Property owners are now seeing the real, personal cost of climate change, as some homes are in danger of becoming increasingly expensive to insure — forcing property values to plummet and turning interested buyers away.
Starting this month, new National Flood Insurance Program policieswill no longer include subsidized plans that for decades helped prop up home values in some of the most dangerous flood zones.
Good afternoon, and welcome to our Axios AM Deep Dive on the extreme weather that's making the impact of climate change real to all of us.
This edition is led by Andrew Freedman, co-author of our daily Generate newsletter (subscribe here), and Kia Kokalitcheva, author of the Saturday edition of our Pro Rata newsletter (subscribe here).
For decades, companies have helped Wall Street, large retailers, major industries and other clients anticipate weather fluctuations, and the subsequent price and inventory volatility.
But the new era of extreme weather events has created a market for a different approach — and startups are filling it.
The downfall of Ozy Media and its charismatic founder Carlos Watson will go down as one of the most sudden media collapses of all time.
Why it matters: The story of Ozy became so viral so fast because it highlighted the worst parts of every industry in America: naive investors throwing money at poorly run companies, digital media outlets faking their numbers and over-zealous startup founders toeing the line between dishonesty and delusion.
The Broadway hit “Aladdin” announced Friday it temporarily put Genie back in the lamp and canceled all future shows until Oct. 12 because of breakthrough COVID-19 cases among cast members.
Why it matters: The show had just reopened Tuesday after being dark for 18 months because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Coppertone announced Friday that it is recalling five of its aerosol sunscreens after finding benzene, a cancer-causing chemical, in some batches.
Why it matters: Exposure to benzene can result in an increased risk of cancer, depending on the level and extent of exposure, but the daily exposure levels detected in Coppertone aerosol sunscreens aren't expected to cause "adverse health consequences," according to the announcement.
Bettors have Regé-Jean Page — star of Netflix’s hit “Bridgerton" — pegged to take over as James Bond.
If they're on the money, Page would be the first Black person to play the iconic character after Daniel Craig steps away this year.
The odds for Page are 5-2, higher than other tossed-around names like Tom Hardy or Idris Elba — at least based on wagers with gambling platform William Hill.
“No Time to Die,” Craig’s fifth and final Bond film, has been released in the U.K. (no spoilers please) and opens next Friday in the U.S.
Embattled media startup Ozy Media threw in the towel on Friday afternoon, announcing that it would shut down. This comes less than a week after the New York Times first reported on securities fraud allegations, which was followed by a series of stories that shed a negative light on the company's business and management practices.
Why it matters: Ozy told Axios earlier this year that it had 75 full-time employees, all of whom are now out of a job.
Disney and actress Scarlett Johansson settled a breach of contract lawsuit on Thursday, CNN Business reports, ending a months-long back-and-forth between the Hollywood star and the media giant.
Why it matters: The lawsuit could have had big implications for streaming services in the future. Actors are typically paid a cut of a film’s box office returns, and the shift to streaming has led to more of these types of disputes.
Substack is launching a "Writer in Residence" program that will spotlight one new creator throughout their journey in building a Substack for one month.
Why it matters: The company hopes that the residency program will "enrich the entire Substack community" by providing creators and readers with a person to learn from as they launch a new project from scratch, per Hanne Winarsky, Head of Writer Development at Substack.
Pfizer cannot directly or indirectly pay out-of-pocket costs for Medicare patients to get the company's $225,000-a-year heart drug because doing so would violate federal kickback law, a U.S. district judge ruled Thursday.
Why it matters: The ruling in this closely-watched case means pharmaceutical companies still cannot cover the copays and other costs of their drugs for patients who are enrolled in government insurance programs because it would be viewed as an illegal inducement.
Microsoft's early finance of carbon removal projects as part of its wider climate pledge has revealed hurdles that must be overcome to enable large-scale deployment of the technologies.
Driving the news: Microsoft officials and other experts, in a piece in the journal Nature, describe efforts by Microsoft and the online payments platform Stripe to contract with companies that pull CO2 from the atmosphere.
Good people quit good jobs to join Ozy Media. They believed in its mission, its leadership and its potential for wealth creation. Investors cut big checks in good faith. They were all betrayed.
The big picture: A horde of sources described a pattern of bad behavior, well beyond the failed fraud that was first reported Sunday by the N.Y. Times.
The price of goods and services rose 0.3% in August for a second straight month, slightly faster than the 0.2% expected, according to the core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index released Friday.
Why it matters: The measure, which grew 3.6% year-over-year, is the primary way the Federal Reserve watches for inflation.
Zoom and cloud center software company Five9 called off their mega-merger, after Five9 shareholders rejected what had originally been a $14.7 billion agreement. Regulators had questioned the deal on national security grounds.
Why it matters: Zoom had hoped to use the all-stock deal to accelerate its entry into the contact center software business. It still plans to go after that market, both through partnerships and its own software due out next year.
The market that Bruce Van Saun, CEO of Citizens Financial Group, is most keeping an eye on for potential valuation bubbles these days: residential housing.
The big picture: Rock-bottom interest rates, labor and supply chain pressures affecting homebuilders, and the investor class scooping up homes have all helped drive prices higher, he notes.
Those turbocharged stock gains are coming in handy. More frequently, companies are using their shares as the hot currency to snap up other firms.
Why it matters: There’s been an uptick in the number of stock M&A transactions during this year's deal frenzy, helped by soaring valuations. But cash still looms large — and the growth in stock deals may be fleeting amid market volatility.
Live music in Nashvillesuffered another blow Thursday with news that the Mercy Lounge trio of clubs will be leaving the Cannery Row complex when its lease expires next May. It's the latest independent venue squeezed out by rapid corporatization and skyrocketing real estate costs.
Why it matters: The Mercy Lounge complex, which includes the High Watt and the larger Cannery Ballroom, has operated at the Cannery Row complex for nearly 20 years.
These stages have been a crucial host to up-and-coming Nashville bands plus touring acts ranging from Adele to Chris Stapleton.
The Foo Fighters' touring company, Zenith Touring, sued a division of Live Nation in Nashville on Tuesday over $1.5 million in unpaid guarantees from a canceled corporate event in Denver.
Why it matters: The lawsuit highlights the uncharted territory of putting on concerts during a pandemic. Its outcome could ripple through Music Row as different parts of the industry rev up to resume large-scale touring and performing.
Another Nashville quirk: The lawsuit was filed in a Davidson County Chancery Court because of a provision in the booking contract requiring legal disputes to be settled here.
Tech giants, Facebook foremost, are learning a lesson politicians internalized decades ago: Bad news will always come out eventually, and it only gets worse the longer you sit on it.
Driving the news: Facebook spent Thursday fielding attacks from senators over its internal research into Instagram's negative impact on teen girls.
The 2022 Hyundai Santa Cruz is one of those "neither fish nor fowl" vehicles: It's an SUV crossed with a pickup truck — and I love it.
The big picture: Truck devotees will complain that the 4-foot-bed is too short, or that the Santa Cruz can't haul a giant RV or motorboat. (For the record, it can tow up to 5,000 pounds.)
But for the vast majority of urban dwellers whose big adventure is an outing to the garden center, this is the perfect vehicle.
Details: The Santa Cruz drives like a crossover SUV, which isn't surprising, since it's based on the same basic underpinnings as the Hyundai Tucson.
That means it's refined and easy to park, which non-truck people will appreciate.
Some reviewers have complained that the standard 2.5-liter engine is underpowered, but I drove the turbocharged all-wheel-drive option, which, at 275 horsepower, had plenty of get-up-and-go.
One of my favorite features was the Santa Cruz's lockable, roll-up metal tonneau cover.
At a tailgate, we packed our valuables in the bed and safely locked them away while we went to the game.
The extra storage below the bed (similar to a Honda Ridgeline) was especially handy.
Other goodies: The Santa Cruz Limited also featured a 360-degree camera system, heated and cooled seats, a premium Bose sound system and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Android smartphone users can use a phone app as their digital key.
The optional 10-inch touchscreen is lovely but difficult to use, with no buttons — keeping your eyes off the road for too long.
The Santa Cruz comes with a full suite of standard safety and available assisted driving technologies.
Hyundai's highway-assist technology was a bit overbearing at times, though.
The bottom line: The Santa Cruz starts at about $24,000, which is higher than Ford's new Maverick compact pickup. And at $39,720, the Limited AWD I drove seems downright expensive.
But if it fits the bill for weekend warriors, that's OK.
Why it matters: Tai's comments come as the Biden administration seeks a new trade strategy with Beijing while navigating U.S. companies' calls to lift tariffs.
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