Which States Are Taxing Forgiven PPP Loans?

The U.S. Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is providing an important lifeline to help keep millions of small businesses open and their workers employed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many borrowers will have these loans forgiven; eligibility for forgiveness requires using the loan for qualifying purposes (like payroll costs, mortgage interest payments, rent, and utilities) within a specified amount of time. Ordinarily, a forgiven loan qualifies as income. However, Congress chose to exempt forgiven PPP loans from federal income taxation. Many states, however, remain on track to tax them by either treating forgiven loans as taxable income, denying the deduction for expenses paid for using forgiven loans, or both. The map and table below show states’ tax treatment of forgiven PPP loans. READ MORE

The tech industry is looking to replace the smartphone — and everybody is waiting to see what Apple comes up with

In 2007, Apple unveiled the iPhone.

Apple didn’t invent the smartphone — companies like Palm and Blackberry had been selling them for years. But the iPhone introduced a totally new way to interact with computers. The always-on internet connectivity, finger-friendly touch screen, and interface based around clickable app icons all seem commonplace now. But at the time, the whole package felt revolutionary. READ MORE

Johns Hopkins Doctor Predicts Covid ‘Will Be Mostly Gone By April’

A Johns Hopkins doctor believes that Covid-19 will be “mostly gone” two months from now.

In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal on Friday, Dr. Marty Makary — a surgeon and a professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health — argues that there are actually many more than the 28 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the U.S., possibly as much as 6.5 times more than that number. Between that group, and the roughly 15 percent of the country which has already received one dose of the vaccine, Makary argues that much of the nation is already protected from the virus. READ MORE

Citi made a $500 million mistake. Here's how that would play out for regular people

Citigroup lost a court battle Tuesday to claw back $504 million it mistakenly wired to Revlon's lenders in August. But don't get your hopes up that you could keep a chunk of change accidentally placed in your bank account.

A federal judge ruled that the wire transfers made by Citi (C), who was acting as Revlon's loan agent, were "final and complete transactions, not subject to revocation." However, in most instances of mistakenly receiving wired transfers, that's not the case. In fact, you would have to pay the money back — or face criminal charges. READ MORE

Theranos founder doubles down on effort to keep CEO lifestyle out of upcoming trial

Attorneys representing embattled Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes have fired back again in an attempt to prevent prosecutors from detailing the one-time billionaire’s “wealth, spending, and lifestyle” as they try to prove a motive for her alleged fraud, court papers show.

The defense team’s late Tuesday filing is the latest back-and-forth over the matter, which was first introduced by Holmes’ attorneys in a November 2020 motion, and argues that the government is hoping to “invite a referendum on startup and corporate culture,” the document states. READ MORE

Sales Competition Isn’t About the Reward, It’s About the Experience

Today, many organizations still believe that money is the only motivation. One would think that a higher compensation would produce better results, but research shows the link between motivation, compensation, and performance is much more complex than most organizations realize. Money is often correlated with the idea of status and power — but often, people are motivated more by the power than the actual money. READ MORE

Economy Will Be 'Supercharged' After Pandemic But There’s One Big Risk, Moody's Says (It’s Not Inflation)

As early indicators point to a strong recovery that will create a “supercharged” economy once the coronavirus crisis slows down, Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi says that the biggest risk to that recovery isn’t the runaway inflation that has many experts sounding alarm bells but a dangerous surge in asset values. READ MORE

Bezos leaves behind a company that's created value but has also triggered a national reckoning

In 1997, the year Amazon (AMZN) became a publicly traded company, CEO Jeff Bezos promised investors they would be in for a journey. Amazon would not chase short-term profits, he warned in a letter to shareholders. It would focus "relentlessly" on customers. It would act with urgency but prioritize long-term investments. And it would run a lean culture that minimized costs and cut waste.

A quarter-century later, Bezos's approach has made Amazon a global behemoth that employs more than a million people and touches almost every aspect of modern life, a fact that's become even more apparent during the pandemic. READ MORE

U.S. Navy Has Patents on Tech It Says Will ‘Engineer the Fabric of Reality’

The U.S. Navy has patents on weird and little understood technology. According to patents filed by the Navy, it is working on a compact fusion reactor that could power cities, an engine that works using “inertial mass reduction,” and a “hybrid aerospace-underwater craft.” Dubbed the “UFO patents, The War Zone has reported that the Navy had to build prototypes of some of the outlandish tech to prove it worked. READ MORE

'Stop f---ing selling!!!' WallStreetBets Redditors go ballistic over GameStop's sinking share price

Reddit favorite GameStop (GME) isn't looking so hot this week and some of the stock's biggest backers are freaking out.

After selling off sharply all week, the stock fell another 42% Thursday.

"Stop f---ing selling GME," is the title of a thread on the WallStreetBets forum, home of the Reddit army that boosted the gaming retailer's stock price in recent weeks. READ MORE

Super Bowl ads aim to comfort and connect

Super Bowl ads each year offer a snapshot of the American psyche. And this year, it's a doozy.

After a year of pandemic fear and isolation, a tumultuous election capped by a riot at the Capitol, and periodic uncertainty as to whether there would even BE a Super Bowl, marketers have to tread carefully. The ideal: promote their brands to a weary audience looking for comfort and escapism without crossing any lines that might trigger viewers. READ MORE

10 Verbal and Nonverbal Buying Signals to Watch Out For in Sales

So, you’ve identified the right moment to reach out to your prospect using critical buying signals, you’ve personalized your outreach, and maybe got a little creative with custom video content, and voila! You’ve successfully connected with your prospect and they’ve agreed to speak with you and see a product demo. 

So, how do you know if they’re actually interested in purchasing? READ MORE

Investors set priorities for 2021 proxy season

Workforce and board diversity are among the top engagement priorities for investors in the 2021 proxy season, according to a report released Thursday by the EY Center for Board Matters.

The organization interviewed governance specialists from more than 60 institutional investors with a collective $38 trillion under management, including asset managers, public funds, labor funds and faith-based investors. READ MORE

Two Google engineers resign over firing of AI ethics researcher

An engineering director and a software developer have quit Alphabet Inc's Google over the dismissal of AI researcher Timnit Gebru, a sign of the ongoing conflicts at the search giant over diversity and ethics.

David Baker, a director focused on user safety, left Google last month after 16 years because Gebru's exit "extinguished my desire to continue as a Googler," he said in a letter seen by Reuters. Baker added, "We cannot say we believe in diversity, and then ignore the conspicuous absence of many voices from within our walls." READ MORE