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Some lawmakers are demanding that New Jersey drivers be able to pump their own fuel

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TRENTON, New Jersey (WPVI) – To put it mildly, it is controversial and the topic is met with passion: pumping gas in New Jersey.New Jersey is the only state in the country that does not allow its drivers to pump their own gas, while Oregon has some restrictions.

However, this could end with a new proposal to allow self-service as an option, as gas prices rise due to inflation and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Introduced by the New Jersey Legislature, A3105 – called the Fuel Motor Vehicle Selection and Convenience Act – is a bipartisan measure that will allow residents to be able to pump their own gas or continue to be fully serviced by an escort.Sponsors for the bill include MP Carol A. Murphy (D) of Burlington County.

After the presentation, members of the New Jersey Gasoline, Convenience Store, Automotive Association (NJGCA), whose membership includes nearly 1,000 small dealers in motor fuels, came out in support of the bill.

“The current self-service law is crippling my small business,” said Joe Ochelo, president of the NJGCA and owner of the gas station. “When I started the business years ago, it was a great way to make a living, a path to the American dream. But rising prices and labor shortages are making it difficult to run a gas station.”

The bill will allow gas stations to offer the self-service option, although stations with more than four sprinklers will still have to continue to offer full service.

“I can guarantee that allowing a self-service option will save gas station motorists money at the gas station,” said Kashmir Gill, a NJGCA member and owner of many locations in Central Jersey. “As a station owner, I know that the self-service option will bring my business significant cost savings that I can pass on to my customers.”Congress passed a statute in 1949 called the Retail Gasoline Safety Safety Act, which bans self-service gas, citing safety concerns such as fire hazards. New Jersey is currently the only state that supports the law and requires a gas station employee to pump.

“It’s becoming increasingly difficult for me to keep my gas stations open due to labor shortages, which is having a significant impact on my business,” said Levent Sertbas, a NJGCA member and gas station owner. “There were many cases where I had to close lunch because I could not find employees to work with gas stations.”

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The release is only the fourth time the international organization has seen a coordinated withdrawal of reservations since its inception in 1974. The IEA said in a statement that its initial release was equivalent to 2 million barrels per day for 30 days.

“I am just happy that the IEA also came together today to take action. The situation in the energy markets is very serious and requires our full attention, “said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol. “Global energy security is under threat, putting the global economy at risk during a fragile phase of recovery.

The US Department of Energy plans to release 30 million barrels of oil from the strategic oil reserve, one of the most aggressive steps the White House has taken as it seeks to cut costs for consumers. In separate statements released Tuesday, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm and White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki suggested the Biden administration could release more.

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The United States is “prepared to use every tool we have to limit the disruption of global energy supplies as a result of President Putin’s actions,” Psaki said. We will also continue our efforts to accelerate the diversification of energy supplies away from Russia and to protect the world from the armament of oil and gas from Moscow.

The release represents a small percentage of the country’s total reserves, which held 582.4 million barrels as of February 22nd. This is the second time the Biden administration has used the reserves in coordination with other countries. The energy ministry released 50 million barrels of oil from reserves last November in a bid to cut world prices.

Analysts in the oil industry said it was unclear exactly what effect the release of oil reserves would have on prices. Uncertainty about how long the war in Ukraine will last and what effect it will have on Russian oil exports makes it difficult for experts to predict how much worse the oil shortage could become in the coming weeks and months.

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Russia is the world’s third-largest oil producer. It exports more oil than any other country – about 5 million barrels of crude oil a day – and accounts for approximately 12 percent of world trade.

Replacing Russia’s oil exports in the long run with emergency reserves is not an option, industry analysts said. But as a short-term response to inflationary pressures and rising gasoline prices, it is expected to compensate for supply shortages and either lower prices or prevent them from rising.

Drivers and Americans who depend on oil to heat their homes are unlikely to feel the impact of the parties’ decision for several weeks. It takes time for refineries to convert crude oil into petrol, diesel and other petroleum products, and more time for these fuels to reach consumers. Meanwhile, experts say the average price of gasoline in the United States is likely to continue to rise.

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Salesforce ‘s (CRM) profit for the fourth quarter of 2022

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Mark Benioff, co-founder and CEO of Salesforce.com Inc., paused during an interview with Bloomberg TV at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday, January 18, 2017.

Simon Dawson Bloomberg | Getty Images

Salesforce surpassed analysts’ earnings and revenue forecasts in its fourth-quarter earnings report. Shares jumped in expanded trading.

Here’s how the company did:

Profits: 84 cents a share adjusted against 74 cents a share, analysts expect, according to Refinitiv.

income: $ 7.33 billion versus $ 7.24 billion, analysts expect, according to Refinitiv.

Revenue rose 26% in the quarter ended Jan. 31, according to a statement.

For the first quarter, Salesforce demanded revenue of between $ 7.37 billion and $ 7.38 billion. Analysts polled by Refinitiv expected revenue of $ 7.26 billion.

The company’s updated guidelines for fiscal 2023 are revenue from $ 32 billion to $ 32.1 billion. Analysts polled by Refinitiv were looking for $ 31.78 billion in revenue.

During this time, Salesforce promoted Brett Taylor to co-CEO along with Mark Benioff, a billionaire and co-founder of the company. Taylor joined Salesforce in 2016 through the acquisition of Quip’s startup performance software and quickly rose to become chief operating officer.

Before moving after hours, Salesforce has fallen 15% so far this year, down from the S&P 500, which is down about 10%.

Leaders will discuss the results with analysts during a conference call starting at 17:00 ET.

This is breaking news. Please check again for updates.

I WATCH: The hybrid work is here to stay forever, says Slack’s CEO

Salesforce ‘s (CRM) profit for the fourth quarter of 2022 Read More »

The United States and the IEA have agreed to release 60 million barrels of oil reserves amid the turmoil in Ukraine

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The United States and other major oil-producing nations said on Tuesday they would release 60 million barrels of oil from their emergency stocks, boosting new crude oil supplies to the market amid rising prices caused by Ukraine’s crisis.

The move by members of the Paris-based International Energy Agency, which includes the United States, Japan and much of Europe, is another coordinated effort to counter Russia amid its invasion of Ukraine. The coordinated withdrawal is the fourth in the IEA’s 47-year history and is the second largest only since the liberation it waged during the first Gulf War in 1991.

The IEA said it wanted to “send a united and strong message to global oil markets that there will be no supply shortages as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”

The IAEA has said it supports sanctions imposed by Russia’s international community, but is also concerned about tight global oil markets, increased price volatility and trade stocks, which are at their lowest level since 2014.

The United States and other IAEA countries hope to lower oil prices, which traded above $ 100 a barrel on Tuesday at eight-year highs. Prices rose after the IEA announced to almost $ 106 per barrel, or 8.1% during the day.

Lower oil prices will reduce revenues for Russia, one of the world’s largest oil producers, and potentially give the United States and Europe more room to focus on Moscow’s energy industry, which has so far been unacceptable because of the pain. which energy sanctions would cause in the West.

The IEA’s oil spill is less than the initial estimate of 70 million barrels and will include 30 million barrels from the United States, people informed the discussions said.

This will be the second release of oil reserves in three months. The Biden administration has already decided to release 50 million barrels of oil from US reserves in November, while China and others have also used their own reserves. The IEA, which did not join the United States in the latest edition because some European countries thought it was unjustified, will now monitor the effort.

Russia’s attack on Ukraine has helped raise oil prices to more than $ 100 a barrel for the first time since 2014. This is how rising oil prices could further boost inflation in the US economy. Photo illustration: Todd Johnson

The IAEA has said the quantities to be released amount to 4% of its members’ stocks, equivalent to 2 million barrels a day for 30 days.

The decision to release the stock comes when the Saudi-led Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its Russian-led allies decide to maintain a small increase in production of 400,000 barrels a day at a virtual meeting on Wednesday. The alliance, often referred to as OPEC +, has approved monthly increases in oil production, but they have not reduced prices.

After the release was announced, OPEC delegates said it would not affect their decision to gradually increase production on Wednesday. Saudi Arabia is of the opinion that the oil market is well stocked and that the rise in prices is due to speculation separated from market bases.

In a note Tuesday, Louise Dixon, a senior analyst at Rystad Energy’s oil market, said OPEC + producers were producing about 800,000 barrels a day below promised targets, “supplementing supply market shortages and further fueling the rising price environment.” . “

The aftermath of the invasion of Ukraine has raised questions about Russia’s reliability as a supplier of oil and gas to consumers around the world. Russia is the largest exporter of gas and a major supplier of raw, refined products and other resources, including to the United States. Revenues from overseas energy sales are vital to financing the Russian state, including its military machine.

International sanctions have so far saved energy exports. There is also evidence that the conflict is beginning to damage oil supplies to Russia. Some banks refuse to finance trade in Russian crude oil due to fears of sanctions; a number of tankers are blocked or cannot be loaded in the Black Sea, a key oil waterway; and countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada and Malaysia are now banning Russian oil ships.

Restrictions on the Russian economy have also escalated faster than many in the energy industry expected, hitting, among other targets, the still unused Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline connecting Russia with Germany.

Write to Benoit Faucon at [email protected] and Summer Said at [email protected]

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Wall Street ends sharply lower as Ukraine crisis sows fear of Reuters

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2/2 © Reuters. PHOTO: New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, where markets are booming after Russia continues to attack Ukraine, in New York, USA, February 24, 2022. REUTERS / Caitlin Ochs 2/2

By Devik Jane and Noel Randevich

– Wall Street ended sharply lower on Tuesday, with financial stocks taking much of the damage for the second day in a row as the Russia-Ukraine crisis deepened and sparked unrest among investors.

Ten of the 11 sector indices fell, driven by financial indicators, down 3.7%.

Wales Fargo (NYSE 🙂 fell 5.8% and the broader bank index fell 4.8% as it fell to a five-week low amid fleeing asylum. [US/]

Chevron Corp. (NYSE 🙂 jumped 4% to close at its highest level ever after the company boosted its share buyback program and cash flow forecast until 2026 and rising oil prices. [O/R]

The energy index rose by about 1%.

Russia has warned Kyiv residents to flee their homes and fired rockets at the city of Kharkov as Russian commanders stepped up bombardments of Ukrainian urban areas in a tactical change after their six-day attack came to a halt.

The conflict has sparked sharp repression from the West, including blocking access by some Russian creditors to the international payment system SWIFT.

“Investors are swimming in fear and don’t know how to incorporate geopolitical news into their pricing,” said Mike Sigmont, head of research and marketing at Harvest Volatility Management in New York. “We’re dealing with a purely emotional reaction from the investor.”

The decline was 1.76% to 33,294.95 points, while the S&P 500 lost 1.55% to 4,306.24 points.

It fell by 1.59% to 13,532.46.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor index fell 3.6% and Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ 🙂 fell 7.7%.

The trade was busy. The volume of stock exchanges in the United States is 14.9 billion shares, compared to an average of 12.3 billion for the entire session over the past 20 trading days.

On the positive side, data show that manufacturing activity in the United States rose more than expected in February as COVID-19 infections declined while construction costs rose in January.

“Given the fact that the US economy is accelerating, uncertainty will be relatively short and it will come as no surprise if the market finds its basis sometime in the next few weeks when clarity is restored,” said Jeff Schulze, investment strategist at ClearBridge. Investments.

Purpose Corp. (NYSE 🙂 jumped 9.9% after the big retailer forecast sales and profits for 2022 above analysts’ expectations.

Defense stocks added to recent gains, with Lockheed Martin Corp (NYSE 🙂 and Northrop Gruman (NYSE 🙂 is gaining over 3%.

The CBOE’s volatility index, also known as the Wall Street Fear Indicator, rose to its highest level since Feb. 24.

Zoom video communication (NASDAQ 🙂 Inc fell 7.4% after forecasting lower revenue and profit for the full year, signaling a blow from strong competition and lower registrations for its main meeting platform.

The S&P 500 fell about 10% in 2022, and the Nasdaq lost about 13%.

Emission reductions outnumber the advanced NYSE by 1.55 to 1; of the Nasdaq, a ratio of 1.80 to 1 favors declines.

The S&P 500 publishes 26 new 52-week highs and 16 new lows; Nasdaq Composite recorded 40 new highs and 150 new lows.

Wall Street ends sharply lower as Ukraine crisis sows fear of Reuters Read More »

Why Target raises its minimum wage to $ 24 an hour

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It’s just a good business decision to keep raising hourly wages for workers, as it will help keep the best talent that leads to strong sales and profits, explains Target CFO Michael Fidelke.

Target said this week that it will raise hourly wages for workers in distribution centers, stores, etc. up to $ 15 to $ 24 per hour depending on location and position. The total investment will amount to $ 300 million. In 2017, the dissenter revealed a desire to increase his minimum wage to $ 15 per hour by 2020, which he achieved.

“It’s all an investment in the team to provide an exceptional growth-enhancing experience. And right now, that’s good for us,” Fidelke told Yahoo Finance Live. “We track things like the performance of our ability to attract and retain a great team. And these indicators are looking for us stronger today than before the pandemic. And so those investments pay off, and the team pays for that investment with their support for the growth we see. “

This virtuous circle of happy, well-compensated retail employees – unlike the model that Costco has long pioneered – leading to strong financial results seems to exist at Target.

The company said on Tuesday that in the fourth quarter, comparable in-store sales and online comparable sales rose 8.9% and 9.2%, respectively. Earnings of $ 3.19 per share exceeded analysts’ estimates of $ 2.88 per share.

Shares of Target jumped 12% during the session.

“The quarter was driven by traffic. This means that users voted with their feet and clicks and chose Target more often. So this is an incredibly healthy sign for our business, “Fidelke added.

The company also outlined a “long-term” high single-digit growth rate for EPS. The Street was a model for about 8% growth in EPS over each of the next three years.

Brian Sosie is the editor – in – chief and a leader in Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and so on LinkedIn.

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UC Berkeley loses CRISPR patent case

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MIT and Harvard’s Broad Institute were the first to apply the CRISPR gene editing tool to human cells, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office said Monday. The decision halted years of efforts by the University of California, Berkeley, to obtain lucrative technology patent rights. The University of California, Berkeley is home to Jennifer Dudna, who won the 2020 Nobel Prize with Emmanuel Charpentier for discovering the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technique.

This also complicates the work of some biotechnology companies to develop CRISPR-based gene editing therapies: many, including companies such as Caribou Biosciences (co-founder of Doudna) and Intellia Therapeutics, which licensed CRISPR technology from the UC Berkeley Group.

“This decision reaffirmed that Broad’s patents were properly granted,” the Broad Institute said in a statement. “Brod believes that all institutions must work together to ensure wide, open access to this transformative technology.

The UC Berkeley group, collectively called CVC, said in a statement that it intended to challenge the decision. The group holds dozens of other patents related to CRISPR.

The decision is likely to end a long struggle for ownership of the gene editing technique that has revolutionized genetic research and biotechnology. It allows scientists to easily and accurately cut and rearrange bits of DNA, changing the way it encodes different functions. Dudna and her colleagues published the first article on the CRISPR system in 2012, showing how it works in a test tube. Then, in 2013, researchers at the Broad Institute published an article on the use of CRISPR in cell types found in animals and humans.

Both institutions filed patent applications, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) initially granted patents to the Broad Institute’s CRISPR in 2014. UC Berkeley challenged the decision, and the PTO ruled in 2017 that patents from both institutions were different enough that they could both stand – and that the Broad Institute has retained patents, potentially worth billions, for the use of CRISPR in complex human and animal cells. UC Berkeley appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., and lost that appeal.

Monday’s decision is the result of another challenge posed by UC Berkeley to the Patent Examination and Appeals Board in 2019, pitting various CVC patents against Broad Institute patents. Again, the PTO sided with the Broad Institute.

Biotech companies that originally licensed the technology from CVC will likely have to renegotiate with the Broad Institute. Companies licensed by the Broad Institute, such as the genome editing company Editas Medicine, are safer. “The decision reaffirms the strength of our fundamental intellectual property as we continue to develop life-changing drugs for people living with serious illnesses,” Editas CEO James Mullen said in a statement.

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What now! The new CEO of Air India resigns before taking office

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Air India was recently privatized after being state-owned and losing money for years. The airline was acquired by Tata Group, which also holds majority stakes in Vistara and AirAsia India. A few weeks ago, the airline announced its new CEO, and he has already resigned … before even starting work.

Turkey’s new CEO of Air India will not take office, however

In mid-February, Ilkey Ayci was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Air India, with plans to take office in April 2022. He was Chairman of Turkish Airlines from 2015 to 2022, having previously held several senior roles in The Turkish government, including the chairman of the Turkish Prime Minister’s Investment Support and Promotion Agency.

Now Aichi has announced that he does not intend to become CEO of Air India. As he explained:

“I came to the conclusion that it would not be a feasible or respectable decision to take a position in the shadow of such a narrative. My appointment with Air India within the Tata Group was announced earlier in February, starting on April 1. Following the announcement, I followed the news in some parts of the Indian media closely, trying to color my appointment with unwanted colors.

So what exactly is going on here? There have been allegations in the media that Aichi’s appointment to this position is a matter of “national security”. His appointment is subject to regulatory approval, including scrutiny by the Interior Ministry.

There were apparently concerns about Aiji’s close relationship with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, given that he has acted as Erdogan’s advisory role in the past.

Okay, I can fully appreciate the challenge there and I’m not a fan of Erdogan. But exactly how much research is Tata Group doing before appointing a new CEO? You don’t have to browse Aichi’s Wikipedia page to see these close links to Erdogan. You would think that this would be determined before he gave up his old job and was offered a new job.

Anyone can guess whether Aichi has actually decided that he doesn’t want the job because of some media reports (which seems suspicious, since I imagine he has thicker skin), or he has been asked to retire.

Air India had hired the former chairman of Turkish Airlines

The role of CEO of Air India is difficult to fulfill

I would like to see Air India turn around and become a great airline, but there is no denying that this is a huge task. There is so much to do and in many ways Air India would be better off just shutting down and starting over. The airline has an outdated fleet, obsolete flight products, labor problems and a non-competitive cost structure.

I can’t help but wonder who will be appointed next to this position. Will Air India try to hire another foreigner or will the airline look for local talent this time? The problem here is that even if someone is a very capable leader, the success of Air India is far from a sure bet. Accepting this job is a gamble in terms of reputation and future career prospects, assuming that this is not your last planned concert in the industry. Speaking of which, I think Doug Parker has some free time now?

The search for the new CEO of Air India continues

Eventually

The newly appointed CEO of Air India has already resigned before even taking office. There were clearly concerns about the former Turkish Airlines chairman’s close ties to the Turkish presidentErdogan. At first glance, this is fair enough, although I’m not sure why this came about only after he was hired for the role and left his job at Turkish Airlines?

Who do you think Air India should appoint as CEO?

(The tip of the hat to Niraj)

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