Good morning. US stock futures moved lower in Friday morning trading as investors mulled over more quarterly reports.

"Failure to handle psychological denial is a common way for people to go broke"

Charlie Munger

Top News

US announces stiff penalties for drug manufacturers

• The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services announced that starting in 2025, the US government will enforce penalties on pharmaceutical companies that charge prices for their drugs that exceed inflation rates in the Medicare program.

• Companies that raise prices higher than the inflation rate will be required to pay Medicare the difference in the form of a rebate, with those failing to pay the rebate facing a penalty equaling 125% of the rebate amount.

Airline industry facing multimillion $$ 5G upgrade costs

• The world's largest airline trade body stated the proposed US regulations to retrofit airplane altimeters to guard against 5G wireless interference may incur costs of at least $600 million for the industry

• The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said in comments filed with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that the costs would be far higher than the $26 million estimated by the agency.

World Bank steps up Turkish disaster relief effort

• The World Bank announced that it will be giving Turkey $1.78 billion in financial aid for relief and recovery efforts as the country copes with an earthquake that has taken over 20,000 lives.

• The World Bank said in a statement that $780 million will become available for Ankara immediately as the funds will be diverted from two existing World Bank loan projects in Turkey.

In Other News

Crypto crackdown

• The US Securities and Exchange Commission announced that cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has agreed to pay $30 million in penalties and discontinue its cryptocurrency staking service.

• Owners of crypto assets that use "proof-of-stake" blockchain can stake some of their assets to potentially take part in the process of validating transactions in exchange for rewards in the form of newly created crypto assets.

TikTok fights Russian propaganda in EU region

• TikTok said it uncovered a Russian disinformation operation that was spreading propaganda about the war in Ukraine to over 100,000 European users during last summer.

• "The fact that these networks and related accounts were quickly identified and removed is a testament to the considerable resources we have invested in protecting our community from being misled" a spokesperson for TikTok said.

Fast fashion retailer raises wages

• Inditex, the parent company of fashion brand Zara agreed to boost the wages of employees in its Spanish retail locations by 20%.

• UGT, a union representing more than half of the Zara workforce at shops in the country, said Inditex agreed to continue increasing salaries in line with inflation over the next three years.

Key Economic Events

• Friday - Fed's Walker Speaks At Crypto Conference, U. Of. Mich. Sentiment

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