Category: US

Editor’s Note: Before beginning any new exercise program, consult your doctor. Stop immediately if you experience pain.

CNN
 — 

Feeling lucky that you don’t have arthritis? Don’t celebrate just yet. Nearly one-quarter of adults in the United States has arthritis, or about 58.5 million people, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More than half of these folks are 18 to 64 years old and in the prime of their working years, making this disease especially devastating. The financial toll from such pervasive arthritis: more than $300 billion in lost earnings and medical care each year, the CDC says.

There are dozens of different types of arthritis and related diseases, but the most common are osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, gout and lupus. All can cause joint stiffness, pain and swelling. Rheumatoid arthritis and lupus can also affect multiple organs.

Low-impact exercise is one of the most important ways to manage arthritis pain and symptoms, according to the Osteoarthritis Action Alliance, the CDC and other groups. This type of routine activity is effective and accessible, and it’s never too late to start.

Walking, biking and swimming are often listed as great low-impact exercises for people with arthritis. “I often recommend water therapy if you have access to a pool,” said Dr. Elexander Atkinson, a family medicine physician with Novant Health in Charlotte, North Carolina. “Whether you’re walking, swimming or doing water aerobics, it’s my No. 1 recommendation.”

If you’re not a fan of the water, that’s fine. The best exercise for you is the one you enjoy doing the most, Atkinson said. Luckily, you have so many choices. In addition to walking, biking and water exercises, you can dance, garden, play shuffleboard or bocce ball, cross-country ski, or use elliptical machines. Exercise programs aimed more at flexibility, balance and strength are important, too. Think yoga, tai chi and Pilates.

Pilates is one of the most effective forms of exercise for arthritis and general injury rehabilitation, said Melissa Bentivoglio, cofounder and CEO of Frame Fitness in Miami,a platform that delivers Pilates workouts on a custom reformer machine.

“In Pilates, all movement stems from your core,” Bentivoglio said. “Even if you’re isolating your legs or arm muscles, you still use your central core muscles to initiate all movement, using the stability of these muscles to ensure the rest of the body stays in proper alignment. This helps prevent injury, protects your joints as you are executing each exercise, and improves strength, flexibility and balance.”

While Pilates can be done employing a mat or reformer, Bentivoglio said using the reformer keeps the entire body in proper alignment throughout the workout while also easing pressure on joints.

Unfortunately, a lot of arthritis patients balk at exercising, as they may find doing so initially painful, Atkinson said, especially if they haven’t been in the habit of working out.

“We give patients this idea that they need to walk 30 minutes a day, but that’s not fair to them if they haven’t been regularly exercising,” he said. “They need to build up to it by starting with five minutes of walking a day, then building up to 10, then 20 and then maybe adding in the gym. You should never just go full-on.”

But sometimes it’s the habitual exercisers who struggle the most with arthritis, as they may not want to give up a favorite sport or cut back on participation. Think the lifetime runner with osteoarthritis in the knee who balks at boxing up the running shoes.

“Those are some of the most challenging patients,” Atkinson said. “I don’t know if running on an osteoarthritic knee will lead to an earlier knee replacement, but their pain will keep getting worse, and it will limit their function so they can’t walk as well the next day.”

Paying attention to how you feel during and after a particular exercise will tell you whether it’s good for your body or if you’ve overdone things, experts said. If your arthritic symptoms increase after exercise, modify or change your activity but try to stay in motion.

Be aware, too, that if you’re starting a new physical activity, it’s normal to have some pain, stiffness and swelling afterward. It could take six to eight weeks before your body acclimates, according to the CDC. Once it does, however, you should enjoy some measure of long-term pain relief.

“In Pilates, we often quote the founder of the practice, Joseph Pilates, who said, ‘In 10 sessions you will feel better, in 20 you will look better and in 30 you will have a whole new body,’” Bentivoglio said.

It’s also important to select an exercise that fits your goals. If arthritis is hampering your flexibility, strength and balance, try yoga, Pilates or tai chi, all of which focus on those issues. If you’re having trouble tackling stairs, you may be best off doing exercises to strengthen your quadriceps. To deal with overall stiffness and pain, opt for walking, cycling or swimming.

Don’t assume you’re cleared to hang out on the couch if you’re free of arthritis or have a mild case that causes little pain or dysfunction. “Exercise will potentially prevent or delay arthritis,” Atkinson said. “If you’re not active and exercising, you should be.”

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A version of this story first appeared in CNN Business’ Before the Bell newsletter. Not a subscriber? You can sign up right here. You can listen to an audio version of the newsletter by clicking the same link.

New York
CNN
 — 

Companies have been eager to please Wall Street in what has so far been a lackluster earnings season by repurchasing shares and boosting dividends for shareholders.

What’s happening: Buyback announcements reached a new record of $1.22 trillion last year, and they’re already on track to beat that high in 2023.

Companies have announced about $175 billion worth of planned stock buybacks so far this year. That’s more than double last year’s pace, according to data from EPFR TrimTabs.

This year will likely be the first with at least $1 trillion in completed S&P 500 company buybacks, said Howard Silverblatt at S&P Dow Jones Indices.

Chevron

(CVX) said last month that it would triple its spending on share buybacks to $75 billion. Exxon

(XOM) said it would issue another $35 billion in buybacks and Facebook-parent Meta Platforms saw its stock surge by 20% after the company announced plans to boost its share repurchase plan by $40 billion.

Why it matters: Buybacks, say critics, are a tool that allow ultra-wealthy executives to manipulate markets while funneling corporate profits into their own pockets instead of the economy. Preventing companies from repurchasing their own shares, they argue, would free corporate cash to invest in growth and raise wages instead.

In his State of the Union address, US President Joe Biden even called for a quadrupling of the tax on buybacks — up from the current 1% implemented by the Inflation Reduction Act.

But corporations counter that they use repurchases as a way to efficiently distribute excess capital. Limiting buybacks, say supporters, could reduce the liquidity in stock markets and hurt share prices. Executives typically use buybacks to reduce the number of shares available for purchase, thus increasing demand for their stock and earnings per share.

The bottom line: Even if Biden’s tax increase were to pass, it wouldn’t address the root problem with buybacks, said William Lazonick, president of The Academic Industry Research Network.

“The pressure on the executives to do buybacks is coming from hedge fund activists,” said Lazonick, a longtime critic of buybacks and a professor of economics at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

“The problem is Carl Icahn, Daniel Loeb, Paul Singer,” he said. “These people have nothing to do with these companies. They hold shares and make a ton of money by exerting pressure on these companies.”

▸ Russia is slashing oil production by about 5% as Western sanctions bite.

Russia will cut crude oil production by half a million barrels per day starting in March, a little over two months after the world’s major economies imposed a price cap on the country’s seaborne exports.

“We will not sell oil to those who directly or indirectly adhere to the principles of the price ceiling,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said in a statement. “In relation to this, Russia will voluntarily reduce production by 500,000 barrels per day in March. This will contribute to the restoration of market relations.”

Futures prices for Brent crude, the global benchmark, jumped 2.7% on Friday to $86 a barrel as traders anticipated a tightening in global supply.

In June last year, the European Union agreed to phase out all seaborne imports of Russian crude oil within the following six months as part of unprecedented Western sanctions aimed at reducing Moscow’s ability to fund its war in Ukraine.

In a move aimed at further tightening the screws, G7 countries and the European Union agreed in December to cap the price at which Western brokers, insurers and shippers can trade Russia’s seaborne oil for markets elsewhere at $60 a barrel.

A potential drop in global oil supply could come at a tricky time. China’s swift reopening of its economy has pushed up estimates for global oil demand.

▸ Adidas’ breakup with Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, is proving to be a costly one.

The company warned Thursday that it expected to lose $1.3 billion (1.2 billion euros) in revenue this year because it’s unable to sell the designer’s Yeezy clothing and shoes. Adidas ended its nine-year partnership with the rapper last October because of his antisemitic remarks.

Adidas said its financial guidance for 2023 “accounts for the significant adverse impact from not selling the existing stock.” If the company can’t “repurpose” any of the remaining Ye clothing, Adidas said that could cost the company $534 million (500 million euros) in operating profit this year.

Adidas said it also expects “one-off costs” of $213 million (200 million euros) because of a “strategic review” the company is currently undergoing.

Not mentioned were potential issues with its Beyoncé-led Ivy Park brand. The Wall Street Journal reported this week that sales of the once-trendy streetwear brand fell 50% last year to to about $40 million — way below its internal projections of $250 million. The partnership is “strong and successful,” Adidas told the journal in response.

Shares of Adidas

(ADDDF) tanked nearly 10% in Frankfurt trading. Adidas

(ADDDF)’ stock has dropped 45% over the past year.

▸ GM

(GM) just inked an exclusive deal for the hottest product in automaking: Semiconductors.

General Motors has signed an agreement with tech manufacturer GlobalFoundries to make semiconductors for GM’s various electronics suppliers.

GM’s direct relationship with GlobalFoundries will give the automaker a secure supply of chips and will help control costs, said CEO Thomas Caulfield. GM will not have to pay mark-ups to its parts suppliers for semiconducter manufacturing.

The agreement is also part of an overall plan by GM to reduce the number of different chips needed to build GM vehicles.

“The supply agreement with GlobalFoundries will help establish a strong, resilient supply of critical technology in the U.S. that will help GM meet this demand, while delivering new technology and features to our customers,” Doug Parks, GM executive vice president in charge of purchasing and supply chain, said in an announcement.

The automaker’s stock has soared by about 23% so far this year.

The rip-roaring dollar cut deeply into the earnings of multinational companies selling their wares overseas last quarter.

Last week Caterpillar

(CAT) was among many US firms nothing “unfavorable currency impacts” affected its sales in Q4. Apple

(AAPL), which reported its first quarterly revenue decline in four years, also blamed the strong dollar and bad exchange rates for its rough end to the year. IBM

(IBM) added to the chorus, saying that the dollar’s strength hurt the company’s bottom line.

“The last time I looked, the rate, the breadth, the magnitude of the change is the most we’ve seen in multiple decades,” James Kavanaugh, IBM’s chief financial officer, said about the dollar on the company’s earnings call. “We got hit with that.”

McDonald’s

(MCD) and 3M

(MMM) also said in earnings reports that they were worried that the strong dollar would affect future sales. 3M

(MMM) said that foreign-exchange fluctuations are expected to reduce sales by 1% to 2% in 2023.

More bad news: The greenback is once again gaining steam as the market appears to be pricing in the probability of high interest rates for longer. That’s bad news for the US companies that are just starting to feel some respite from last year’s two-decade highs in the US dollar.

CNN
 — 

An attorney who said he was Alex Murdaugh’s best friend testified at his murder trial Thursday that Murdaugh admitted he had a drug addiction and had been stealing money from his law firm and clients.

“He said, ‘I’m sorry I’ve had a drug problem, I’m addicted to opioids … for something like 20 years,’ ” the friend, Chris Wilson, testified. “He said he had a drug addiction and he admitted that he had been stealing money from his law firm and from clients.”

“I sh– you up,” Murdaugh said, according to Wilson. “I’ve sh– a lot of people up.”

The conversation occurred in September 2021, three months after the deaths of Murdaugh’s wife and son and after Murdaugh’s law firm said it had discovered extensive financial wrongdoing.

Wilson’s testimony comes three weeks into the murder trial for the killings of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh on June 7, 2021. Alex Murdaugh has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and two weapons charges.

Murdaugh, 53, called 911 and reported he found his wife and son dead of gunshot wounds outside of their home in Islandton.

Wilson is one of a series of witnesses who have accused Murdaugh of extensive financial wrongdoing at his namesake law firm. Prosecutors have argued Murdaugh killed his wife and son as an attempt to distract attention from his financial crimes and stave off a “day of reckoning.”

Prosecutors also have presented evidence that Murdaugh had opportunity to commit the murders. Audio from a Snapchat video recovered from his son’s phone places Murdaugh at the murder scene, prosecutors contend, contrary to his alibi to investigators that he was not there that night.

However, there is effectively no direct evidence – no witnesses, no murder weapon, no DNA and no ballistics – that link Murdaugh to the murders. Instead, prosecutors have offered circumstantial evidence, such as the gunshot primer residue found on Murdaugh’s clothes and on a blue raincoat, and the financial motive.

The defense has argued this financial evidence is beside the point.

“They’ve got a whole lot more evidence about financial misconduct than they do about evidence of guilt in a murder case. And that’s what this is all about,” defense lawyer Jim Griffin said last week.

In court Thursday, Wilson, an attorney in Bamberg, South Carolina, testified he was one of Murdaugh’s financial victims.

He and Murdaugh had worked on a personal injury case together and won a verdict of $5.5 million, with each attorney earning about $792,000. Murdaugh asked Wilson to write the check to him personally rather than his law firm, and Wilson did as requested.

“I’ve known him for 30-plus years and didn’t have any reason not to trust him,” he said.

Murdaugh later asked Wilson to rewrite the check and make it out to the law firm, he testified. Murdaugh wired him back $600,000 but said he didn’t have the full funds, so Wilson had to spend $192,000 of his own money to cover the difference, he said.

The checks ultimately played a key role in Murdaugh’s law firm’s discovery that he had been misappropriating funds, according to testimony from his coworkers.

Wilson also testified he spoke with Murdaugh on the phone at 9:11 p.m., 9:20 p.m. and 9:53 p.m. on June 7, 2021, around the time of the murders. In the short conversations, nothing sounded out of the ordinary, Wilson said.

Also in court Thursday, Michael “Tony” Satterfield, the son of Murdaugh’s former housekeeper Gloria Satterfield, testified about being defrauded by Murdaugh.

Gloria Satterfield had worked for the Murdaugh family for about 20 years and died in 2018 after a fall at the Murdaugh family’s home.

Murdaugh offered to file a claim against his insurance company to get money for his housekeeper’s sons, Michael Satterfield testified. However, Satterfield did not see any of that money and did not know Murdaugh had collected more than $4 million in settlements, he testified.

Satterfield testified that he learned of the settlement from his family, who heard about it through media reports. He said when he asked Murdaugh about it in June 2021, Murdaugh told him “it was still making progress” and to be ready to settle by the end of the year.

In December 2021, Satterfield and his brother received a settlement of $4.3 million and an apology from Murdaugh in a confession of judgment.

Further, the CEO of a local bank testified for the jury that Murdaugh’s account was overdrafted by about $350,000. As of August 2021, Murdaugh had a total debt to the bank of $4.2 million, according to Palmetto State Bank CEO Jan Malinowski.

All three witnesses previously testified outside of the jury’s presence last week.

Much of the testimony this week has focused on Murdaugh’s financial issues. The judge overseeing the case ruled on Monday to allow such evidence, saying it was “so intimately connected” with the state’s case “that proof of it is essential to complete the story.”

Thursday’s session ended with attorney Mark Tinsley on the stand. He represents the family of 19-year-old Mallory Beach, who was killed in February 2019 when a boat, owned by Murdaugh and allegedly driven by Paul, crashed.

At the time Maggie and Paul were killed, Murdaugh was facing a lawsuit from Beach’s family. A hearing in that civil case was scheduled for June 10, 2021, and had the potential to reveal Murdaugh’s financial problems, prosecutors have said.

But that hearing was delayed after Maggie and Paul were killed.

On Thursday, the prosecution asked Tinsley about how that lawsuit was proceeding. He testified he was seeking $10 million from Murdaugh, but was told Murdaugh was broke and might only be able to come up with $1 million. Tinsley was not cross-examined Thursday and is expected to resume his testimony Friday morning.

Another prosecution witness this week spoke about Murdaugh’s financial dealings. The chief financial officer of his law firm testified she had confronted Murdaugh about missing funds on the morning of June 7, hours before the killings. Afterward, his coworkers offered him sympathy and gave him a reprieve on the financial issues.

“We weren’t going to go in there and harass him about money when we were worried about his mental state and the fact that his family had been killed,” the CFO, Jeanne Seckinger, testified.

Indeed, that “day of reckoning” didn’t come for another three months, when his law firm again confronted him about misappropriated funds, leading to his resignation, a bizarre murder-for-hire and insurance scam plot, a stint in rehab, dozens of financial crimes, his disbarment and, ultimately, the murder charges.

The defense has said the June 10 civil hearing was not a “day of reckoning” but just one in a series of hearings. Murdaugh faces 99 charges for various financial crimes – but those charges will be adjudicated in a separate case and are unrelated to the murders.

CNN
 — 

Hundreds of Quebecers wept openly Thursday as they visited a makeshift memorial stacked with teddy bears, flowers and notes of condolence after the shocking deaths of two children in a day care near Montreal.

Six other children were injured when a city bus in Laval, Quebec, crashed into the day care Wednesday.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, attending a community vigil at a church not far from the day care, spoke of the grief the entire country felt along with the families of the children lost.

“I reflect on the incredible loss the families are feeling right now, on the hundreds of thousands of parents who dropped their kids off at day cares across the country this morning, holding them a little tighter and reflecting on the senselessness of this tragedy,” Trudeau said, surrounded by other mourners in front of the church.

The province’s premier also visited the community to offer aid and condolences Thursday.

“Of course it’s tough, because we’re talking about children and there’s nothing more important than children,” said Premier François Legault, visibly moved as he visited with community members.

His words echoed the grief of many, as family members continue to look for answers as to why the city driver would crash his bus into the front of a day care.

The suspect remains in the hospital under psychiatric evaluation and is expected to appear in court February 17.

Police have removed the bus from the scene and are still investigating the area on the quiet cul-de-sac where the incident occurred.

Quebec prosecutors say 51-year-old Pierre Ny St-Amand faces two counts of first-degree murder and several other charges in connection with the deaths of the children.

First-degree murder charges would indicate prosecutors do not believe this was an accident. However, Laval police said Wednesday they do not know of a possible motive and that the investigation continues.

In Canada’s capital, Ottawa, the lawmaker who represents the Quebec community, Yves Robillard, wept several times as he read a statement in Canada’s parliament.

“This is very sad, my thoughts are with the children, their families and the day care staff,” Robillard said in French. “I am deeply saddened.”

“I want to thank the first responders, firefighters, police officers, paramedics and the community members who were present at the scene,” he said as lawmakers rose to their feet in the chamber.

CNN
 — 

Vanessa Hudgens is officially a fiancée and offered a glimpse of her engagement ring from Major League Baseball outfielder Cole Tucker for the first time on Instagram on Thursday.

News that Hudgens and Tucker were reportedly engaged began circulating last week, but the couple confirmed the news via the joint social media post.

“YES. We couldn’t be happier,” Hudgens wrote alongside a photo of the happy couple in a location that appears to be Paris. A photo of Hudgens’ solitaire diamond ring is showcased in an accompanying photo.

The couple were first linked in November 2020 when Hudgens posted a photo of herself captioned “date night” and was photographed holding hands with Tucker later that night.

During an appearance on “The Drew Barrymore Show” in May 2021, the “High School Musical” actor said she first connected with Tucker when she joined a Zoom meditation group that a friend invited her to participate in.

“We started talking and it’s wild that we found each other over Zoom,” Hudgens said, adding with a laugh that she “fully just slid into his DMs.”

Hudgens and “Elvis” star Austin Butler ended their long-term relationship earlier in 2020 after dating for over eight years.