US stores ask customers not to openly carry guns

Yahoo – AFP, September 6, 2019

CVS has asked customers who are not law enforcement personnel not to
bring guns into its stores (AFP Photo/Alastair Pike)

Washington (AFP) - US pharmacies CVS and Walgreens and supermarket chain Wegmans on Thursday asked customers not to openly carry firearms in their stores, or not to bring them in at all.

The calls by the stores -- which follows a similar move by Kroger, the country's biggest supermarket chain -- come as the United States grapples with an epidemic of gun violence and frequent mass shootings.

CVS said on Twitter that it supports "the efforts of individuals and groups working to prevent gun violence," and requested that customers who are not law enforcement personnel refrain from bringing firearms into its stores.

Walgreens meanwhile only asked that customers not openly carry guns, providing no explanation for its decision in a brief statement on its website.

Wegmans also requested that customers refrain from openly carrying firearms, tweeting: "The sight of someone with a gun can be alarming, and we don't want anyone to feel that way at Wegmans."

Retail giant Walmart announced on Tuesday that it would halt the sale of ammunition for handguns and some military-style rifles, calling the status quo on firearms in the United States "unacceptable."

That announcement came a month after a deadly shooting at one of the chain's stores in El Paso, Texas, that claimed 22 lives.

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Walmart to limit ammunition sales after mass shooting in Texas store

Walmart to limit ammunition sales after mass shooting in Texas store

Yahoo – AFP, John BIERS, September 4, 2019

A memorial near the El Paso, Texas Walmart where 22 people were killed in
August during a mass shooting (AFP Photo/Mark RALSTON)

New York (AFP) - Walmart will halt sales of ammunition for handguns and some military-style rifles, the company announced Tuesday, calling the status quo on firearms in the United States "unacceptable."

Walmart also said it will direct consumers not to carry firearms into its stores, a practice that is legal in "open carry" states but which has sparked safety scares in recent weeks.

The moves, which were praised by gun control advocates and ridiculed by gun rights supporters, came a month after a deadly shooting at an El Paso, Texas store claimed 22 lives, a calamity that has been followed by subsequent attacks, including another shooting over the weekend in West Texas that left seven dead.

Chief Executive Doug McMillon called on Congress and the White House to enact "common sense" measures, including stronger background checks for gun purchases, while signaling the retail giant still plans to sell sporting rifles.

"As we've seen before, these horrific events occur and then the spotlight fades. We should not allow that to happen," McMillon said in a statement.

"Congress and the administration should act."

The actions stop well short of the outright ban on gun sales that some gun control advocates called for but are still significant given Walmart's size and prominence in many communities in the United States and its influence in corporate America.

Later Tuesday, Kroger, the biggest US supermarket chain, called for strengthened background checks and announced it was "respectfully asking that customers no longer openly carry firearms into our stores, other than authorized law enforcement officers."

Boycott?

The world's biggest retailer, Arkansas-based Walmart has more than 4,700 stores across America, many in conservative regions where political opposition to gun control is strong.

The hashtag #boycottwalmart was trending Tuesday afternoon on Twitter and the move drew a strident response from the National Rifle Association.

"It is shameful to see Walmart succumb to the pressure of the anti-gun elites," the NRA said. "Lines at Walmart will soon be replaced by lines at other retailers who are more supportive of America's fundamental freedoms."

Doug McMillon, president and CEO of Walmart Inc. Corporation, announced the 

retail giant would end sales of some ammunition after a deadly shooting last 

month at a Texas store (AFP Photo/MARK WILSON)

On the other side, Everytown for Gun Safety praised Walmart for a "significant step forward."

Several Democratic presidential candidates also praised Walmart, while calling for more action, drawing further distinction from US President Donald Trump who has backed off efforts to tighten background checks.

Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke, who previously represented El Paso in Congress, called Walmart's move a "step in the right direction," adding, "we can't rely on corporations to stop gun violence. We need universal background checks, we need red flag laws, and we need to buy back every single assault weapon."

Walmart expects the changes to lower its market share for ammunition from around 20 percent to a range of six to nine percent.

The company will also no longer sell ammunition for short-barrel rifles, which can be used for hunting but also in military-style weapons.

The company will still sell long-barrel deer rifles and shotguns and much of the ammunition they use, leaving its stores "even more focused on the needs of hunting and sport shooting enthusiasts," McMillon said.

No more 'open carry'

Walmart also unveiled new policies restricting firearms in stores, citing a number of incidents in which shoppers have fled stores after members of the public brandished such weapons in "open carry" states.

In one well-publicized incident last month just days after the El Paso shooting, a man in Missouri was arrested after entering a Walmart wearing body armor and carrying a loaded military-style rifle.

"We believe the opportunity for someone to misinterpret a situation, even in open carry states, could lead to tragic results," McMillon said. "We hope that everyone will understand the circumstances that led to this new policy and will respect the concerns of their fellow shoppers and our associates."

The moves announced Tuesday followed earlier actions by Walmart to restrict access to some weapons, including a decision in 1993 to halt handgun sales in all states but Alaska and in 2015 to end sales of semiautomatic weapons of the sort used in mass shootings.

On Tuesday, Walmart said it was also ending sales of handguns in Alaska.

McMillon noted he is a gun owner himself, adding "we understand that heritage, our deeply rooted place in America and our influence as the world's largest retailer. And we understand the responsibility that comes with it."

J&J ordered to pay $572 million for opioid addiction crisis

Yahoo – AFP, Paul HANDLEY, August 26, 2019

Drug and consumer products maker Johnson & Johnson was the first pharmaceutical
company tried over the US opioid crisis (AFP Photo/CHARLY TRIBALLEAU)

Washington (AFP) - An Oklahoma judge on Monday ordered US health care giant Johnson & Johnson to pay $572 million in damages for its role in fostering the state's opioid addiction crisis.

In the first civil trial of a drugmaker over an epidemic that has caused hundreds of thousands of overdose deaths, Judge Thad Balkman said prosecutors had demonstrated that J&J contributed to a "public nuisance" in its deceptive promotion of highly addictive prescription painkillers.

"Those actions compromised the health and safety of thousands of Oklahomans," he said.

According to the ruling, the company and its Janssen pharmaceuticals division will fund an "abatement plan" for care for addicts, families and communities ravaged by the crisis.

"The defendants Janssen and Johnson & Johnson's misleading marketing and promotion of opioids created a nuisance," Balkman said.

Landmark case

J&J was the first pharmaceutical company tried over the US opioid crisis, which fueled over 70,000 overdose deaths in 2017 alone.

But there are some 2,000 outstanding lawsuits against many drugmakers and distributors filed by state and local governments, many overwhelmed by the costs of an epidemic that has only slightly abated.

Most of those are being rolled into a case to go to trial in October in Ohio that will likely set the basis for potentially many billions of dollars in settlements across the country.

Prosecutors had sought $17 billion in damages against J&J for an abatement program to be spread over 30 years.

But Balkman said the state had not made a strong case for the future costs of the crisis to it and the community beyond one year, and so limited his ruling to that.

J&J's shares rose about two percent to $130 in after-market trade following the decision.

The company immediately said it would appeal the decision.

"Janssen did not cause the opioid crisis in Oklahoma, and neither the facts nor the law support this outcome," said J&J executive vice president Michael Ullmann.

"The unprecedented award for the state's 'abatement plan' has sweeping ramifications for many industries and bears no relation to the company's medicines or conduct."

Company downplayed addiction claims

J&J argued that the law was being inappropriately applied and that its products had a very small role in the addiction epidemic in Oklahoma and nationally.

Balkman said J&J had promoted its drugs by telling doctors and patients that pain was not being treated enough and that "there was a low risk of abuse and a low danger" in the drugs themselves.

"The defendants used the phrase 'pseudoaddiction' to convince doctors that patients who exhibited signs of addiction... were not actually suffering from addiction, but from the undertreatment of pain," he said in his decision.

He also said the company consciously downplayed risks it knew were present, pointing to the 2007 $600 million fine in a Virginia trial of Purdue Pharma, one of the leading prescription opioid makers, for misleading the health industry and the public about the highly addictive properties of its Oxycontin painkiller.

J&J is the first drugmaker to go to trial and the case is seen as a bellwether for thousands of possible criminal and civil suits over the seeming uncontrolled distribution of highly addictive painkillers like oxycodone and hydrocodone, and J&J's Nucynta and Duragesic, between 2000 and 2015.

Two other major drugmakers accused in the same suit, Purdue Pharma of the United States and Israel's Teva, settled with Oklahoma before the case went to trial.

Purdue, which produced the widely abused opioid Oxycontin, agreed to pay the state $270 million in March and Teva negotiated an $85 million settlement.

Dozens of local and state governments across the country have also already exacted settlements with opioid manufacturers and distributors to address their problems.

Related Article:

Science & Spiritually Conference 2018, BC – Canada (4), June 16-17, 2018 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) (Text version “Predictions”)

".... Let me tell you what else is in the field. Two things: These are going to be things that exist now in the field and they are upcoming potentials. The reason I give you these potentials is so if they happen, just like the handshake, you might believe a little more in this process.

There will come a time when Big Pharma will fall over because of a growing higher consciousness of the public. [Applause in the audience] There is a consciousness growing here that begins to have a new respect for each other, so that abuse of women will no longer be tolerated. Things that never happened before will begin happening, like bishops and cardinals resigning. [All 34 bishops in the Catholic Church resigned May 2018 after the new wild card pope called them on their reaction to child abuse for years by their colleagues.] All the things my partner brought today [in the seminar] are actually happening now. Why should some of these drug companies fail? Because there will be a strong reaction from your general public when they realize there are companies that have policies that would keep a Human sick or let him die for money. [Applause in the audience] It would be unconscionable, and the potential grows stronger daily that it's going to happen. The trigger? It's coming. When it does, that industry will be in trouble. Not all pharma is this way, dear ones - understand this - but the ones who are will fall. ..."

"Recalibration of Free Choice"–  Dallas Texas, Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth,  4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical)  8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

Makeup giant Sephora to close for training over racial profiling

Yahoo – AFP, June 3, 2019

R&B star SZA tweeted she was in one of the beauty chain's shops when
security was called on her (AFP Photo/Brian Ach)

Los Angeles (AFP) - High street makeup powerhouse Sephora has announced it will close all its US stores, distribution centres and corporate office for employee training after a racial profiling incident involving Grammy-nominated singer SZA.

The black R&B star earlier tweeted she was in one of the beauty chain's shops when security was called on her.

In a statement posted to social media on May 24, Sephora said it would close on Wednesday morning to "host inclusion workshops for our employees."

"These values have always been at the heart of Sephora, and we're excited to welcome everyone when we reopen," the company added.

SZA had tweeted that security was called "to make sure I wasn't stealing", while she was at a Sephora store northwest of Los Angeles.

She added: "We had a long talk. U have a blessed day Sandy," referring to an employee.

SZA has been nominated for several Grammy awards, including this year for best new artist and best R&B song.

Sephora responded directly with its own tweet, saying the firm "take complaints like this very seriously and are actively working with our teams to address the situation immediately."

The company is owned by Paris-based Luxury giant LVMH, whose 70 brands range from Louis Vuitton, Hennessy and Givenchy to Celine, Dior and Guerlain.

It is not the first time a well-known firm in the US has had accusations of racial profiling made against their staff.

Starbucks last year closed for an afternoon of nationwide racial-bias training, after two black men were arrested in a Philadelphia store in April.

It is estimated the move cost the coffee giant at least $12 million in lost sales.

Streaming wars heat up as rivals queue up to challenge Netflix

Yahoo – AFP, Rob Lever, March 17, 2019

Netflix has taken the lead in streaming to expand into 190 markets but is now facing
some deep-pocketed rivals including Apple and Disney (AFP Photo/ROBYN BECK)

Washington (AFP) - Some of the biggest names in media and tech are gearing up to move into streaming, in what could be a major challenge to market leader Netflix.

Apple is expected to make its move with an announcement March 25 on its media plans, with a war chest estimated at some $1 billion and partners including stars like Jennifer Aniston and director J.J. Abrams involved in content.

Walt Disney Co. has announced its new streaming service Disney+ will launch this year, as will another from WarnerMedia, the newly acquired media-entertainment division of AT&T.

The new entrants, with more expected, could launch a formidable challenge to Netflix, which has some 140 million paid subscribers in 190 markets, and to other services such as Amazon and Hulu.

"It's really going to change the industry," said Alan Wolk, co-founder of the consulting firm TVREV who follows the sector.

Wolk said he sees seven or eight powerful players in streaming which will lead to "huge competition for new shows and hit shows."

These rivals are coming into the segment which has been transformed by the spectacular growth of Netflix and a growing movement by consumers to on-demand television delivered over internet platforms.

In the US alone, an estimated six million consumers have dropped pay TV bundles since 2012, while on-demand services such as Netflix, Hulu and Amazon have been surging, according to Leichtman Research.

But just as Netflix has disrupted traditional "linear" television, rivals are now moving to disrupt Netflix.

Strong name recognition and sought-after content is liekly to make Disney a

formidable competitor in streaming television (AFP Photo/Alberto E. Rodriguez)ls)."

Feeling pain

Netflix is likely to feel pain, not only from the new rivals, but also from the loss of content from the big libraries of Disney and Time Warner.

These Hollywood firms "have big libraries, so the cost of their content is much lower than it will be for Netflix, which has to pay for all its content," said Laura Martin, analyst with the research firm Needham & Co.

"Netflix will lose subscribers to these new entrants," Martin said.

AT&T's WarnerMedia will launch its service later this year that combines the content from its premium HBO channel (known for "Game of Thrones") and the vast Time Warner library or films and shows.

Disney's service will have its films and TV shows, along with the library it is acquiring from Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox, a deal closing in the coming days. That includes the "Star Wars" and Marvel superhero franchises and ABC television content.

JP Morgan analyst Alexia Quadrani predicts Disney will eventually scale up to become as big as Netflix, or even bigger by signing up 45 million US subscribers and 115 million internationally.

Quadrani cited Disney's "unmatched brand recognition, extensive premium content, and unparalleled ecosystem to market the service."

The analyst said Disney benefits from its global ecosystem that develops good customer relationships from its theme parks, hotels, cruises, and consumer products.

Wolk agreed that Disney "is in a good spot" because of its strong brand and content but predicted that consumers may be overwhelmed by the growing options.

"I think there will be a lot of churn," Wolk said. "People will subscribe to one service to watch one show, and then it becomes easy to cancel and take another."

Jennifer Aniston is one of the Hollywood stars Apple is counting on as it prepares

to launch its streaming video service (AFP Photo/Alberto E. Rodriguez)

No panic, yet

Some analysts say Netflix has no reason to panic -- yet.

"Netflix has figured this business out, they know what consumers want," said Dan Rayburn, a streaming media analyst with Frost & Sullivan.

But Rayburn said that over time, rivals may be able to leverage their user base and infrastructure to eat away at Netflix's advantage.

"What does Netflix own? Nothing," Rayburn said.

"If you're Amazon or AT&T you can give this stuff away and be a loss leader, that's the big value."

Still, he said any company that wants to challenge Netflix needs to be "quick and nimble" and that it remains to be seen if the legacy players can do that.

Richard Greenfield of BTIG Research also questioned the capability of the legacy entertainment firms to compete in the world of new media.

"We believe legacy media has missed their window to compete with Netflix (and other tech platforms) unless they are willing to truly go all-in," Greenfield said in a recent research note.

The streaming service from AT&T's Warner Media will include 

programs from HBO such as "Game Of Thrones," whose star 

Emilia Clarke is seen here (AFP Photo/Alberto E. Rodriguez)

'Innovator's dilemma'

Greenfield said that means moving the focus away from the box office and getting better control of content.

"Disney is battling a classic innovator's dilemma that makes it hard for them to truly pivot to direct-to-consumer, not to mention, they and the rest of legacy media do not really appreciate how important technology is to success in direct-to-consumer streaming," Greenfield wrote.

Daniel Ives of Wedbush Securities said Apple could be the wild card, but that the iPhone maker might need to acquire a content provider like CBS or Sony Pictures to be a major player.

Apple "is definitely playing from behind the eight ball in this content arms race with Netflix, Amazon, Disney, Hulu, and AT&T/Time Warner all going after this next consumer frontier," Ives said in a note to clients.

"While acquisitions have not been in Apple's core DNA, the clock has struck midnight for Cupertino in our opinion and building content organically is a slow and arduous path, which highlights the clear need for Apple to do larger, strategic (deals}."

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings gives a keynote address, January 6, 2016 at the
Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada (AFP Photo/Robyn Beck)

Related Articles:

Netflix becomes 'global TV network' in 190 countries


"Wild Cards" (3) - Nov 19 - 20, 2016 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Text version)

"... Then there was Steve Jobs. He was a wild card. What he did had little to do with technology, for that would have happened anyway soon enough. Instead, it had to do with the paradigm of the business of music on Earth. He freed it, and the paradigm of how music is obtained and heard will never be the same. However, Steve Jobs did basically one thing for all of you, and then he died. Do you see any kind of connecting of the dots to some of the inventors who come and give you the one thing, then leave? If he had lived, would there be more? Yes, but you’re not ready for it. Consciousness has to support what happens. ..."

Samsung Electronics apologises for factory cancer cases

Yahoo – AFP, Jung Hawon, 23 November 2018

Samsung Electronics co-president Kim Ki-nam bows as he makes a formal
apology to victims of work-related diseases in Seoul on November 23, 2018

Samsung Electronics apologised Friday to workers who developed cancer after working at some of its factories, finally ending a decade-long dispute at the world's top chipmaker.

The father of a dead 22-year-old worker and the company's co-president Kim Ki-nam signed a formal settlement agreement in Seoul as other disabled ex-employees looked on.

"We sincerely apologise to the workers who suffered from illness and their families," said the firm's co-president Kim Ki-nam. "We have failed to properly manage health risks at our semiconductor and LCD factories."

Samsung Electronics is the world's biggest mobile phone manufacturer and chipmaker and the flagship subsidiary of the Samsung Group, by far the biggest of the family-controlled conglomerates that dominate the South's economy.

Samsung currently operates vast semiconductor production compounds in Suwon as well as the cities of Hwaseong and Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, as well as Xian in China.

Campaign groups say that about 240 people have suffered from work-related illnesses after being employed at Samsung semiconductor and display factories, with around 80 of them -- many of them young women -- dying.

Under a deal announced earlier this month, Samsung Electronics will pay the group's employees compensation of up to 150 million won ($133,000) per case.

It covers 16 types of cancer, some other rare illnesses, miscarriages and congenital diseases suffered by the workers' children. Claimants can have worked at plants as far back as 1984.

The scandal emerged in 2007 when former workers at its semiconductor and display factories in Suwon, south of Seoul, and their families said that staff had been diagnosed or died of various forms of cancer.

A series of rulings and decisions by courts, Seoul's state labour welfare agency and a mediation committee followed over more than 10 years, culminating in Friday's announcement.

Factfile on Samsung Electronics, including profit and smartphone market share

Hwang Sang-ki, who signed the agreement on behalf of the workers and their families, told reporters he was glad to have fulfilled his promise to his daughter, who died of leukaemia in 2007, to prove Samsung was to blame for her death.

But he went on: "The apology honestly was not enough for the families of the victims but we will accept it.

"No amount of apology will be enough to heal all the insults, the pain of industrial injuries and the suffering of losing one's family.

"I cannot forget the pain she and our family went through. Too many people have suffered the same fate."

Trade secret

Little is known about possible connections between the production process in the factories and the workers' illnesses, as Samsung has refused to disclose what specific chemical substances it uses, describing the information as a trade secret.

Hwang and other relatives have sought a court order to compel it to release the details.

"Compensation for industrial injury is important, but what's more important is prevention," said Hwang, whose story was made into a movie in 2013.

Samsung has played a key part in the South's rise to become the world's 11th-largest economy, but it is also the focus of resentment over the power and influence of the chaebols and has faced accusations of murky political connections.

Its de facto leader Lee Jae-yong was found guilty of bribing former president Park Geun-hye as part of the corruption scandal that brought her down, and he spent almost a year in prison before most of his convictions were overturned on appeal and he was released.

The cancer scandal is one of the worst instances of industrial injuries in the South, where safety standards sometimes belie its advanced technological status.

Two months ago, two subcontractors were killed in a carbon dioxide leak at Samsung Electronics' Suwon chip plant.

In January, four workers suffocated due to a gas leak at a steel factory owned by Posco -- the country's top steelmaker -- in the southern city of Pohang.

Dolce & Gabbana say sorry, in Chinese, after race row

Yahoo – AFP, Elizabeth LAW, 23 November 2018

Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana issued a written apology on Weibo after a
video was posted on their company's Instagram feed that some deemed
culturally insensitive to China

The founders of Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana apologised to Chinese customers on Friday as a row over racially offensive posts snowballed, with its products pulled from lucrative Chinese e-commerce platforms.

In an attempt to salvage their reputation in the world's most important luxury market, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana capped a 1 minute 30-second mea culpa by saying "sorry" in Mandarin in a video posted on a Chinese social media platform.

"Our families always taught us to respect different cultures across the world and because of this we want to ask for your forgiveness if we have made mistakes in interpreting yours," said Dolce in Italian.

"We want to say sorry to all Chinese across the world, of which there are many, and we are taking this apology and message very seriously," Gabbana added.

The Chinese-subtitled video -- the company's second apology this week over the row -- was posted on Weibo, the popular Chinese Twitter-like social media platform where they have close to one million followers.

The controversy marks the latest backpedalling by a foreign company for offending Chinese consumers or authorities.

Earlier this year, German automaker Mercedes-Benz apologised for "hurting the feelings" of people in China after its Instagram account quoted Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, seen as a separatist by Beijing. The foreign ministry welcomed the apology.

Under pressure from Beijing, a growing number of international airlines and companies have edited their websites to refer to the self-ruling democratic island of Taiwan as "Taiwan, China" or "Chinese Taipei".

Marriott's website in China was shut down by the authorities for a week earlier this year after a customer questionnaire listed Taiwan, Tibet and Hong Kong as separate countries, prompting the hotel chain to apologise and change the wording.

D&G boycott

Dolce & Gabbana had already issued a written apology on Weibo earlier this week after the scandal prompted Chinese celebrities to boycott a Dolce & Gabbana fashion show in Shanghai, which the company then cancelled.

Protestor Edward Gu targeted the Dolce & Gabbana store in Shanghai 

following the race row

The controversy arose after the brand posted short clips on Instagram showing a Chinese woman eating pizza, spaghetti and a cannoli with chopsticks that some deemed culturally insensitive.

But it escalated after screenshots circulated of an Instagram user's alleged chat with the famously volatile Gabbana, who used five smiling poo emojis to describe China and launched insults at the country and its people.

The company said its account and that of Stefano Gabbana had been hacked and that its legal office was investigating the matter.

Despite the earlier apology, the Italian fashion house's products disappeared from multiple Chinese e-commerce platforms.

A spokeswoman of retail giant Suning.com said they have removed all Dolce & Gabbana products after the incident.

The brands also could not be searched on retail giants Taobao and JD.com. The two companies did not respond to requests for comment.

'Insult' China

A protestor on Thursday targeted the Dolce & Gabbana store in Shanghai, plastering the storefront with the alleged screenshots of Gabbana's conversation.

"Improper comments that insult China from the so-called famous designer of an internationally famous brand have really ruined our mood," said protestor Edward Gu, who claims to work for a modelling and talent agency.

Referring to the cancelled show, he said many models, manufacturers and publicists from around the world worked hard on it but it was now a "wasted effort".

Chinese social media users were unconvinced by the latest apology, with the video garnering over 100,000 comments some three hours after it was posted.

"They're bowing their precious heads to the renminbi (yuan) then," one Weibo user commented on the apology post.

2008 financial crisis: the collapse of Lehman Brothers

Yahoo – AFP, September 2, 2018

Lehman Brothers' headquarters in New York on September 15, 2008, the day
the Wall Street titan fell (AFP Photo/NICHOLAS ROBERTS)

Paris (AFP) - Once a titan of world finance, investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsed 10 years ago, triggering the worst crisis in global finance since the Great Depression.

Here is a look back at the 18 months that led up to Lehman's dramatic declaration of bankruptcy on September 15, 2008.

- Early 2007: subprimes backfire -

In February, several US banks specialized in subprime mortgages -- which are risky but classified as safe investments by credit ratings agencies -- go bankrupt.

These loans with variable interest rates given to households with fragile finances backfire on lenders when millions of borrowers are unable to make monthly payments that climb with rising interest rates.

When these subprime lenders go bankrupt, some analysts talk about the "risk" to financial markets, but most are optimistic, judging the sector will have a minimal impact on the US economy.

- Summer 2007: banks, markets hit -

In June, the investment bank Bear Stearns announces its hedge funds involved in subprime loans are in trouble. It is the first major bank to be subjected to damages in the crisis.

Turmoil intensifies in July and August and world markets are shaken when banks such as BNP Paribas in France reveal their own investments in high-risk loans.

The internal banking market is hit -- banks hesitate to make loans to each other-- while several central banks intervene, injecting billions of liquidity into the financial system.

End 2007: Lehman's confident

While the major world banks (UBS, Citigroup) suffer due to the subprime crisis, Lehman Brothers publish record annual results in December 2007, with a net profit of $4.2 billion.

The New York investment bank makes no mention of a new depreciation nor any provision to clean up the consequences of the subprime crisis, instead praising itself for its ability to operate above the cycles of the market, thanks to its diversification.

But between August 2007 and January 2008, Lehman's eliminates 3,000 mortgage-related jobs.

Early 2008: widespread panic

On January 22, 2008, faced with plunging world markets, the US Federal Reserve slashes interest rates by 3.5 percent, an exceptional measure, followed by a new cut by a half percentage point a week later.

The next month in the UK, the government steps in to nationalize Northern Rock, the fifth-largest bank in the country but now in crisis.

In March, JP Morgan Chase buys Bear Stearns for next to nothing, and 15 times less than its market capitalization, in a bid to avoid escalating collapse. The market predicts Lehman Brothers, which eliminates another 1,400 jobs at the start of the month, could be the next bank to fall.

- Summer 2008: titan no more -

On June 2, the credit rating agency S&P cuts its rating for Lehman Brothers to "A" from its previous "A-plus."

A week later, Lehman Brothers announces an anticipated quarterly loss of $2.8 billion, its first since the bank appeared on the stock market in 1994.

It seeks any way to raise liquidity, notably in looking for potential partners. Hopes are raised with Korea Development Bank, but on September 10, the South Korean bank announces an end to talks.

The same day, Lehman Brothers publishes catastrophic results.

The US Treasury fails to organize a buyout by investors and chooses not to bail Lehman Brothers out, leaving it to declare bankruptcy on September 15.

Related Article:

"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once),Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …”