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Investors should lean toward owning stable stocks amid the increasingly volatile economic backdrop and hope for the best, fancies Goldman Sachs.

Goldman strategist Ben Snider said in a new note Tuesday that stable stocks or ones that sport low share price and earnings growth volatility are a must-own in this current moment. The strategist said the investment bank's basket of stable growth stocks has outperformed the S&P 500 by five percentage points during the past six months as economic risks such as rising inflation have risen.

These types of stocks "appear to have room to run," said Snider.

The valuations on these stable stocks look attractive, too.

Snider added, "Stable stocks also trade with undemanding valuations, supporting the likelihood that they will outperform if the macro environment grows increasingly challenging. Stocks with stable share prices and stable earnings growth generally trade with a valuation premium relative to more volatile peers and to the typical S&P 500 stock. However, relative valuations today are much lower than they have generally been during the last few years."

Snider's call comes against a backdrop of slowing economic growth, stubbornly high inflation and elevated geopolitical risk. That cocktail has Wall Street increasingly worried about a recession within the next two years.

"Our analysis of historical G10 episodes suggests that although strong economic momentum limits the risk in the near-term, the policy tightening we expect raises the odds of recession. As a result, we now see the odds of a recession as roughly 15% in the next 12 months and 35% within the next 24 months," said Jan Hatzius, Snider's colleague at Goldman, on Monday.

Earlier this month, Deutsche Bank's Matthew Luzzetti became the first economist from a major Wall Street firm to predict a U.S. recession. Others such as Goldman have since piled on.

The latest economic data sheds light on the recession calls.

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Inflation readings continue to run red-hot as the economy recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic and deals with soaring prices for energy. The Producer Price Index (PPI) for March recently showed a worrying 11.2% advance spanning the past 12 months.

Goldman's economists led by Hatzius expect annual average U.S. real GDP growth to slow from 6% in 2021 to 3% in 2022. The team sees 2% growth for 2023.

Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large and anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter @BrianSozzi and on LinkedIn.

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Goldman Sachs thinks these are the best stocks to buy right now - Yahoo Finance

It's been years since Colin Kaepernick sat down for an on-the-record interview about the NFL, and it was something of a coup for the "I Am Athlete" show to get him recently after Kaepernick was in the Miami area for a workout.

He sat down with hosts Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson, Adam "Pacman" Jones and Brandon Marshall for a brief talk that packed quite a bit of punch, especially when it comes to Kaepernick disputing many of the lies that have been spread about him.

Kaepernick has been traveling all over of late, working out with current and former players and posting some of the footage online.

First and foremost, he said without hesitation that he's willing to sign with a team as a backup quarterback, debunking one of the most-repeated untruths about what he would or wouldn't do to get another chance.

"I know I have to find my way back in. So, if I have to come in as a backup, that's fine," Kaepernick said. "But that's not where I'm staying, and when I prove that I'm a starter, I want to step onto the field as such."

The 34-year-old also did a bit of role playing, with Marshall in the role of an NFL general manager raising some of the so-called reasons a team has yet to sign Kaepernick.

"Let me come in and compete," Kaepernick said. "Let me come in, compete, show you what I can do."

Marshall brought up the "distraction" trope parroted by many league-friendly media members, that Kaepernick's presence might somehow be too much for a new team to handle. Marshall also brought up the "this is a $16 billion industry" and asked what a team is supposed to say to its fan base if it signs Kaepernick.

Marshall played the role perfectly, especially on the fan base question. Because what was unsaid, what is almost always unsaid when that comes up, is that the phrase "NFL fan base," like the words "Midwest voter" or "rural," is a euphemism for conservative, white and fine with Blacks as long as they're entertaining us and not asking for things like equality or to be treated with basic human decency.

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During his appearance on the "I Am Athlete" podcast, Colin Kaepernick was peppered with questions potential NFL suitors would ask him. He was ready. (Photo by Kevin Winter/WireImage,)

That's who the league wants to appease, and at this point (*gestures toward the annual and failed tinkerings with the Rooney Rule*) it's clear that nearly all of the team owner class agrees with them.

Forget the inspiration that Kaepernick provides to Black fans. Forget the fact he's been banned while numerous other players who have actually broken the law or are facing more than 20 civil suits for sexual impropriety have been welcomed back. Forget that he's a hero to an untold number of people because while he unwittingly became a new face of the ongoing civil rights movement, he's only leaned into it since. Forget that Kaepernick supporters have money to spend and devices to watch games as well, and a good number of them would instantly become fans of the team that signed him.

Kaepernick had the perfect response for that bad-faith argument, one that highlights the NFL's obviously performative actions.

"You have 'end racism' in the back of your end zones, you've got 'Black lives matter' on your helmet. Everything I've said should be in alignment with what you're saying publicly," he shot back, with Johnson murmuring in support like Grandmama on Sunday when the preacher is on a roll. "It's a $16 billion business when I first took a knee, my jersey went to No. 1. When I did the deal with Nike, their value increased by $6 billion. Billion, with a 'B.'

"So if you're talking about the business side, it makes sense. If you're talking about the playing side, let me compete. You can evaluate me from there."

Were the NFL team owner class actually committed to helping eradicate anti-Black racism in this country, it would heed Kaepernick's words and realize how foolish the league looks trying to pass off end zone paint as substantive action, especially when it's been completely silent on actual civil rights issues it could have influenced. Like in Arizona, host of Super Bowl LVII, where state legislators have passed several anti-democratic voting restrictions, which almost always disproportionately affect Black, Hispanic and Native voters.

Were the owner class actually concerned with racism on a level beyond stenciling in the end zone, it would acknowledge that fans have supported Kaepernick's right to protest for awhile now.

Were all members of the owner class actually committed to winning, one of them would have signed Kaepernick years ago. At his best, he was the prototype dual-threat quarterback that has risen to prominence in the league in the years since.

It is great to see videos of Kaepernick on the field with other players, eager to line up with a man who has lost his career because he was tired of seeing videos of Black men that looked like him and his teammates killed by police, and those police getting paid vacation for doing so. It's also great that his debut book, a children's title called "I Color Myself Different" made it to the New York Times bestseller list underscoring, again, that the number of people who don't like Kap isn't as large as the owner class wants you to believe.

The reality is, however, he probably waited too long to tell his side. The reality is those owners or coaches who may have been willing to bring Kaepernick aboard have cowered long enough that now they can tell media it's just been too long since he last played, and that's why he has gone unsigned.

That's a useful new excuse, and this one actually has an air of believability, because how many NFL players really do spend five years out of the game and come back? And they'll hope no one asks the proper follow-up question, noting that Kaepernick has been keeping himself in shape and was free to be signed at any point. (Looking at you, Pete Carroll.)

They'll find people willing to believe that lie, because there are still people who hate Kaepernick and will believe every lie told about him, from salary demands he never made to statements he never said to team workouts he's never gotten.

The owner class wouldn't have it any other way.

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Colin Kaepernick dismantles NFL's hypocritical yet effective messaging against him in rare on-record interview - Yahoo Sports

A top State Department official appeared to negate any chance of a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine crisis, saying in a Tuesday interview that he sees no hope for negotiations to end the war given that Russian President Vladimir Putins forces seem intent on bringing as much violence to Ukraine as they possibly can.

I wish I saw an opening for diplomacy right now, but I dont, said State Department Counselor Derek Chollet in an interview with Yahoo News Skullduggery podcast.

Chollet has been one of Secretary of State Antony Blinkens top advisers during a whirlwind period in which Russias invasion has spurred an international crisis and led to allegations of war crimes by U.S. officials, including President Biden.

Chollet noted that placing diplomacy front and center was among the foundational principles of the Biden administrations approach to foreign policy and and, boy, we tried really hard before the invasion to find a diplomatic way out of this.

But, he said, Russian officials spurned U.S. efforts and the on-again, off-again talks among Russian and Ukrainian negotiators have gone nowhere.

They have not progressed to this point in a way that Im optimistic about having some sort of diplomatic solution, he said. I think the Russians seem very intent on basically bringing as much violence to Ukraine as they possibly can.

New graves for people killed during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, at a cemetery in Irpin, Ukraine. (Zohra Bensemra/Reuters)

The comments by Chollett, who served as an assistant secretary of defense for international security during the Obama administration, are especially noteworthy given that he now serves at the senior undersecretary level at State, the department whose primary mission is to conduct diplomacy.

But the path to any kind of diplomatic off-ramp has been complicated by the brutality of the Russian invasion combined with continued uncertainty about what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskys government would accept as part of a negotiated settlement.

I mean, this is the Russians perpetrating these actions, right? Perpetrating these atrocities, Chollett said. So thats why our position has been, we are going to do whatever we can to support the victims of this invasion, the Ukrainians.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin at a meeting on Monday outside Moscow. (Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via Reuters)

Asked if U.S. officials would back a settlement that accepts the 2014 Russian annexation of Crimea and a possible referendum in the eastern regions of the country in exchange for a Russian withdrawal, Chollett replied: First, its not clear to me what the Ukrainians are going to accept. And I think, first and foremost, this is not for us to dictate the terms to the Ukrainians on what they should accept in terms of defending their own country. ... Theyre going to have to make decisions as a sovereign state about what they would accept.

Moreover, Chollett said, he believes Putins original aim went far beyond control of Donbas, the eastern region of the country where the Russians have mounted a major new offensive. Instead, he said, it was to take down the Ukrainian government.

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U.S. official: No clear path to negotiate an end to Russia's war in Ukraine - Yahoo News

MEMPHIS The Minnesota Timberwolves-Memphis Grizzlies first-round playoff series didnt need anymore spice. But a friendly rivalry between the fathers of Grizzlies star Ja Morant and Timberwolves counterpart Karl-Anthony Towns added a new level of trash talk anyway.

Tee Morant and Karl-Anthony Towns Sr. arent ducking any smoke, or any cameras.

In a sideline interview on NBA TV, the dads continued their playful trash talking on Tuesday night.

Towns Sr. joked about fans leaving early when Memphis held a big lead to which Morant playfully chided him with the now infamous, We aint duckin no smoke.

They exchanged banter about how many wins each team has had in the postseason and how many games would be left in this series. And, of course, there is a wager on this series.

The dads revealed their wager during Game 1.

If the No. 2-seeded Grizzlies win, Towns Sr. will wear a Ja Morant jersey; and if the No. 7-seeded Timberwolves win, Morant will wear a Karl-Anthony Towns jersey.

The duo has been spirited in both games of the series so far, and both are ardent supporters of their sons.

Morant led the Grizzlies to a 124-96 win in Game 2 to tie the series at 1-1. He had 23 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds. Towns had 15 points and 11 boards for the Timberwolves.

Game 3 is Thursday in Minneapolis.

Tee Morant, father of Ja Morant, has a friendly wager with Karl-Anthony Towns Sr. on the outcome of their sons' NBA playoffs first-round series. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)

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Ja Morant and Karl-Anthony Towns' dads are still trash talking with bet on the line - Yahoo Sports

This article first appeared in the Morning Brief. Get the Morning Brief sent directly to your inbox every Monday to Friday by 6:30 a.m. ET. Subscribe

Wednesday, April 20, 2022

Today's newsletter is by Brian Cheung, an anchor and reporter covering the Fed, economics, and banking for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter @bcheungz.

Americans are not the only ones feeling the pain of high inflation. Its bogging down almost every other nation as well.

A fresh round of economic forecasts from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday lowered global growth prospects, in part because of rising price pressures. Making matters worse: the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Inflation is a clear and present danger for many economies, IMF Chief Economist Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas told Yahoo Finance Tuesday. In January, the IMF projected global growth of 4.4% in 2022. Yesterdays update downgraded that forecast to 3.6%.

Globally, the IMF predicts that prices in advanced economies (like the U.S.) will rise by 5.7% this year. In emerging market and developing economies, inflation is projected to clock in at 8.7% this year.

Those figures make it clear that inflation is not a phenomenon exclusive to the U.S., where Consumer Price Index readings from March showed prices rising by 8.5% year-over-year.

inflation

The IMF warns that these pressures will remain elevated for longer than it had originally expected earlier in the year, due to the disruption to energy and metal exports from Russia and wheat exports from Ukraine. A zero-COVID policy in China could scramble supply chains out of Asia as infections rise.

All of this means that central banks like the Federal Reserve will have to deliver the medicine of higher borrowing costs to tamp down on inflation. In the U.S., Fed Chairman Jerome Powell is on the warpath against higher interest rates, with all signs pointing to a king-sized interest rate increase of 0.50% next month (not done since 2000).

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The Bank of England is a few steps ahead of the Fed on tightening, and the European Central Bank appears poised to follow soon.

The problem: the cure could be worse than the disease. Pull the crisis-era stimulus too fast, and the central banks could tip the economy into recession (see: yield curve inversion).

This is certainly a serious downside risk, Gourinchas said Tuesday, adding that central banks need to be careful as they walk that fine line.

Either way, the outcome is going to be the same.

Raise rates and lower inflation? Higher borrowing costs lowers consumption and leads to slower growth.

Move too slow and inflation runs rampant? High prices erase wage gains and lowers consumption and leads to slower growth.

Economy

7:00 a.m. ET: MBA Mortgage Applications, week ended April 15 (-1.3% during prior week)

8:30 a.m. ET: Existing home sales, March (5.78 million expected, 6.02 million in February)

2:00 p.m. ET: Federal Reserve releases Beige Book

Earnings

Pre-market

6:00 a.m. ET: Anthem (ANTM) is expected to report adjusted earnings of $7.73 per share on revenue of $37.47 billion

7:00 a.m. ET: Nasdaq (NDAQ) is expected to report adjusted earnings of $1.95 per share on revenue of $892.00 million

7:00 a.m. ET: Baker Hughes (BKR) is expected to report adjusted earnings of 19 cents per share on revenue of $5.00 billion

7:00 a.m. ET: Procter & Gamble (PG) is expected to report adjusted earnings of $1.29 per share on revenue of $17.73 billion

7:30 a.m. ET: Abbott Laboratories (ABT) is expected to report adjusted earnings of $1.47 per share on revenue of $11.00 billion

Post-market

4:00 p.m. ET: CSX Corp. (CSX) is expected to report adjusted earnings of 37 cents per share on revenue of $3.31 billion

4:05 p.m. ET: Kinder Morgan (KMI) is expected to report adjusted earnings of 28 cents per share on revenue of $3.72 billion

4:10 p.m. ET: Alcoa Corp. (AA) is expected to report adjusted earnings of $2.84 per share on revenue of $3.44 billion

4:10 p.m. ET: Tenet Healthcare (THC) is expected to report adjusted earnings of $1.03 per share on revenue of $4.70 billion

4:15 p.m. ET: Crown Castle International (CCI) is expected to report adjusted earnings of $1.87 per share on revenue of $403.60 million

4:30 p.m. ET: United Airlines (UAL) is expected to report adjusted losses of $4.23 per share on revenue of $7.67 billion

4:30 p.m. ET: Steel Dynamics (STLD) is expected to report adjusted earnings of $5.66 per share on revenue of $5.32 billion

4:40 p.m. ET: Equifax (EFX) is expected to report adjusted earnings of $2.14 per share on revenue of $1.33 billion

After market close: Tesla (TSLA) is expected to report adjusted earnings of $2.27 per share on revenue of $17.92 billion

Global economy to 'slow significantly' following Russian invasion of Ukraine: IMF

One big challenge facing Tesla that has nothing to do with Elon Musk's Twitter bid

Biden administration to erase student debt of more than 40,000 borrowers

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High inflation? It's a global story too: Morning Brief - Yahoo Finance

An all-quarterback version of The Match is coming this summer.

Tom Brady announced on Monday morning that he will be pairing up with Green Bay Packers star Aaron Rodgers in The Match on June 1. The two will square off against Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes and Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen.

Though the battle wont feature any actual PGA Tour golfers, its sure to be entertaining considering four of the last five league MVPs will be on the course together. The trash talk started instantly from all sides, too.

The Match will be a 12-hole exhibition battle at the Wynn Las Vegas on June 1. So far, The Match has raised nearly $33 million for charity.

Rodgers and Brady competed last year against each other while paired up with Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau. This time, though, will be the first of the six versions of The Match without a single PGA Tour golfer.

Mahomes and Allen are decent golfers themselves, however, and should be able to hold their own against the two veteran quarterbacks. Allen played in the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am in February, and Mahomes played in last years American Century Championship celebrity tournament. Allen is reportedly a 9.0 handicap, and Mahomes is a 7.7 handicap.

An all-quarterback version of The Match is coming in June. (Stacy Revere/Getty Images for The Match)

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Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers to face-off against Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen in The Match - Yahoo Sports

Carolina Panthers linebacker Damien Wilson was arrested in Texas last week after he allegedly threatened to kill his ex-girlfriend, according to The Dallas Morning News.

Wilson, who got his NFL start with the Dallas Cowboys, was arrested in Frisco and was charged with assault with bodily injury of a family member.

Wilsons ex-girlfriend said she broke up with him, and that Wilson showed up at her apartment and threatened to kill her with a tire iron, per the report. She also said that Wilson took her laptop and put it in a blanket and then smashed it on the ground, but said that it was her cat inside.

I was screaming like Im being skinned alive, his ex-girlfriend, Ryan Sokolosky, told The Morning News.

She said he broke her laptop after slamming it to the ground and that he tried to run her over in a vehicle before he drove away. He also allegedly choked Sokolskys friend who was with her at the time of the incident.

Sokolosky said she has obtained a protective order against Wilson.

He thinks all of this is a joke because hes rich and thinks hes going to get out of everything, she told The Morning News.

Wilsons attorney denied the allegations against him.

Damien Wilson did not commit any type of assault, Toby Shook said, via The Morning News. We look forward to all the facts coming out so his name can be cleared.

Wilson was arrested on two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in 2017 after he was accused of brandishing a rifle outside of a soccer venue. A grand jury declined to indict him.

Wilson was drafted by the Cowboys in 2015, and spent his first four seasons there before joining the Kansas City Chiefs in 2019. He spent last season with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and then signed a two-year deal with the Panthers this offseason. Wilson has 381 career tackles in his seven seasons in the league, 106 of which came last year.

Damien Wilson's ex-girlfriend said he threatened to kill her, broke her laptop and more after they broke up last week. (Dustin Satloff/Getty Images)

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Panthers LB Damien Wilson arrested after allegedly threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend - Yahoo Sports

It is less than five days before he walks to the ring at Wembley Stadium in London to defend his titles against Dillian Whyte and heavyweight champion Tyson Fury still has not disassociated himself from alleged mobster Daniel Kinahan.

Promoter Frank Warren told the BBC Monday that Kinahan, whom the U.S. government contends runs one of the largest drug cartels in the world, has had no involvement in Saturdays bout for the WBC and lineal heavyweight titles.

But Fury, who was pictured with Kinahan in Dubai in February, has yet to disavow his adviser.

The U.S. government last week at an extraordinary news conference in Dublin, Ireland, tabbed Kinahan as the leader of the Kinahan Organized Crime Group. Hes suspected of murder, of being the leader of one of the largest drug cartels in the world and a gun trafficker.

At the news conference, U.S. government officials put a $5 million reward on Kinahan, as well as $5 million each on his father and brother, for his arrest and conviction. The Kinahans have been notorious for years in their native Ireland, though the U.S. governments involvement in their case ratchets up the scrutiny on them worldwide.

Sanctions put into place by the U.S. are designed to prevent Kinahan from seeing any of that, but mobsters dont easily walk away from the kind of money this fight will produce. In Furys four fights in Las Vegas from 2019 through 2021, Kinahan earned a minimum of $1 million a bout as consulting fees for fights against Tom Schwarz, Otto Wallin and two against Deontay Wilder.

Saturday's fight is sold out with a European-record crowd of around 94,000 expected. The paid gate will be more than $20 million U.S. The pay-per-view in the U.K. could hit 2 million, and with another several hundred thousand in the U.S. at $75 a pop, a more than tidy sum will be generated.

Fury himself will earn the bulk of it. But how much of the money that is generated will go to Daniel Kinahan may never be known.

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Though hes normally referred to as an adviser, Kinahan is one of the worlds most prolific managers of boxers. He is the co-founder of MTK Global, though the company said in a news release last week it's had nothing to do with him since 2017.

Scores of fighters, though, take Kinahan's advice and offer their fealty to him. He become powerful because hed offer low, or sometimes no, managerial fees. Hes been accused of getting into combat sports to launder both money he earned from the drug business as well as to enhance his reputation. Hes garnered more fighters and gained more success as hes landed more prominent fighters. The most prominent of those has been Fury.

Top Ranks Bob Arum is Furys co-promoter, and has worked closely with the alleged mob boss for several years. Several times during that span, Arum said Kinahan would no longer advise Fury, but Kinahan always managed to stick around.

In a June 24, 2020, story in the Irish Times, Arum lavished Kinahan with praise even as he said Kinahan was out. At the time, talks were ongoing to put together a fight between Fury and Anthony Joshua, who had three of the four heavyweight belts.

Weve talked with Dan [Kinahan], who Tyson and I both love and admire and respect, and he understands that its best the negotiations on Tysons side be handled that way, Arum told the Irish Times about talks for a Fury-Anthony Joshua fight. Both Tyson and I have each discussed this with Dan and he is amenable and satisfied and wished us luck. He only wants the best for Tyson Fury.

Tyson Fury has yet to disavow alleged mobster Daniel Kinahan ahead of Saturday's fight versus Dillian Whyte at Wembley Stadium. (Photo by Tolga Akmen/AFP via Getty Images)

Kinahan has lived in Dubai since 2016. He fled there after rival gang members, disguised as police officers, ambushed a weigh-in for an MTK Global fight card and shot it up, killing one man. Police in Ireland believe Kinahan was the target.

Officials at the Dublin news conference last week advised those in combat sports to stay away from Kinahan and urged them not to do business with him. The sanctions the U.S. put on him freeze his assets, including his bank accounts, in this country.

Despite that, his most prominent client hasnt taken a public stance against him. Fury has been reluctant to speak about Kinahan in the past, but the seriousness of the charges and President Bidens interest in his case ratchets up the pressure on him to do something.

Fury, and other fighters advised/managed by Kinahan, had plausible deniability prior to last weeks news conference. That cover, though, no longer exists.

During the Watergate investigation in 1973, U.S. Sen. Howard Baker became famous when he asked then-White House counsel John Dean: "What did the President know and when did he know it?"

To paraphrase the late Sen. Baker, what did Fury know about Kinahans past and when did he know it?

No one is alleging that Fury, or any of the other fighters, are involved in untoward activities with Kinahan. But by ignoring the serious allegations against him, it provides Kinahan the cover to continue laundering money through the fight game.

The other problem is that mobsters have many times in the past attempted to fix the outcome of fights. With legalized betting on fights pretty much worldwide now, the integrity of the matches are paramount.

While there is no allegation or indication that Kinahan or anyone close to him has done this, its happened frequently enough in the past when the American mob was involved with boxing to create a concern.

Fury doesnt need the taint that Kinahan now brings. Kinahan has given fighters money to help them out of his personal wealth. The result is that Kinahan fighters are exceptionally loyal. Most, if ever asked about associating with him, have responded that he hadnt been charged or convicted of a crime. Thats now changed.

Given the U.S. governments actions last week, its time for all of those who do business with Kinahan to do the same as Fury must do: Cut all ties with Kinahan before its too late.

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Tyson Fury fight week tainted by heavyweight champion's silence on ties to alleged mobster - Yahoo Sports

Amazon workers arriving at one company warehouse on Easter Sunday were greeted with a cheerful message from management.

As a holiday incentive, there would be a contest, and a raffle. Those who picked products above a certain speed would be entered into a draw to win a goody bag.

"Thank you all for coming in on Easter Sunday!" the note said. Good Luck everyone and THANK YOU!!!

The grand prize? Water or soda plus a candy bar or bag of chips, worth roughly $2. An amount that when compared to Amazon founder Jeff Bezoss hourly haul generated a wave of ridicule from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and many others across social media.

Bezos, the second-richest man on earth after Elon Musk, has a net worth of $177 billion as calculated by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

The Amazon founder earns $8,961,187 a dayroughly 315 times Amazon's $28,466 median annual worker payaccording to a recent report by Business Insider. And each minute he earns $152,000, more than three times what the median U.S. worker makes in a year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Amazon workers were greeted with this message on Easter Sunday.@BusinessInsider calculated Jeff Bezos receives $152K/minute, while workers slog through a 10-12 hour shift for the chance to win a $2 snack raffle. pic.twitter.com/yezIzc5vtk

— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) April 18, 2022

The raffle garnered a strong Internet response and heightened anger toward Amazon's anti-union behavior.

Sen. Bernie Sanders called out Amazons corporate greed and mentioned Bezoss $500 million yacht and $175 million Beverly Hills estate. He left out Bezos's $16 million apartment on New York's Fifth Avenue, however, as well as his four condos overlooking Central Park in the same city, his 10-bedroom house in Washington, D.C., and the 30,000-acre ranch he owns in Texas.

Corporate greed is Jeff Bezos becoming $152,000 richer a MINUTE, owning a $500 million yacht & a $175 million Beverly Hills estate, while Amazon employees who worked over 10 hours on Easter Sunday might be "lucky enough” to win a $2 snack pack. Yes. Amazon workers need a union. https://t.co/8BH0xmuYqP

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) April 19, 2022

Dan Price, the founder of credit card processing company Gravity Payments who famously raised the minimum salary for employees at his company to $70,000 and lowered his own wage from $1.1 million to the same amount, also called out Amazon's work practices.

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yeah but they said THANK YOU in all caps. That sounds like a caring environment!

— Dan Price (@DanPriceSeattle) April 18, 2022

For his part, author and journalist Brian Merchant sarcastically challenged Amazons fierce attempts to shut down any unionization at the company.

Amazon is really stepping up their union-busting game here—what worker would want to bother organizing if they're already getting [checks notes] a chance to win a $2 snack pack if they do uninterrupted backbreaking labor for 10-12 straight while working on Easter Sunday https://t.co/urNUBf9GgW

— Brian Merchant (@bcmerchant) April 18, 2022

Amazon workers at a New York warehouse voted on April 1 to join the independent Amazon Labor Union (ALU), a major milestone that could force the retail tech giant to become more accountable for workplace injuries and other employee complaints. Calls for unionization have been growing across the U.S., where Amazon is the second-largest employer.

Amazon has poured resources into fighting unionization efforts, however, regarding unions as an obstacle to business flexibility and warehouse efficiency. After the New York warehouse unionization vote, Amazon said it was disappointed in the outcome. We believe having a direct relationship with the company is best for our employees, wrote Amazon in a statement about the results, adding, Were evaluating our options, including filing objections based on the inappropriate and undue influence by the NLRB that we and others (including the National Retail Federation and U.S. Chamber of Commerce) witnessed in this election.

On May 2, a second Amazon facility in New Yorkthe LBJ5 sortation center on Staten Islandwill hold a union election over joining the ALU.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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Amazon is ridiculed for trying to motivate Easter Sunday workers with a raffle to win water and a bag of chips - Yahoo Finance

There are no clear favorites entering Sundays race at Talladega.

The race (3 p.m. ET, Fox) is the first at Talladega with the new Cup Series car. The season-opening Daytona 500 gave us a preview of what the car could likely race like at Talladega and the odds for the race are heavily influenced by the 500.

Daytona winner Austin Cindric is the No. 5 BetMGM favorite at +1400. Cindrics win came in his eighth Cup Series start and he led 21 of the races 201 laps as Team Penske appeared to have the best cars over the course of the Daytona weekend.

Thats reflected in the odds as well. Cindrics two teammates are ahead of him at +1100. Ryan Blaney finished fourth at Daytona after leading 36 laps and two of his seven Cup Series wins have come at Talladega. Joey Logano also has the same odds as Blaney. Hes got two Talladega wins too.

Logano and Blaney are tied for favorite status with Bubba Wallace and Denny Hamlin and Wallace is listed atop the board.

TALLADEGA, ALABAMA - OCTOBER 04: Bubba Wallace, driver of the #23 McDonald's Toyota, celebrates in the Ruoff Mortgage victory lane after winning the rain-shortened NASCAR Cup Series YellaWood 500 at Talladega Superspeedway on October 04, 2021 in Talladega, Alabama. (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)

Wallace has nominal status as the favorite after he got his first Cup Series win in last falls rain-shortened Talladega race. He also finished second to Cindric with a damaged car in the Daytona 500. Those finishes coupled with his popularity make it clear why hes at the top of the board.

This is a board thats a lot more crowded than it typically is as well. Eighteen drivers are between +1100 and +2500. Thats almost half the field as 39 cars are set to start the race.

Heres what you need to know if you want to go hog wild and bet on Sundays race. As always, our Talladega advice is to place a lot of small-dollar bets on drivers across the board. Dont invest too much in one driver simply because you dont know when a crash is going to strike.

Bubba Wallace (+1100)

Denny Hamlin (+1100)

Joey Logano (+1100)

Ryan Blaney (+1100)

Austin Cindric (+1400)

Chase Briscoe (+1400)

Chase Elliott (+1400)

Brad Keselowski (+1400)

Told you this board is crowded. Eight drivers occupy this space and there are five more drivers at +1800. Wallaces favorite status may be obvious based on recent history but its also only based on recent history. His Talladega win was his first top-10 finish in eight starts at the track.

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His team co-owner Hamlin has two wins and 14 top-10 finishes in 32 Talladega starts. Briscoe was third at Daytona earlier this year and finished 11th and 14th in his two Talladega starts a season ago. Elliott has a win and four top-five finishes in 12 Talladega starts. Keselowski is the active wins leader at Talladega with six and has finished in the top two in each of his last two starts at the track. But Sunday is also his first Talladega race as a member of Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing.

Ross Chastain (+3300)

Martin Truex Jr. (+3300)

Chastain finished last at Daytona thanks to a crash and has never finished in the top 10 at Talladega in six starts. But his aggressiveness could play well or poorly on Sunday and he should have a fast car. Truex has been miserable at Talladega lately; he hasnt scored a top 10 since 2015. But thats a product of bad luck and that bad luck has to turn around at some point, right?

Harvick has finished fourth and eighth in his last two Talladega starts and hasnt finished outside the top 20 since he was 38th in the spring of 2019. But Harvick hasnt won at Talladega since 2010 and wed be surprised if he was in victory lane on Sunday. Wed feel better about a Harvick bet if he had longer odds.

Jones has four top-10 finishes and five DNFs in 10 Talladega starts. Thats a boom-or-bust profile. He was ninth in the fall and had a fast car at Daytona before he was taken out in a late crash.

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NASCAR at Talladega betting: Bubba Wallace is one of the four favorites at +1100 - Yahoo Sports