: how do YOU like your eggs?" 

The American Egg board also said that it has offered the person running the World_Record_Egg account an "Incredible Eggambassadorship." 

SEE ALSO: The CEO of Olive Garden and LongHorn Steakhouse's parent company reveals what the company looks for in an acquisition — and it's not a trendy fast-casual chain or a 'technologically advanced experience'

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I spent 2 weeks traveling Europe by bus and this hooded neck pillow was a lifesaver for helping me get enough sleep

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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.

grandtrunk hooded travel pillow 1

  • Napping on long bus and plane rides is difficult if your neck and head aren't adequately supported. Even a traditional travel pillow might not be enough to create an optimal sleeping experience. 
  • By attaching a soft hood to the pillow, the Grand Trunk Hooded Travel Pillow ($29.95) blocks out another big culprit of disrupted sleep: light. 
  • This comfortable combination allowed me to sleep better, which, in turn, made traveling more enjoyable. 

For all its delights, traveling is not always a relaxing endeavor. Behind every photo of you, smile plastered on your face, body posed in front of a gorgeous landscape, is really a sleep-deprived plane or bus passenger yearning for a neck massage.

I'm one of the many people still struggling to master the art of sleeping on long-distance trips. When I learned I would be taking a two-week bus tour through Europe with my family, I was obviously excited, but also nervous. 14 consecutive days of waking up early and settling into multiple-hour bus rides did not sound easy, and I didn't want to let grogginess, grumpiness, or pain affect my enjoyment of each destination. 

Before I got on my plane to Europe, I picked up a travel pillow, the Grand Trunk Hooded Travel Pillow ($29.95), which had just been lying around our office. I'm so grateful I did because — just let me be a little dramatic here — I wouldn't have survived the trip without it. 

grandtrunk hooded travel pillow 2

Read more: The best travel pillows you can buy

The biggest concern most people have while traveling upright is keeping their head supported as they sleep. A standard travel pillow (or a not-so-standard one) should prevent their head from lolling back and forth and the dreaded sore neck feeling. 

However, light and sound can be just as disruptive as lack of head, neck, and chin support. While I don't require pitch-black darkness or complete silence to fall asleep, I am still somewhat sensitive to light and sound. The darker and more quiet my surroundings are, the better I'll fare. 

That's why the Grand Trunk Hooded Travel Pillow is such a genius design. It's a travel pillow with an attached hood that can go over your eyes — and this simple addition has made all the difference.  

The soft, micro-fleece covered pillow is made from memory foam and offers mid-level support: neither stiff nor fluffy, with some give and bounce. My head settled comfortably onto the sides and back of the pillow, and with that, phase one of Operation Restful Sleep was complete.

grandtrunk hooded travel pillow

Read moreI tried the cult-favorite Trtl travel pillow to see if it's worth the hype — and I don't know how I ever flew without it

Phase two kicked into gear whenever sunlight streamed in from the bus window to hit me directly in the eyes, or when I couldn't stop noticing that the overhead compartment lights in the airplane were pretty bright. All I had to do was pull the pillow's hood (also made from soft micro-fleece) over my head and eyes to block out these annoyances. 

I prefer this oversized hood to a sleep mask because masks are often too tight and press down uncomfortably over my eyes. Sleep masks solve the light problem, but often sacrifice comfort. The pillow's hood, on the other hand, rested lightly over the top half of my face while successfully blocking out light. You can leave it loosely draped over your face, or tighten the drawstring cords to further shut out the world. The hood by itself won't drown out noise, but it's a great additional layer over a pair of earbuds. 

An underrated but enjoyable benefit I also discovered from sleeping with this hooded travel pillow is how secure it made me feel. It's kind of like snuggling under your blankets in bed, and this comforting feeling no doubt contributed to better sleep, too. 

With my head properly supported and eyes undisturbed by light, I slept deeper and stayed asleep for longer every time I settled back into my bus seat. That meant more energy to enjoy each city and photos where I really was as lively and happy as I looked. 

Shop the Grand Trunk Hooded Travel Pillow for $29.95 at Amazon (3 colors available) 

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