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Crum & Forster Pet Insurance Group™ and Jolly Pets Team Up to Donate Enrichment Toys to Support Animals Receiving Treatment at ASPCA® Recovery Centers

Crum & Forster Pet Insurance Group™ and Jolly Pets Team Up to Donate Enrichment Toys to Support Animals Receiving Treatment at ASPCA® Recovery Centers
PR Newswire
AKRON, Ohio, Sept. 7, 2022

Pet Parent Resources to Help with Dog and Cat Behavior…

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Crum & Forster Pet Insurance Group™ and Jolly Pets Team Up to Donate Enrichment Toys to Support Animals Receiving Treatment at ASPCA® Recovery Centers

PR Newswire

Pet Parent Resources to Help with Dog and Cat Behavioral Topics Now Available Via ASPCA Pet Health Insurance Website

AKRON, Ohio, Sept. 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Crum & Forster Pet Insurance Group™ (C&F Pet), one of the largest North American pet insurance providers, has partnered with Ohio-based company Jolly Pets to donate 900 enrichment toys to three ASPCA® rehabilitation, recovery, and enrichment facilities where they provide care for animals rescued from situations of cruelty and neglect.

Donation of 900 enrichment toys to three ASPCA® rehabilitation, recovery, and enrichment facilities.

"We are elated to support the ASPCA® and the ASPCA® Pet Health Insurance program in their efforts to change the mindset that animals with behavioral issues are 'unadoptable'," said Louisa Casto, Marketing Manager, Jolly Pets. "As a large shelter supporter, we have seen firsthand what a difference Jolly Pets toys make for these dogs. Enrichment activities are so vital to their mental health and rehabilitation, and Jolly Pets values the role we can play in helping prepare shelter dogs for adoptions into new, loving homes."

Jolly Pets provides products for dogs and cats, continually seeking new and innovative ways to develop superior products for pets. The company's vision is not just to make a toy, it's to make a quality toy that will enrich the pet's life. Their Jolly Rescues Donation Program supports causes in the areas of rescues, shelters, police K-9 and military organizations, natural disasters, and other related groups.

In addition to this donation, and to help support pet parents who may be dealing with behavioral issues with their own dog or cat, the ASPCA Pet Health Insurance program has created a multifaceted behavioral awareness campaign via their website and social media channels to provide relevant, real-world instruction and tips. Resources include an educational video series with behavioral expert and trainer Tabitha Kucera of Chirrups and Chatter.

"As people begin going out more with the easing of COVID-19, some pets are starting to experience separation anxiety. This is often misunderstood and can leave pet parents confused and unable to resolve the problem," said Bob Capobianco, Senior Vice President, Crum & Forster Pet Insurance Group. "We want pet parents to understand what their dog or cat may be experiencing, and we're hoping this campaign will raise awareness regarding that topic and assist them with informative resources. In addition, pet parents may not know that pet insurance can help cover eligible behavioral issues as well."

The 900 Jolly Pets toys, which were delivered in mid-August, will provide much-needed support to the animals at the ASPCA Behavioral Rehab Center in Weaverville, N.C., the ASPCA Cruelty Recovery Center in Columbus, Ohio, and CARE (the Canine Annex for Recovery and Enrichment) facility unit in New York City.

"We are thankful to Crum & Forster Pet Insurance Group and Jolly Pets for their generous donation of toys to dogs in the care of our ASPCA rehabilitation and recovery facilities," said Kristen Collins, vice president of ASPCA Rehabilitation Services. "The ASPCA works to care for dogs who have faced cruelty, neglect, and behavioral challenges, and these new toys will provide essential enrichment to dogs in need."

When the ASPCA assists with cruelty cases, the rescued animals are often relocated to recovery centers operated by the ASPCA to receive ongoing care and enrichment, as well as any needed medical and behavioral treatment. These facilities give the animals the time, space, and expertise they need to recover.

For some animals who demonstrate extreme fear and under socialization, the ASPCA provides specialized, science-based behavior modification, increasing the likelihood of adoption. Treatment plans focus on helping dogs, many of whom never experienced life as a pet, become comfortable with unfamiliar people, household objects and sounds, and real-life situations.

For more information, please visit www.aspcapetinsurance.com, www.jollypets.com, or www.aspca.org.

About the ASPCA®

Founded in 1866, the ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) was the first animal welfare organization to be established in North America and today serves as the nation's leading voice for vulnerable and victimized animals. As a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit corporation with more than two million supporters nationwide, the ASPCA is committed to preventing cruelty to dogs, cats, equines, and farm animals throughout the United States. The ASPCA assists animals in need through on-the-ground disaster and cruelty interventions, behavioral rehabilitation, animal placement, legal and legislative advocacy, and the advancement of the sheltering and veterinary community through research, training, and resources. For more information, visit www.ASPCA.org, and follow the ASPCA on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

About Jolly Pets

Founded in 1994 in Streetsboro, Ohio, Jolly Pets manufactures dog toys for all breeds and sizes. Its focus has always been on the happiness and health of your pet. It is the umbrella company for Kitty Kasas and Horsemen's Pride. The success of the original Jolly Ball manufactured for the equine industry under the Horsemen's Pride name prompted the inception of Jolly Pets. Its philanthropic arm, Jolly Rescues, works with shelters all over the country to help promote their adoptable dogs, provide them with supplies, and raise awareness about the importance of adopting shelter dogs. The product line is available in brick-and-mortar stores and online at JollyPets.com and more. Jolly Pets is part of Tenth Avenue Holdings, a privately held, diversified holding company.

About Crum & Forster Pet Insurance Group™

Crum & Forster Pet Insurance Group (C&F Pet) is committed to helping pet parents get access to reliable and affordable pet health insurance plans. With a history dating back to 1997, making it one of the original providers in the U.S., C&F Pet utilizes various go-to-market strategies, including direct-to-consumer, employee benefits, white labels, and other partnerships. Products are underwritten by United States Fire Insurance Company (NAIC #21113. Morristown, NJ), produced and administered by C&F Insurance Agency, Inc. (NPN # 3974227), a Crum & Forster company. More information can be found at www.cfpetinsurance.com.

The ASPCA® is not an insurer and is not engaged in the business of insurance. Through a licensing agreement, the ASPCA receives a royalty fee that is in exchange for use of the ASPCA's marks and is not a charitable contribution. More information about ASPCA Pet Health Insurance can be found at www.aspcapetinsurance.com.

C&F and Crum & Forster are registered trademarks of United States Fire Insurance Company. Crum & Forster Pet Insurance Group™ is a trademark of United States Fire Insurance Company. The Crum & Forster group of companies is rated A (Excellent) by AM Best Company 2020.

Media Contact:
Travis Reynolds, AVP, Media Relations
travis.r@cfinspet.com
(234) 231-1830

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SOURCE Crum & Forster Pet Insurance Group

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There Goes The Fed’s Inflation Target: Goldman Sees Terminal Rate 100bps Higher At 3.5%

There Goes The Fed’s Inflation Target: Goldman Sees Terminal Rate 100bps Higher At 3.5%

Two years ago, we first said that it’s only a matter…

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There Goes The Fed's Inflation Target: Goldman Sees Terminal Rate 100bps Higher At 3.5%

Two years ago, we first said that it's only a matter of time before the Fed admits it is unable to rsolve the so-called "last mile" of inflation and that as a result, the old inflation target of 2% is no longer viable.

Then one year ago, we correctly said that while everyone was paying attention elsewhere, the inflation target had already been hiked to 2.8%... on the way to even more increases.

And while the Fed still pretends it can one day lower inflation to 2% even as it prepares to cut rates as soon as June, moments ago Goldman published a note from its economics team which had to balls to finally call a spade a spade, and concluded that - as party of the Fed's next big debate, i.e., rethinking the Neutral rate - both the neutral and terminal rate, a polite euphemism for the inflation target, are much higher than conventional wisdom believes, and that as a result Goldman is "penciling in a terminal rate of 3.25-3.5% this cycle, 100bp above the peak reached last cycle."

There is more in the full Goldman note, but below we excerpt the key fragments:

We argued last cycle that the long-run neutral rate was not as low as widely thought, perhaps closer to 3-3.5% in nominal terms than to 2-2.5%. We have also argued this cycle that the short-run neutral rate could be higher still because the fiscal deficit is much larger than usual—in fact, estimates of the elasticity of the neutral rate to the deficit suggest that the wider deficit might boost the short-term neutral rate by 1-1.5%. Fed economists have also offered another reason why the short-term neutral rate might be elevated, namely that broad financial conditions have not tightened commensurately with the rise in the funds rate, limiting transmission to the economy.

Over the coming year, Fed officials are likely to debate whether the neutral rate is still as low as they assumed last cycle and as the dot plot implies....

...Translation: raising the neutral rate estimate is also the first step to admitting that the traditional 2% inflation target is higher than previously expected. And once the Fed officially crosses that particular Rubicon, all bets are off.

... Their thinking is likely to be influenced by distant forward market rates, which have risen 1-2pp since the pre-pandemic years to about 4%; by model-based estimates of neutral, whose earlier real-time values have been revised up by roughly 0.5pp on average to about 3.5% nominal and whose latest values are little changed; and by their perception of how well the economy is performing at the current level of the funds rate.

The bank's conclusion:

We expect Fed officials to raise their estimates of neutral over time both by raising their long-run neutral rate dots somewhat and by concluding that short-run neutral is currently higher than long-run neutral. While we are fairly confident that Fed officials will not be comfortable leaving the funds rate above 5% indefinitely once inflation approaches 2% and that they will not go all the way back to 2.5% purely in the name of normalization, we are quite uncertain about where in between they will ultimately land.

Because the economy is not sensitive enough to small changes in the funds rate to make it glaringly obvious when neutral has been reached, the terminal or equilibrium rate where the FOMC decides to leave the funds rate is partly a matter of the true neutral rate and partly a matter of the perceived neutral rate. For now, we are penciling in a terminal rate of 3.25-3.5% this cycle, 100bps above the peak reached last cycle. This reflects both our view that neutral is higher than Fed officials think and our expectation that their thinking will evolve.

Not that this should come as a surprise: as a reminder, with the US now $35.5 trillion in debt and rising by $1 trillion every 100 days, we are fast approaching the Minsky Moment, which means the US has just a handful of options left: losing the reserve currency status, QEing the deficit and every new dollar in debt, or - the only viable alternative - inflating it all away. The only question we had before is when do "serious" economists make the same admission.

They now have.

And while we have discussed the staggering consequences of raising the inflation target by just 1% from 2% to 3% on everything from markets, to economic growth (instead of doubling every 35 years at 2% inflation target, prices would double every 23 years at 3%), and social cohesion, we will soon rerun the analysis again as the implications are profound. For now all you need to know is that with the US about to implicitly hit the overdrive of dollar devaluation, anything that is non-fiat will be much more preferable over fiat alternatives.

Much more in the full Goldman note available to pro subs in the usual place.

Tyler Durden Tue, 03/19/2024 - 15:45

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Household Net Interest Income Falls As Rates Spike

A Bloomberg article from this morning offered an excellent array of charts detailing the shifts in interest payment flows amid rising rates. The historical…

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A Bloomberg article from this morning offered an excellent array of charts detailing the shifts in interest payment flows amid rising rates. The historical anomaly was both surprising and contradicted our priors.

10 Key Points:

  1. Historical Anomaly: This is the first time in the last fifty years that a Federal Reserve rate hike cycle has led to a significant drop in household net interest income.
  2. Interest Expense Increase: Since the Fed began raising rates in March 2022, Americans’ annual interest expenses on debts like mortgages and credit cards have surged by nearly $420 billion.
  3. Interest Income Lag: The increase in interest income during the same period was only about $280 billion, resulting in a net decline in household interest income, a departure from past trends.
  4. Consumer Debt Influence: The recent rate hikes impacted household finances more because of a higher proportion of consumer credit, which adjusts more quickly to rate changes, increasing interest costs.
  5. Banks and Savers: Banks have been slow to pass on higher interest rates to depositors, and the prolonged period of low rates before 2022 may have discouraged savers from actively seeking better returns.
  6. Shift in Wealth: There’s been a shift from interest-bearing assets to stocks, with dividends surpassing interest payments as a source of unearned income during the pandemic.
  7. Distributional Discrepancy: Higher interest rates benefit wealthier individuals who own interest-earning assets, whereas lower-income earners face the brunt of increased debt servicing costs, exacerbating economic inequality.
  8. Job Market Impact: Typically, Fed rate hikes affect households through the job market, as businesses cut costs, potentially leading to layoffs or wage suppression, though this hasn’t occurred yet in the current cycle.
  9. Economic Impact: The distribution of interest income and debt servicing means that rate increases transfer money from those more likely to spend (and thus stimulate the economy) to those less likely to increase consumption, potentially dampening economic activity.
  10. No Immediate Relief: Expectations for the Fed to reduce rates have diminished, indicating that high-interest expenses for households may persist.

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One more airline cracks down on lounge crowding in a way you won’t like

Qantas Airways is increasing the price of accessing its network of lounges by as much as 17%.

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Over the last two years, multiple airlines have dealt with crowding in their lounges. While they are designed as a luxury experience for a small subset of travelers, high numbers of people taking a trip post-pandemic as well as the different ways they are able to gain access through status or certain credit cards made it difficult for some airlines to keep up with keeping foods stocked, common areas clean and having enough staff to serve bar drinks at the rate that customers expect them.

In the fall of 2023, Delta Air Lines  (DAL)  caught serious traveler outcry after announcing that it was cracking down on crowding by raising how much one needs to spend for lounge access and limiting the number of times one can enter those lounges.

Related: Competitors pushed Delta to backtrack on its lounge and loyalty program changes

Some airlines saw the outcry with Delta as their chance to reassure customers that they would not raise their fees while others waited for the storm to pass to quietly implement their own increases.

A photograph captures a Qantas Airways lounge in Sydney, Australia.

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This is how much more you'll have to pay for Qantas lounge access

Australia's flagship carrier Qantas Airways  (QUBSF)  is the latest airline to announce that it would raise the cost accessing the 24 lounges across the country as well as the 600 international lounges available at airports across the world through partner airlines.

More Travel:

Unlike other airlines which grant access primarily after reaching frequent flyer status, Qantas also sells it through a membership — starting from April 18, 2024, prices will rise from $600 Australian dollars ($392 USD)  to $699 AUD ($456 USD) for one year, $1,100 ($718 USD) to $1,299 ($848 USD) for two years and $2,000 AUD ($1,304) to lock in the rate for four years.

Those signing up for lounge access for the first time also currently pay a joining fee of $99 AUD ($65 USD) that will rise to $129 AUD ($85 USD).

The airline also allows customers to purchase their membership with Qantas Points they collect through frequent travel; the membership fees are also being raised by the equivalent amount in points in what adds up to as much as 17% — from 308,000 to 399,900 to lock in access for four years.

Airline says hikes will 'cover cost increases passed on from suppliers'

"This is the first time the Qantas Club membership fees have increased in seven years and will help cover cost increases passed on from a range of suppliers over that time," a Qantas spokesperson confirmed to Simple Flying. "This follows a reduction in the membership fees for several years during the pandemic."

The spokesperson said the gains from the increases will go both towards making up for inflation-related costs and keeping existing lounges looking modern by updating features like furniture and décor.

While the price increases also do not apply for those who earned lounge access through frequent flyer status or change what it takes to earn that status, Qantas is also introducing even steeper increases for those renewing a membership or adding additional features such as spouse and partner memberships.

In some cases, the cost of these features will nearly double from what members are paying now.

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