Business

Trump says he will be arrested Tuesday, calls on supporters to protest

Published

6 days ago

March 18, 2023

Former U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on education while holding a campaign rally with supporters March 13, 2023 in Davenport, Iowa, USA.

Jonathan Ernest | Reuters

Former President Donald Trump said in a social media post Saturday that he expects to be arrested Tuesday as a New York grand jury probes his connection to a hush money payment to a porn star.

Trump said he learned of his alleged impending arrest through leaks from the “corrupt” Manhattan Attorney’s Office. He called on his supporters to protest on his behalf — a call that harks back to the time when the former president encouraged thousands to flock to Washington, DC, during the Jan. 6, 2021, uprising.

“The far and far leading Republican nominee and former President of the United States will be arrested Tuesday of next week,” Trump wrote on his social media page Truth Social early Saturday morning. “PROTEST, TAKE BACK OUR NATION!”

In another emphatic post Saturday afternoon, Trump sought to further mobilize his base.

“WE JUST CANNOT LET THIS GO ANY MORE,” he wrote. “THEY KILL OUR NATION WHILE WE LEAN BACK AND WATCH. WE MUST SAVE AMERICA!

A grand jury has heard testimony related to the 2016 Stormy Daniels payout in the state criminal court in Lower Manhattan, but no public announcements have been made about when or if Trump will be impeached. Law enforcement agencies across New York were take safety precautions in the event that the former President is prosecuted.

Trump’s attorney Joseph Tacopina was not briefed on Tuesday about the possibility of Trump’s arrest.

“No one is telling us anything, which is very frustrating,” Tacopina told Centre County Report. “President Trump is basing his response on press reports and the fact that this is a political prosecution and the prosecution is leaking things to the press instead of communicating to the attorneys as they should.”

If impeached, Trump, a 2024 Republican presidential candidatewould be the first former president ever to be prosecuted.

US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy shared a Tweet in support of Trump On Saturday, he branded the district attorney a “radical” to exact “political revenge” against the former president.

“I direct the appropriate committees to immediately investigate whether federal funds are being used to undermine our democracy by interfering in elections with politically motivated law enforcement,” he wrote in the tweet.

The Manhattan Attorney’s Office declined to comment.

– Centre County Report’s Dan Mangan contributed to this report.

Related Topics:Arrested calls protest supporters Trump Tuesday

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Business

Rocket Lab targets Neutron launch price to challenge SpaceX

Published

14 mins ago

March 25, 2023

Melissa Bagwell

rocket lab is building a larger, reusable launch vehicle called the Neutron and is targeting a price near $50 million per launch to challenge it Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

“We are positioning Neutron to compete head-to-head with the Falcon 9,” Rocket Lab’s chief financial officer Adam Spice said earlier this week while speaking at a Bank of America event in London on Tuesday.

The company announced Neutron when it went public in 2021, with Spice saying the rocket remains on track to debut in 2024 its fourth quarterly report last month, Rocket Lab said it has begun production of Neutron’s first armor structures, as well as construction of the launch pad for the rocket. The company plans to conduct the first “hot-fire test” of an Archimedes engine that will power Neutron “by the end of the year,” Spice said.

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SpaceX is touting a $67 million Falcon 9 launch, and Spice says Rocket Lab is aiming to match that on a cost-per-kilogram basis for satellite customers. That means Neutron is “targeting a launch service cost of $50 million to $55 million,” Spice said.

Spice also noted that Rocket Lab expects to fly the reusable Neutron boosters “10 to 20 times” each, within range of the current reusable performance of a Falcon 9 booster.

“We ultimately expect margins on Neutron launches to be in the range of about 50%,” added Spice. He estimated the commodity cost of each neutron at $20–$25 million, with “nearly half of that” coming from the rocket’s upper, non-reusable second stage.

Additionally, with SpaceX pushing hard to develop its massive Starship rocket, Spice alluded to the potential for the company to veer away from flying Falcon 9 missions.

“We don’t have any hard data on that, but if that were to happen, that would certainly be an incredibly optimistic thing for Neutron,” Spice said.

In the meantime, Spice said Rocket Lab aims to maintain its position as the “dominant player” in the small satellite launch market sub-sector with its Electron vehicles. The company expects to launch three Electron missions in the second quarter, two of which have already been completed, and is “on track” to launch 15 missions this year, Spice said.

More than rockets

Spice also stressed to the Bank of America audience that Rocket Lab is “much more than” just a rocket company. In fact, the company’s acquisitions and expansion into building satellite components and spacecraft have become the majority of its quarterly revenue.

“All of this leads to the biggest opportunity in space that’s really on the application side,” Spice said.

As CEO Peter Beck has previously notedRocket Lab’s goal is to create an “end-to-end platform for customers” who need space-based services. Spice said the company wants to operate satellites and “deliver data to our customers and develop a recurring revenue stream from it,” essentially eliminating the need for other companies to build and operate their own satellites.

“A lot of the companies that we are [launching to orbit on Electron] are very unnatural space facility owners,” Spice said, adding that “the best space facility owner is someone who can launch.”

Rocket Lab CEO on the importance of the US Space Force mission to the company

Business

Rivian Automotive wants more engineers working at its manufacturing plant

Published

15 mins ago

March 25, 2023

Melissa Bagwell

Electric vehicle company Rivian plans to go public — News from Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN) is reportedly planning to move more of its manufacturing engineering team to its Normal, Illinois manufacturing facility to accelerate production of electric trucks and SUVs

Sources indicate a will to reorganize May be announced Soon, a “significant portion” of the engineering team working on manufacturing issues will relocate to either the Illinois site or Rivian’s headquarters in Irvine, California. That would be a departure from the pandemic years, when engineers could work from different parts of the US. Rivian is just one of many companies trying to improve efficiency by having employees work remotely and geographically.

Rivian Automotive (RIVN) currently has around 14,000 employees.

Shares of Rivian (RIVN) closed 0.66% on Friday but still managed a gain of more than 7% for the week.

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Business

Tesla Stock: Cathie Wood Sells $27 Million Of TSLA To Buy The Dip On Coinbase, Block

Published

16 mins ago

March 25, 2023

Melissa Bagwell

Fund manager Cathie Wood and her firm ARK Invest Management sold millions of Tesla shares on Thursday, inviting shares of Tesla coin base (COIN) as the crypto exchange stock fell after receiving a Securities and Exchange Commission warning.

Tesla Stock Sale

Wood unloaded a total of 139,642 Tesla (TSLA) shares on Thursday were valued at $26.84 million based on the closing price of 192.22, according to an investor update on Thursday night. The company sold 119,630 shares of its ARK Innovation ETF (ARKK) and 20,012 shares from the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF (ARKW).

Coinbase stock crashes as SEC turns aggressive

The sale ended a Tesla buying streak for Wood. Added ARC Tesla shares valued at $12.6 million on March 8th after buying 1.3 million shares in December and January, according to Barron’s data. Tesla shares closed Thursday 5.5% higher than their March 8 close and 1% below their Dec. 1 close. Tesla stock is up 76% so far this year.

TSLA shares tumbled 0.9% on Friday.

Buy the Coinbase Dip

Meanwhile, ARK Invest added 268,928 shares of Coinbase worth $17.83 million based on Thursday’s close of 66.30. ARK added 230,599 shares to ARKK and 38,329 shares to ARKW, respectively.

COIN shares fell 14% on Thursday after the company announced it received a Wells Notice from the SEC late Wednesday, warning that the regulator intends to recommend enforcement action for potential securities violations. Coinbase and its executives remain firm in their belief that their products are compliant.

On March 21, Wood sold 160,887 shares of Coinbase from the ARK Fintech Innovation ETF (ARKF) to mark ARK’s first COIN stock sale of the year.

COIN stock rose 2.3% on Friday. Coinbase shares have rocketed 101% year-to-date. Still, shaken by crypto panics, Coinbase stock remains well below its all-time high of 368.90 set on Nov. 9, 2021.

Wood and ARK also bought 320,557 shares of the payment processor block (Q), valued at $19.84 million based on Thursday’s close of 61.88. SQ stock slipped 2% on Friday.

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