Harris's proposed unrealized capital gains tax is unlikely to pass: CIO
Unrealized capital gains tax proposals may be floating back into the zeitgeist as the Harris presidential campaign marches on, but for some, the noise around it is much ado about nothing.
“I don’t think this unrealized thing is going to have much momentum because it is a very onerous process to come up with those numbers,” Raymond James chief investment officer Larry Adam told Yahoo Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi on Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid podcast.
“You start putting biases of what you think [something] is worth versus the reality,” said Adam. “That becomes a very difficult equation to really put into a place.”
We’ve seen unrealized capital gains tax proposals before, but they’ve met plenty of resistance.
Most recently, the Biden administration proposed an unrealized capital gains tax for those with a net worth of over $100 million. The proposal could affect more than 10,600 people in the US, according to estimates.
But, unlike a capital gains tax, which is imposed on a sold item, deploying an unrealized capital gains tax is a trickier move.
Stifel chief Washington strategist Brian Gardner said in a recent client note that under an unrealized capital gains tax system, “ranking illiquid assets would not only be complicated but controversial,” adding that there would also need to be a way to provide taxpayers with “rebates for future losses.”
While analysts scratch their heads about the subject, an unrealized capital gains tax also has plenty of tomato throwers. Donald Trump called it “beyond socialism,” telling a crowd of small-business owners, “You will be forced to sell your restaurant immediately.”
Trump's onetime US Commerce Secretary, Wilbur Ross, concurred.
"Frankly, I think it's a ridiculous proposal," Ross said on Opening Bid.
Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk also had negative statements to share on the topic, proclaiming an unrealized capital gains tax would lead to “bread lines and ugly shoes.”
While Trump and Musk might deliver their messages to pack a wallop and make voters think, concerns aren't necessarily unfounded.
Raymond James's Adam has considered tax proposals made by both candidates, and thinks that regardless of the administration in office, higher taxes could impact households by almost $2,000. “[It] could be a big impact and a drag on the economy,” he said.
Antonelli can do 'great things' as Hamilton's replacement
Kimi Antonelli joined Mercedes' youth programme at the age of 11
Toto Wolff says Mercedes expect “great things” of Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who has been named as Lewis Hamilton’s replacement next year.
The 18-year-old will partner George Russell to give Mercedes what team principal Wolff describes as “two drivers who are very extraordinary”.
Antonelli, who crashed heavily on his F1 race weekend debut in practice at the Italian Grand Prix on Friday, has been a Mercedes protege since he was 11.
Wolff decided to promote the Italian after what will be just one season in Formula 2, because he believes he can become a leading driver and that keeping him out of F1 would be wrong.
"Kimi has been with us since the age of 11," Wolff told BBC Sport in an exclusive interview.
"We have seen that, back in the day, his karting has been exceptional, maybe the only one who came close to this was Max Verstappen's karting trajectory.
And then he went through the formula series, winning in the rookie years and that is very special.
"Kimi has all he needs, the ability and the speed, and he has been part of the team a long time, he has tested a lot.
We expect great things, but not from the beginning. It is clear we need to give him time and see how he develops."
Antonelli said his promotion was "an amazing feeling" and the fulfilment of “a dream I have had since I was a very small boy".
The Italian has been prepared for F1 this year by Mercedes with an extensive testing programme in former cars, which will continue for the rest of the year.
Wolff said he expected Antonelli to make plenty of mistakes as he learns the ropes in F1 next season.
"Probably we will see some very good races and highlights in the first season," he added. "But on the other side we will also see some front wings that will be missing after Turn One and maybe one or the other things in the race that don't run so well.
"F1 is a complicated car, lots of switches, and that's something you need to adapt to."
And Wolff said that it would be a tough ask for Antonelli to be expected to be able to arrive at the same performance level in his first season as Russell, who he described as "one of the very best drivers in the world".
"Measuring himself against George we don't believe it is possible to be anywhere near that level," added Wolff.
"And on the other side, we acknowledge, and also George does, that there is a young driver with a lot of ability and that is our hope to have two drivers who are really strong."
Hamilton has long backed Antonelli as the driver Mercedes should choose to replace him following his decision to move to Ferrari next season.
The seven-time champion said at the Italian Grand Prix on Thursday that the Bologna-born teenager was "one of those super-talent kids that come through", adding he had "a bright future ahead of him".
Speeding Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Crashes in India
Elizabeth Puckett
A high-speed incident involving a Lamborghini Aventador SVJ recently unfolded on the outskirts of Bangalore, India, highlighting the potential dangers of fast driving. The luxury supercar reportedly rear-ended an MPV while traveling on a highway, leading to significant damage to the vehicle. The impact was concentrated on the front driver-side corner, necessitating extensive repairs including replacement of the front bumper, hood, driver-side fender, and the windscreen which shattered upon collision.
Images from the scene show the aftermath, with the Aventador SVJ visibly damaged but not beyond repair. The structural integrity of the vehicle's chassis suggests that while the car suffered substantial cosmetic and functional damage, it is not a total loss. This incident brings to light the high performance capabilities of vehicles like the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ, which is equipped with a powerful engine capable of reaching extreme speeds, and the responsibilities that come with handling such a car.
As of now, there have been no reports of injuries either to the occupants of the Lamborghini or the MPV involved. Details about the cause of the crash remain sparse, and it is unclear if weather, road conditions, or other external factors played a role in this accident. The local authorities have not yet released a statement regarding the fate of those in the MPV or the official cause of the crash.
This accident serves as a stark reminder of the risks associated with high-speed driving, particularly in high-performance vehicles capable of extreme speeds. It also underscores the importance of adhering to traffic laws and safety regulations to prevent such potentially catastrophic incidents.
NATO chief: Ukraine did not coordinate Kursk offensive in advance
DPA
NATO was not involved in Ukraine's surprise offensive into the Russian region of Kursk, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has told the German newspaper Die Welt.
"Ukraine did not preview its planning for Kursk with NATO, and the alliance played no role," he said in the interview published on Saturday.
Some 10,000 Ukrainian troops crossed into the western Russian region on August 6. Kiev claims to control about 100 settlements and more than 1,000 square kilometres of Russian territory.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the purpose of the push into Kursk is to create a buffer zone to halt attacks by Moscow on the Ukraine's hard-hit Sumy region.
Moscow accuses NATO states of supporting Kiev in its invasion by supplying weapons and ammunition to the Ukrainian military, as well as intelligence data.
Stoltenberg described Ukraine's advance across the border as legitimate.
"For over 900 days, Russia has waged an unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine, and has conducted countless attacks on Ukraine from over the border in Kursk. The Russian soldiers, tanks and bases there are legitimate targets under international law," he told the newspaper.
"Like all military operations, this comes with risks. But it is Ukraine’s decision how to defend itself."
While Moscow has struggled to put a stop to Kiev's counter-invasion, Russian troops have recently seized a string of settlements as they advance farther into the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk.
Heavy fighting is occurring near Pokrovsk, a strategically important city that is home to a railway junction. If Pokrovsk falls, it could set the stage for Russian advances toward bigger urban centres and bring Moscow closer to controlling all of the Donetsk region.
Brazil's Supreme Court Suspends X, Directs Apple and Google to Block X Apps
Credit: Andressa Anholete/Getty Images
UPDATE 6 p.m. ET: Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court officially pounded its gavel on X Friday afternoon, ordering an “immediate and complete” suspension of the service throughout the country.
The by Judge Alexandre de Moraes orders Brazil’s to take measures to ensure X’s suspension and directs Apple and Google to block use of X’s apps, including removing them from their app stores. It also sets a daily fine of 50,000 Brazilian reals, about $8,900, for people and companies that use “technological subterfuges” (presumably, ) to evade the ban.
Elon Musk reacted by continuing a quote-posting spree that earlier saw him elevate a baseless conspiracy theory about voting machines in Brazil. A typical comment from him Friday evening: “The oppressive regime in Brazil is so afraid of the people learning the truth that they will bankrupt anyone who tries.”
Earlier Friday, de Moraes issued an order and blocking domestic transactions of SpaceX’s service. That satellite broadband service now connects “more than a quarter million customers in Brazil,” according to that said it was “committed to continue providing service to you.”
Original story:
X is facing a deadline to put a face to its presence in Brazil before the nation's top court bans the platform from the second most-populous country in the Americas.
The Supreme Federal Court posted an order at 8:31 p.m. local time Wednesday night and on X ordering the service to name a legal representative in Brazil within 24 hours, “under penalty of suspension of activities in Brazil.”
The order signed by Alexandre de Moraes, one of the court’s 11 judges, comes after X announced that it would shut down operations in Brazil instead of complying with an order by de Moraes to suspend accounts allegedly posting disinformation to undermine Brazil’s democracy.
Since April, the judge has led an inquiry into the role the former Twitter may have played in helping “digital militias” plot the January 2023 insurrection in Brasilia in support of former president Jair Bolsonaro.
The rioters who stormed the capital’s presidential, legislative, and judiciary buildings sought to overturn Bolsonaro’s defeat in the October 2022 election by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Many hoped the military would join their efforts and stage a coup–as Brazil’s armed forces did in 1964 before embarking on 21 years of military dictatorship rife with extrajudicial imprisonment, torture, and execution.
The January 2023 insurrection has been widely compared to the Jan. 6 insurrection at the US Capitol–except that in Brazil, courts and other government bodies have not bent over backwards to shield Bolsonaro from accountability. In June 2023, the Supreme Federal Court banned the former president from running for office until 2030.
(In April, President Lula, as he’s commonly known, became one of few heads of state to set up shop on the Twitter alternative Bluesky, where he posts under the same “lulaoficial” handle he uses on X.)
This is not the first time Brazilian authorities have threatened a ban on a social platform for noncompliance. In March 2022, de Moraes ordered Telegram to shut down in the country for failing to meet legal obligations to combat disinformation; Telegram founder Pavel Durov, now facing a series of criminal charges in France, blamed that on staffers overlooking emails from Brazilian officials, and the shutdown ended after two days.
In January 2023, a court imposed another brief shutdown of Telegram for failing to disclose information on alleged neo-Nazi activity on the platform.
Musk, however, has taken this treatment more personally, criticizing de Moraes in increasingly hostile terms that Bolsonaro supporters have cheered. Meanwhile, Musk has walked away from X’s anti-disinformation efforts, invited such misinformation magnets as disgraced conspiracy liar Alex Jones back on X, and has shared fake images himself.
Musk took the news as he does most criticism: by quote-sharing supportive posts from his chorus of superfans with opinions like “This ‘judge’ has repeatedly broken the laws he has sworn to uphold,” and sharing an altered image of de Moraes wielding lightsabers “as if Voldemort and a Sith Lord had a baby and he became a judge in Brazil.”
And Musk posted another generated image of de Moraes behind bars, tagged with the handle from which the judge hasn't posted anything since Jan. 11, under the text “One day, @Alexandre, this picture of you in prison will be real. Mark my words
Telegram: 'The dark web in your pocket'
A picture posted to one of the drugs channels by a member [BBC]
About nine months ago while researching a story, I found myself added to a large Telegram channel which was focused on selling drugs.
I was then added to one about hacking and then one about stolen credit cards.
I realised my Telegram settings had made it possible for people to add me to their channels without me doing anything. I kept the settings the same to see what would happen.
Within a few months, I had been added to 82 different groups.
I changed my settings to stop it, but now every time I log on I am treated to thousands of new messages across dozens of extremely active illegal groups.
The arrest of Telegram’s billionaire chief executive in France has ignited a debate about moderation on his app.
Pavel Durov has been charged for suspected complicity in allowing illicit transactions, drug trafficking, fraud and the spread of child sex abuse images to flourish on his site.
There is no doubt that criminality is happening on other social networks too, but my experiment hints at a broader problem that many in law enforcement have been concerned about for years.
Here is a flavour of some of the groups to which I have found myself added.
My Telegram app has become a one-stop shop for illegal goods, all without me actively searching for new sellers.
All the images were posted to the groups, and we have altered the names of the channels so as not to advertise them.
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