Day: December 16, 2021

With two Academy Awards and an impressive track record, Mahershala Ali is in the enviable position of being able to be very selective.

“Swan Song,” a sci-fi fable written and directed by Ireland’s Benjamin Cleary and co-starring Naomie Harris and Glenn Close, has Cameron Turner (Ali) diagnosed as terminally ill but offered the chance to live on as a clone.

Married to Poppy (Harris), who is expecting their child, Cameron embarks on this journey in secret so his wife will never know she’s living and loving a replacement.

“This script was so good it just separated itself from anything else that I was reading at the time,” Ali, 47, recalled. “And to be clear, Ben is just such a fantastic writer and director. The story felt fresh, new, unique. It was irresistible personally and just selfishly as an actor.

“It felt like the type of challenge or mountain you want to climb. It was the journey I wanted to go on. After sitting down, speaking with Ben and understanding his relationship to the story and some of the deeper things in the film and what he was working to accomplish, I just felt honored that he would consider me for the part.

“That’s why I had to be a part of it. I just didn’t want it to go away.”

Any actor would be thrilled to play two versions of a character, with only slight differences, a dimension most movies never imagine. Ali’s Cameron even gets to wrestle with himself.

“I’m glad they don’t allow you that often because this shouldn’t be the norm. You should always be working with other actors,” Ali reckoned.

“But this was a unique opportunity. In trying to bring this story to life and playing two versions of the same character we had a lot of help.

“We had a wonderful double by the name Shane Dean. I had to play the (wrestling) scene out in its entirety and know where things need to happen and the timing of it all that.

“Shane would try — and then I get to react off of him. Then we would switch and he would copy what I just did on the other side of the camera.

“Then I would bring to life the character he was just playing previously. So it was a joy but honestly, it was really difficult and it was challenging.

“But the joy is always at the end of the things that are challenging. The things that are most fulfilling, they’re usually difficult. So it was it was just a wonderful experiment and experience.”

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“Swan Song” opens Dec. 17.

JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs are reportedly planning to award their investment bankers with major bonuses in 2021, following a post-pandemic boom in deal-making.

JPMorgan is expected to boost its bonus pool for investment banking by about 40%, while Goldman Sachs may increase bonuses by as much as 50%, according to sources familiar with initial deliberations as quoted by Reuters.

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In 2021, investment banks generated substantial profits due to record levels of deal activity, a hot IPO market and climbing equities, as economic stimulus measures helped propel global stock markets to all-time highs.

“You are paying for retention and not just paying for performance,” Eric Dobkin, the veteran banker who spent almost half a century at Goldman Sachs before retiring in 2016, told Bloomberg.

“This year, the firms may well have to overpay to keep the people they most want.”

Last month, the New York-based pay consultancy Johnson Associates said Wall Street was set to see the biggest bonus increases since the Great Recession following a busy and profitable year.

According to the consultancy, incentives at the end of 2021, including cash bonuses and equity awards, will be significantly higher compared with last year, when most professionals saw a decline in awards.

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Major US carriers will account on Wednesday for the $54 billion payroll assistance package awarded by the government to the struggling sector during the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to Reuters, the Senate Commerce Committee will hear from the chief executives of American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and United Airlines, as well as the chief of operations of Delta Air Lines and the head of a large flight attendant union. Others, such as JetBlue Airways and Alaska Air Group, will submit written statements.

The committee chair, Senator Maria Cantwell, urged airline CEOs to participate in the oversight hearing after she sent them letters about reports of staff shortages, significant flight cancelations and delays.

Lawmakers are expected to question executives about how the airlines have used pandemic-related federal rescue funds, as well as about personnel issues, among other matters.

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Since March 2020, Congress has awarded major US airlines a collective total of $54 billion in order to keep thousands of workers on the payroll for 18 months. Of that funding, the airlines must together repay $14 billion, and the US Treasury currently has warrants worth about $200 million, according to a Commerce Committee memo. The Treasury has also provided $25 billion in low-cost loans to airlines.

Airlines that have accepted government aid to fund payrolls until September 30 were barred from taking time off or firing employees, and faced caps on executive pay and a ban on share buybacks and dividends.

According to the trade association and lobbying group Airlines for America, without the help, “airlines would undoubtedly have reduced capacity in proportion to the drop in passenger traffic to avoid a sharp drop in load factors.” The association told the committee that “about 50,000 airline employees have opted for early retirement or voluntary separation.”

US air passenger travel plunged 60% last year, to its lowest level since 1984. Airlines say the coronavirus is causing a drag on demand to sub-2019 levels.

“The Omicron variant has created even more uncertainty, and there is no clear consensus on when corporate and international travel will return,” said Delta’s chief of operations John Laughter.

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Social media platform Reddit announced it has confidentially filed a draft registration with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to become a publicly traded stock.

“The initial public offering is expected to occur after the SEC completes its review process, subject to market and other conditions,” Reddit Inc. said in a statement released on Wednesday.

According to the company, neither the number of shares that would be offered nor the price range for the stock have been determined so far.

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Reddit hoped to be valued at more than $15 billion, according to unnamed sources cited by Reuters back in September, shortly after the company was valued at $10 billion in a private fundraising that brought around $700 million. In February, Reddit raised another $250 million.

Reddit was founded in 2005 by Steve Huffman and entrepreneur Alexis Ohanian. It became known for its niche discussion groups, lagging in popularity of other major social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter. In 2006, the platform was purchased by global mass media company Conde Nast. Reddit became an independent subsidiary a decade ago.

The enormous media influence of the platform came to light in January 2021. An army of stay-at-home traders, communicating on Reddit’s WallStreetBets forum, rocked Wall Street by betting against hedge fund short positions on a number of companies.

They bet on shorted stocks like GameStop and AMC. As a result, stocks of the struggling brick-and-mortar video game retailer and theater chain skyrocketed, costing hedge funds billions.

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A senior official at the Bank of England has questioned the value of Bitcoin, which soared to $68,000 last month, citing the currency’s volatility and warning that digital assets could theoretically or practically drop to zero.

According to Deputy Governor Sir Jon Cunliffe, fast-growing digital assets could pose a danger to the established financial system. 

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In an interview with the BBC, Cunliffe said that at present around 0.1% of British households’ wealth was held in cryptocurrencies. And, if their value was to fall sharply, it could have a knock-on effect.

Cryptocurrencies are “growing very fast,” he explained, and are being integrated into the financial system; a significant change in price could affect other markets and established financial players.

“It’s not there yet, but it takes time to design standards and regulations,” Cunliffe added.

Not everyone shares Cunliffe’s grim outlook. After reaching peak price in November, Bitcoin dropped back below $46,000 early this month. However, many experts believe the asset is on its way to passing the $100,000 mark. Bloomberg predicted earlier this year that Bitcoin could rise as high as $400,000 by the end of 2021.

For more stories on economy & finance visit RT’s business section