Connect with us

Finance

Binance exec insists bitcoin can recover despite 20% drop | Future Focus

Published

on

Binance exec insists bitcoin can recover despite 20% drop | Future Focus

On this week’s episode of Yahoo Finance Future Focus, our host Brian McGleenon interviews Vishal Sacheendran, Binance’s Head of Regional Markets, to discuss the current state of the cryptocurrency market. Despite bitcoin being down over 20% from its all-time high of $73,000 reached in May, Sacheendran suggests that several potential bullish catalysts could drive a recovery. Sacheendran expresses confidence that the current downturn in bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency market doesn’t signal a long-term negative trend. He points to several factors that could benefit the digital asset, including the anticipated start of a U.S. Federal Reserve rate-cutting cycle and the upcoming U.S. presidential election, where pro-crypto candidates like Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are making waves. Sacheendran emphasises the increased synchronicity between traditional financial markets and the cryptocurrency market, noting the growing presence of institutional investors and the introduction of Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs. He highlights that market sentiment is optimistic, with the CME FedWatch tool showing a significant likelihood of a rate cut in September, which could further support a rebound in the cryptocurrency market.

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Finance

Armata Pharmaceuticals Announces Appointment of Life Sciences Accounting and Finance Veteran David House as SVP of Finance and Principal Financial Officer

Published

on

Armata Pharmaceuticals Announces Appointment of Life Sciences Accounting and Finance Veteran David House as SVP of Finance and Principal Financial Officer

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Armata Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE American: ARMP) (“Armata” or the “Company“), a biotechnology company focused on the development of high-purity, pathogen-specific bacteriophage therapeutics for antibiotic-resistant and difficult-to-treat bacterial infections, today announced the appointment of life sciences accounting and finance veteran David House as Senior Vice President, Finance, effective August 16th. Armata’s Corporate Controller, Richard Rychlik, will retain the position of Controller.

“We are delighted to welcome David to the Armata team,” stated Dr. Deborah Birx, Chief Executive Officer of Armata. “David’s extensive experience and track record of serving in senior accounting and finance roles within both clinical and commercial stage life sciences companies will serve us well as we continue to advance our two distinct programs – AP-PA02 and AP-SA02 – and prepare to initiate pivotal studies next year. This is an exciting time at Armata, and the addition of David to our senior team helps ensure that we are best positioned to achieve long-term success as we work to introduce an exciting new class of anti-infectives to treat serious drug-resistant bacterial infections.”  

Before joining Armata, Mr. House served as Corporate Controller and Vice President of Accounting at ZO Skin Health, Inc., a multi-channel physician-dispensed skincare company, from October 2018 to May 2024. At ZO Skin Health, he led global accounting operations, managed financial reporting, and played a crucial role in the company’s acquisition by Blackstone. He also established international subsidiaries and oversaw financial integration for mergers and acquisitions. Mr. House’s experience includes similar financial leadership roles at Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, and Avid Bioservices, Inc. (CDMO), a contract development and manufacturing organization where he served as Controller and was responsible for implementing ASC 606, managing technical accounting, and conducting Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC“) reporting.

Mr. House’s career also includes roles at Viant, Inc. (DSP), Sourcing Solutions, LLC, and Apria Healthcare (APR), where he held various accounting and financial management positions. In the early stages of his career, Mr. House worked as a Senior Auditor at Windes, a public accounting firm. There, he managed comprehensive audits for public, private, and not-for-profit entities and contributed to SEC filings and internal control evaluations. Mr. House holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration with an Accounting concentration from California State University, Fullerton. He obtained his California Certified Public Accountant license, which is currently inactive.

About Armata Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Advertisement

Armata is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of pathogen-specific bacteriophage therapeutics for the treatment of antibiotic-resistant and difficult-to-treat bacterial infections using its proprietary bacteriophage-based technology. Armata is developing and advancing a broad pipeline of natural and synthetic phage candidates, including clinical candidates for Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and other pathogens. Armata is committed to advancing phage therapy with drug development expertise that spans bench to clinic including in-house phage specific cGMP manufacturing.

Forward Looking Statements

This communication contains “forward-looking” statements as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements relate to future events, results or to Armata’s future financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause Armata’s actual results, performance or events to be materially different from any future results, performance or events expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify these statements by terms such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “project,” “should,” “will,” “would” or the negative of those terms, and similar expressions. These forward-looking statements reflect management’s beliefs and views with respect to future events and are based on estimates and assumptions as of the date of this communication and are subject to risks and uncertainties including risks related to Armata’s development of bacteriophage-based therapies; ability to staff and maintain its production facilities under fully compliant current Good Manufacturing Practices; ability to meet anticipated milestones in the development and testing of the relevant product; ability to be a leader in the development of phage-based therapeutics; ability to achieve its vision, including improvements through engineering and success of clinical trials; ability to successfully complete preclinical and clinical development of, and obtain regulatory approval of its product candidates and commercialize any approved products on its expected timeframes or at all; and Armata’s estimates regarding anticipated operating losses, capital requirements and needs for additional funds. Additional risks and uncertainties relating to Armata and its business can be found under the caption “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in Armata’s filings and reports with the SEC, including in Armata’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the SEC on March 21, 2024, and in its subsequent filings with the SEC.

Armata expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in Armata’s expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based.

Media Contacts:

Advertisement

At Armata:
Pierre Kyme
Armata Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
[email protected]
310-665-2928 x234

Investor Relations:
Joyce Allaire
LifeSci Advisors, LLC
[email protected]
212-915-2569

SOURCE Armata Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Continue Reading

Finance

Dare County receives award for excellence in financial reporting – The Coastland Times

Published

on

Dare County receives award for excellence in financial reporting – The Coastland Times

Dare County receives award for excellence in financial reporting

Published 12:30 pm Thursday, August 15, 2024

Dare County has announced that, for the 33rd consecutive year, the Dare County Finance Department has been awarded the prestigious Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting by the Government Finance Officers Association. The honor was received in recognition of the Finance Department’s annual comprehensive financial report that was developed for the fiscal year that ended on Friday, June 30, 2023.

Advertisement

The award – which is the highest form of recognition in governmental accounting and financial reporting – was formally presented to Dare County finance director David Clawson and assistant finance director Sally DeFosse by Dare County Board of Commissioners Chairman Bob Woodard during the board’s meeting that was held Monday, August 5, 2024.

Established in 1945 by the Government Finance Officers Association, the Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting program is designed to encourage state and local governments to go above and beyond the minimum requirements of accounting principles and to prepare a financial report that provides full disclosure and transparency to the members of the community that particular government serves.

Get the latest headlines sent to you

According to the Government Finance Officers Association, the purpose of the program is not to assess the financial health or status of participating state and local governments, but rather to ensure that citizens have all of the information needed to perform such an assessment themselves.

In order for an annual comprehensive financial report to be eligible for this award, a wide array of detailed financial information must be compiled and then condensed into a single, comprehensive document that can easily be accessed and understood by all citizens within the community, regardless of how familiar or experienced they may be with navigating the intricacies of complex financial information.

“Creating a report that fills all of the criteria that this prestigious award requires is incredible,” said Woodard. “It’s time-consuming, it’s challenging, and it makes it a massive achievement for local governments to attain. So the fact that Dare County has received this Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting consistently for 33 consecutive years speaks volumes about the exceptional talent that we have within our entire Finance Department – particularly Dave Clawson and Sally DeFosse. They’ve been instrumental in developing this annual report, which has been recognized with this prestigious award for decades.”

Advertisement

As he continued his presentation, Woodard highlighted the fact that Dare County has received the award every single year since Clawson starting serving in his role as Dare County finance director and offered a considerable amount of praise for his ongoing efforts over the years, as well as the incredibly talented team of dedicated staff members that comprise the Dare County Finance Department.

“Dave’s outstanding leadership, along with the remarkable team he has built within our Finance Department, deserves special recognition – and of course Sally is also a key player in our Finance Department’s success,” said Woodard. “Her many responsibilities include developing Dare County’s annual budget and producing the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. She plays an integral role in the county receiving this honor, which, as I previously mentioned, is the highest form of recognition for government accounting and financial reporting.”

Woodard continued, “In addition to Dave and Sally, I’d be remiss if I didn’t also recognize the Dare County Finance Department as a whole because I know that this accomplishment is a team effort. So many dedicated employees in the Finance Department have made significant contributions in their work every day, ultimately resulting in the county receiving this award again in 2024.”

To view Dare County’s annual comprehensive financial report for the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2023, go to: darenc.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/12975/638370221466630000.

READ ABOUT MORE NEWS HERE.

Advertisement

SUBSCRIBE TO THE COASTLAND TIMES TODAY!

Continue Reading

Finance

Trump’s Social Security tax break could make two fragile safety nets even weaker

Published

on

Trump’s Social Security tax break could make two fragile safety nets even weaker

Donald Trump’s call to exempt Social Security benefits from income taxes may offer an alluring political sound bite.

But the move would undermine not just one critical safety net for seniors, but two.

Trump’s plan is expected to exhaust the reserve funds for both Social Security and Medicare faster than anticipated, according to tax policy experts.

That would saddle seniors with an even bigger cut in Social Security benefits than currently estimated and throw a healthcare program that covers 67 million into chaos. Taxes on Social Security payouts help fund Medicare’s hospital coverage.

The plan would also add $1.6 trillion over 10 years to the country’s budget deficit with few economic gains, these experts said.

Advertisement

“It’s not setting the entitlements up for success and it’s not putting our budget in a good position,” Garrett Watson, a senior policy analyst and modeling manager at the nonpartisan Tax Foundation, told Yahoo Finance.

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Asheville, N.C., Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Asheville, N.C., Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

The proposal has both the Tax Foundation and the Center for American Progress, which often are on opposite sides of tax policy, warning of the potential consequences.

“If smart analysts on the left and smart analysts on the right of the tax policy don’t think it’s a good idea, that certainly tells you something,” Brendan Duke, senior director for economic policy at the left-leaning Center for American Progress Action Fund, told Yahoo Finance.

“It’s probably not a good idea.”

Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, first floated the idea late last month at a rally in Harrisburg, Pa., vowing that “seniors should not pay taxes on Social Security and they won’t,” without offering further details.

Advertisement

On Wednesday, Trump stood by a banner that read “No tax on Social Security” at a campaign rally in Asheville, N.C., calling the tax a “cruel double taxation.”

As it stands now, about 40% of seniors must pay federal income taxes on their Social Security benefits. The tax is progressive, meaning those with the lowest incomes aren’t taxed, while wealthier seniors with substantial income outside of their benefits are.

Exempting benefits from income taxes would provide an effective 44% benefit increase for seniors with the highest incomes, a 6% increase for middle-income ones, and no increase for most in the bottom half, according to Marc Goldwein, a senior policy director for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

That’s before Social Security runs into trouble.

The tax seniors pay on their Social Security benefits also goes directly into funding the trust fund that supports the social program. Eliminating those taxes accelerates when the reserves for Social Security run out.

Advertisement

(Credit: Social Security Administration)(Credit: Social Security Administration)

(Credit: Social Security Administration)

Currently, Social Security’s reserves are expected to be exhausted by 2035, at which point benefits will get cut by 21%. If Trump’s proposal is enacted, those reserves are estimated to run dry by 2033 and benefits would be slashed by 25%.

Even with the benefits cut, wealthier seniors come out slightly ahead with the tax break, pocketing a 9% increase, per Goldwein.

That’s not the case for lower-earning Social Security beneficiaries who would see their benefits reduced by a quarter with no tax break.

“The bottom half are losers,” Watson said.

Advertisement

Overall, the plan would water down what is considered the biggest anti-poverty program in the United States.

“There is no world where this does not increase the elderly poverty rate,” Duke said.

Trump’s plan would also empty out the reserves that Medicare uses for hospital coverage — known as Medicare Part A — sooner than anticipated.

Right now, that fund is expected to run out in 2036. That moves up to 2030 under Trump’s plan, according to Watson.

The Medicare trustees have said the fund’s insolvency could first cause delays in payments to health plans and providers of hospital services. Additionally, seniors’ “access to health care services could rapidly be curtailed.”

Advertisement

“Nobody actually knows what happens when Medicare runs out of money,” Duke said. “And that’s actually pretty scary.”

FILE - A shadow is seen across a Medicare card on June 10, 2024, in Portland, Ore. Majorities of Americans favor forgiving all or some of an individual's medical debt if the person is facing hardships, according to a new poll from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)FILE - A shadow is seen across a Medicare card on June 10, 2024, in Portland, Ore. Majorities of Americans favor forgiving all or some of an individual's medical debt if the person is facing hardships, according to a new poll from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane)

A shadow is seen across a Medicare card on June 10, 2024, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Jenny Kane) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

The implications for the federal deficit are also sizable.

Not taxing seniors’ benefits means $1.6 trillion in total revenue would not go to the trust funds that support Social Security and Medicare from 2024 to 2033, according to calculations using data from the most recent Social Security and Medicare trustees reports.

“This would mechanically add to the budget deficit and go in the wrong direction in solving that problem,” Watson added.

There would be very little economic return from the proposal, too, Watson found.

Advertisement

The country’s long-run gross domestic product would increase by 0.1%, while the economy would add around 64,000 full-time jobs. Wages would tick up by less than 0.05%.

“The intent [of the proposal] is trying to protect seniors who are operating on fixed incomes from inflation and provide more relief by not taxing it,” Watson said. “But if it’s done without offsets, it weakens the very entitlements they’re trying to protect.”

Janna Herron is a Senior Columnist at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X @JannaHerron.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending