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There is a 'self-reinforcing feedback loop' in the mortgage market and the Bank of England is worried about it

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Mark Carney

  • The Bank of England is concerned that the UK mortgage market cannot withstand an "adverse shock."
  • It has created a diagram of a "self-reinforcing feedback loop" that could bring down the UK economy.
  • The Bank recommends a technical tightening of borrowing requirements for new mortgages.
  • For now, this is merely a scenario, not the Bank's expectation.

LONDON — The Bank of England's most recent Financial Stability Report contains an extended section on the frothy UK mortgage market. British property values have been so high recently that many wonder whether a new house-price bubble is happening.

The bank is worried too. It has recommended a tightening of lending rules to help fend this off. And the mere fact that that the BoE is discussing it at length is interesting in itself.

The scariest bit is this diagram of what a potential spiral of doom would look like in the event of an "adverse shock" to the economy. The bank doesn't say what such an adverse shock might be, but the BoE's report contains a separate chapter on financial stability during Brexit in 2019.

Bank of EnglandThe UK economy is very sensitive to a rise in interest rates. "80% of new mortgage lending in 2016 was either on a fixed rate for a period of less than five years or on a floating rate," the bank says. And "mortgages are the largest loan exposure for UK lenders." The bank will next make a rate decision in August.

It's not just that mortgages are at risk of being defaulted upon in a downturn; it's that buyers might create contagion by defaulting on other consumer debt payments — cars, credit cars — in hopeless attempts to keep houses they either cannot afford or are "under water" when the property market sinks.

Scroll down for a quick look through the bank's visual data on what it describes as a "self-reinforcing feedback loop" that, if triggered, would cause another 2008-style crisis in the UK.

The context: British people are still carrying high levels of household debt. It's not as bad as it was before the 2008 crisis, but it is heading back up there.



All that mortgage debt is being driven by rising house prices. Rising prices mean buyers' mortgages need to be much bigger, and a greater multiple of their incomes, than at any time in the last 40 years (except for 2008).

"The average house price for first-time buyers increased from around £50,000 in 1997 to over £200,000 in 2016. Over the same period, the size of a typical deposit for a first-time buyer increased from less than £5,000 to over £30,000," the BoE says.



Prices — and therefore mortgages — will not decline soon because the UK has halved the number of houses it builds annually. With supply constricted, prices rise, and mortgage debt follows.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

The very first iPhone went on sale 10 years ago today — here's how Steve Jobs announced it (AAPL)

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Steve Jobs

10 years ago today, June 29, 2007, was a milestone in the history of computing: The launch date of the first iPhone.

It wasn't the first "smartphone," or the first phone with a camera. It wasn't the first mobile device to have a touchscreen, or to let users install apps. (In fact, the app store didn't even launch until 2008, a year after the first iPhone was released!)

But it tied numerous disparate features together in a cohesive, well-designed whole — kickstarting a mobile revolution that has transformed the modern world.

Today's app economy is bigger than Hollywood, and WhatsApp, Snapchat, Uber, Tinder, and more are essential parts of modern culture, collectively used by hundreds of millions of people around the globe every day. But seven years ago, none of that existed, and the iPhone's success was by no means guaranteed.

It was announced by CEO Steve Jobs on-stage at the company's Macworld conference on January 9, 2007. The now-iconic exec was not humble about its possibilities — calling it a "revolutionary device ... that changes everything."

Five months later, as customers queued for days, it hit shop shelves — first in the US, then elsewhere in the world.

And the rest is history.

Keep reading for the story behind the launch, and to watch the full keynote...

Jobs took to the stage in his trademark black turtleneck sweater for the now-legendary presentation in January.



"Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything," the executive said. "Apple’s been very fortunate. It’s been able to introduce a few of these into the world."



"Well, today, we’re introducing three revolutionary products of this class. The first one: is a widescreen iPod with touch controls. The second: is a revolutionary mobile phone. And the third is a breakthrough Internet communications device"



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

It's been 10 years since the iPhone went on sale — look how terrible the first one seems today (AAPL)

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Steve Jobs iphone

10 years ago, the very first iPhone went on sale in the US.

The device was a revelation.

Before the iPhone came out, smartphones were clunky devices, half keyboard and half screen.

Full websites didn't run on mobile phones, so companies were forced to build weak, mobile versions of their sites.

The iPhone changed all that.

And yet, the typical smartphone experiences we all enjoy today didn't happen overnight. It took years of Apple adding feature upon feature. By today's standards, the original iPhone was a primitive brick.

As a reminder of how far the iPhone has come, we've put together this slideshow.

Jay Yarow contributed to an earlier version of this story.

Yes, the original iPhone was a revelation. Here's what the competition looked like at the time:



That said, it's fun to look back and see how many now-common features were missing from the original iPhone.



It ran on "EDGE," or 2G wireless, which is painfully slow. It's basically as slow as home internet was before high-speed broadband.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

BANK OF AMERICA: Here are the 11 most 'overowned expensive growth stocks'

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Jeff Bezos Sad

Bank of America Merril Lynch released a list of what its equity and quant strategy analysts view to be the most "overowned expensive growth stocks."

The list is a part of a new report on equity strategies.

According to BAML, the "overowned" list includes companies that meet the following criteria:

"1) high projected long-term growth (top decile of the S&P 500 by consensus LTG),

2) expensive on valuation (top quintile of S&P 500 based on average rank of forward P/E, EV/Sales and P/B),

3) overweight by large cap active funds (as of our latest holdings data), and

4) negative 3-month consensus 2017 EPS revisions."

The list ranges from tech giants like Alphabet and Facebook to game developer Activision. Check out the list of 11 stocks below:

Starbucks

Ticker:SBUX

Long Term Growth: 15.3

Price-To-Book Ratio: 15.8

Price-To-Earnings Ratio: 25.6

Enterprise-Value-To-Sales: 4.3

3 Month EPS Revision: -1%

Ownership (Relative Weight in Fund Holdings): 1.3

Source: FactSet, BofA Merrill Lynch US Equity & US Quant Strategy



Amazon.com

Ticker:AMZN

Long Term Growth: 27.4

Price-To-Book Ratio: 22.5

Price-To-Earnings Ratio: 110.8

Enterprise-Value-To-Sales: 3.3

3 Month EPS Revision: -6%

Ownership (Relative Weight in Fund Holdings): 1.9

Source: FactSet, BofA Merrill Lynch US Equity & US Quant Strategy



Netflix

Ticker:NFLX

Long Term Growth: 60.2

Price-To-Book Ratio: 23.0

Price-To-Earnings Ratio: 104.4

Enterprise-Value-To-Sales: 7.6

3 Month EPS Revision: -3%

Ownership (Relative Weight in Fund Holdings): 2.0

Source: FactSet, BofA Merrill Lynch US Equity & US Quant Strategy



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

9 splurges that are totally worth the money

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woman with money wallet

The INSIDER Summary: 

  • Splurging is totally fine, as long as it's done responsibly.
  • Clothing such as quality shoes and jeans are always worth the investment.
  • Never feel guilty about spending a little more on good skincare and well-made luggage.


There’s nothing wrong with splurging every now and then… how else would we celebrate holidays like National Ice Cream Day and National Bey Day? As adults, it’s practically our obligation to use our hard-earned cash to make a few purchases that would otherwise feel unreasonable.

Even financial pros agree that there’s nothing inherently wrong with splurging, as long as it’s done responsibly. “Controlled splurging is a good thing!” says Dani Pascarella, certified financial planner and founder of millennial wealth coaching firm Invibed. “You work hard, and you deserve to spend a portion of your paycheck on whatever you want without feeling guilty about it.”

So, when is it most appropriate to splurge? Lynne Somerman — who describes herself as “a money and budget coach for fiery, focused women” (sign us up!) — and Coupon Sherpasavings expert Kendal Perez note these nine specific splurge-worthy essentials.

 

1. Good shoes

If you’ve been eying a pair of high-quality pumps that are just perfect for the office, or a gorgeous heeled sandal that you just know you’ll wear to every wedding from now until 2030, the price tag may be well worth it. Good shoes are made to last, and investing in them may actually save you money in the long run, since you won’t need to continuously buy replacement pairs.



2. Athletic shoes

Footwear made to help you get — and stay — active is a category unto itself. “A quality pair of athletic shoes is pricey, but is definitely worth the splurge, since they can protect you from both discomfort and the potential for injury,” Perez says. Avoid those aches and pains and stay motivated in your fitness goals by purchasing a fresh pair of sneaks!



3. Date night

Don’t cheap out on QT with your S.O. “Keeping your relationship healthy will keep your finances healthy,” Somerman says. And when’s the most important time to splurge on a fun night out? After you’ve had a tough, totally un-romantic budget talk with bae. “I’m a big advocate of holding monthly budget check-ins, accompanied by drinks and/or ice cream,” Somerman adds. As long as there’s ice cream involved, we can definitely get behind that.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

Presenting this year's ESPN Body Issue covers

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Michelle Waterson

ESPN the Magazine has unveiled the covers for their annual "Body Issue." 

The five different covers will feature Chicago Cubs second baseman Javier Baez, MMA fighter Michelle Waterson, Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliot, tennis player Caroline Wozniacki, and Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas.

The cover for Baez is the first in which the photo was shot using an iPhone, with photographer Dylan Coulter using an iPhone 7 Plus.

In all, 23 athletes will appear in this year's issue, including Julian Edelman of the New England Patriots, New Zealand All Blacks center Malakai Fekitoa, Joe Thornton of the San Jose Sharks, and six members of the U.S. women's national hockey team, including twins Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson and Monique Lamoureux-Morando. In addition, retired Marine Corps Sgt. Kirstie Ennis will be featured, the first veteran to appear in the issue.

SEE ALSO: Here are the new Adidas uniforms for all 31 NHL teams

Chicago Cubs second baseman Javier Baez (the first Body issue cover shot with an iPhone)



Tennis player Caroline Wozniacki



Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

The 5 best apps to help you manage your money

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texting phone anonymous millennial

Every time a paycheck clears your bank account, you may feel pretty powerful. But if you're not paying close attention to your spending, that money could be gone just as quickly as it hit your account.

As dull as it may seem, creating a budget is crucial. In fact, ignoring your cash flow and spending patterns are among the dumbest things you could do with your money.

But budgets don't have to be rigid. Believe it or not, once you establish the habit of tracking your money, the effort can be minimal.

Below, Business Insider rounded up five apps that make it surprisingly easy to keep tabs on your money.

SEE ALSO: A 27-year-old with $181,000 in the bank explains the simple calculation that keeps him from overspending

DON'T MISS: A financial expert says too many people have a terrible money habit — and you can fix it in a month

Mint

Why it's good: Mint, the popular budgeting app from Intuit, is an all-in-one resource for managing your money. Sync your bank accounts, credit cards, and monthly bills to one account and get a snapshot of your net worth at any time. It also keeps track of your investment portfolio and flags unnecessary fees.

The app categorizes your spending into several categories and calculates your average monthly spending for each, which becomes your budget. If you're spending too much already, you'll want to manually reduce the limits. The charts and graphs make it easy to see where you stand at any given time. Plus, Mint sends notifications if you go over your budget or if you have bills coming up. 

Best feature: You can check your credit score for free inside the app, and get an easy-to-understand explainer on credit.

Cost:Free



Level Money

Why it's good: Capital One's Level Money does the work for you.

After linking your bank accounts, credit cards, income, and how much you want to save, the app will crunch the numbers and give you a "spendable" amount — how much money you can afford to spend each day, in whichever way you decide.

Level Money breaks the numbers down into smaller amounts, rather than taking a monthly approach to budgeting.

Best feature: Easily compare your month over month spending and set up custom "trackers" to keep an eye on specific types of purchases over time, like how much goes toward Uber or Lyft rides, for instance.

Cost: Free



Penny

Why it's good: Penny, an AI chatbot, can text with you about your finances. After linking all the appropriate accounts, she can answer any money question you ask. Penny will also give you information you didn't know you needed, from how much you spent today to what bills are coming up and what subscriptions are raising their rates.

For certain responses, she'll include simple charts, graphs and even the occasional gif. You can only respond with pre-populated messages — like, "Breakdown for category" or "Thanks, Penny!" — so the bot will understand and be able to answer quickly, which keeps the interface as simple as possible.

Best feature: There's minimal clutter since it's just a long text thread, and you only see what you ask for.

Cost:Free, but there's a premium membership available called Penny+ that allows you to edit transaction names, create new spending categories, refresh balances at any time, and set custom bill reminders.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

9 ways to tell if someone is lying to you

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young couple love

Catching someone in a lie is a sticky situation. But what if you can't tell if they're lying or not? 

If you suspect someone's being untruthful, there are a few things you can do to try and sniff out their unsavory behavior — even without a lie detector test. 

Pick up on their posture.

Someone who is lying will often show it with their body language. Oftentimes, they will shrink in on themselves, slouching and slumping to subconsciously protect their body while they're deceiving you. 

"As a rule, the more someone allows their body to be open the more likely it is that they are being honest. That is because when your body is open you are more physically vulnerable," psychologist John Paul Garrison told INSIDER. "If you observe someone change their body language to close of their body or do behaviors to calm themselves (e.g., touching their face, rubbing their forehead) then it is possible they are lying."



Look them in the eye.

We've all heard the phrase "look me in the eyes" in reference to when someone is lying. But it turns out there is actually a lot of truth to that: Lack of eye contact is one of the first non-verbal signs that someone is being deceitful. 

Eye contact is something personal and intimate. If someone is lying, they often want to disengage with you and de-personalize the situation. 



Notice the rate of their movement.

Lying people typically want to trick the questioner into thinking they're clamer than they are, so their movements will reflect that. 

Oftentimes they will keep their hands at their sides, sit extremely still, speak slowly, and keep their facial movements to a minimum. Because they may be trying to fake an aura of calm, these behaviors can actually be a huge tell that they're lying.

Be warned: This kind of poker-face lying is indicative of a skilled liar, so it can be hard to pick up on.

 



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

The rise and fall of Trump's relationship with Mika Brezinski, the 'Morning Joe' co-host he just attacked on Twitter

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Mika Brzezinski

President Donald Trump made news on Thursday morning when he viciously attacked MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski on Twitter, calling her "low I.Q. Crazy Mika" and said she was "bleeding badly from a face-lift."

Brzezinski shot back at the president on Twitter, posting a photo of a box of Cheerios that showed a child reaching for the cereal with the words "Made For Little Hands" printed across it. 

Trump has long taken issue with accusations that his hands are small. Brzezinski called the president's hands "teensy" during her show, "Morning Joe," on Thursday morning. 

But Brzezinski and her co-host and fiance Joe Scarborough have not always had a contentious relationship with Trump. During the early stages of his candidacy, the hosts invited Trump on their show regularly, boosting his campaign.

Here's a look back at the president's relationship with the co-hosts > 

Brzezinski and Scarborough invited Trump on their MSNBC show, "Morning Joe," many times in the early months of the 2016 presidential campaign, acting as one of Trump's greatest media promoters. Trump thanked the two in February 2016 for being "believers" in his campaign.



Scarborough, a former Republican congressman, had a particularly close relationship with Trump, which reportedly unsettled MSNBC staff, who found the chumminess between the candidate and both hosts "over the top" and "unseemly."

Source: CNN



As Trump's campaign gathered momentum, the "Morning Joe" hosts became increasingly critical of his policies and rhetoric.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

The Tesla Model 3 and the Chevy Bolt are completely different approaches to the car of the future (GM, TSLA)

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Chevrolet Bolt 6

The Tesla Model 3 and the Chevy Bolt are both long-range, all-electric cars for the people — each is about $35,000 to $37,000 before tax credits — but they embody very different design philosophies.

The Model 3, expected to launch lin July, is the handiwork of Tesla's chief designer, Franz von Holzhausen. When it was unveiled in March 2016, it set a slightly new direction for the carmaker. The front fascia, for example, lacked any conventional automotive cues, such as a grille — an unnecessary element, of course, because Teslas don't need to inhale air to burn gasoline.

The Tesla Model S and Model X would adopt this new language. In any case, the Model 3 continued Tesla's tradition of making its cars look sleek, fast, and sexy. The Model 3 might be for the mass market, but it evokes the luxury EVs that Tesla is selling.

Tesla Model 3

The Bolt is something else altogether: an electric car that aims for practicality over sex appeal, while still serving up some tasty performance. (You can read our review here.) Designer Stuart Norris and the South Korea-based studio made sure the Bolt was roomy inside and provided good cargo capacity.

The Bolt looks much more like an everyday five-door hatchback. In this sense, it's a throwback to some earlier ideas about alternative-fuel vehicles. Think of the Toyota Prius when it arrived — nobody would have called it beautiful. Its appearance advertised its virtue.

It's sexy versus sensible, then, when you put the Bolt and the Model 3 side by side. (By the way, we're talking about the preproduction version of the Model 3. The real deal won't enter our field of vision for a few more months.)

Here's an annotated examination of both vehicles.

SEE ALSO: GM has created an all-electric masterpiece with the Chevy Bolt





See the rest of the story at Business Insider

14 things you should never put in your refrigerator

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insider kitchen ad banner

food in fridge

Your refrigerator is meant to keep food fresh. But put the wrong thing in there, and it can spell demise.

For example, root vegetables like potatoes and onions actually rot faster. And if you're worried about fitting your watermelon in your fridge, just keep it out instead. They only need to be kept in there once they're cut.

There's an art and science to organizing your refrigerator.

Here are 14 things to keep out of the icebox.

Melons

Whole melons like watermelons, honeydews, and cantaloupes retain their flavor best at room temperature. Storing them at normal temperatures may also even help them keep their nutrients intact. Plus, they take up a lot of space in the fridge.

Only once they're cut should you refrigerate them, and only for a few days at most.



Bananas

They keep their nutrients and flavor better at room temperature. Plus, cold temperatures will only slow them from ripening and the moisture would only help them rot.



Potatoes

It's fine to store potatoes in a cool place — too much heat and they'll rot — but a refrigerator is too cool. It'll break down the starches and make the texture gritty, and possibly turn the flesh brown or black.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

The all-electric Chevy Bolt is an automotive masterpiece (GM)

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Chevrolet Bolt 2

You can easily argue that the Chevy Bolt is the most important car General Motors has ever rolled out. What we have here is a $37,495 all-electric vehicle with a range of nearly 240 miles on a single battery charge. GM took it from intro to the assembly line in less than two years, in the process beating the avidly anticipated Tesla Model 3 to market by at least a year. 

So what makes the Bolt more important than, say, the Cadillac XT5 crossover SUV or a new Corvette? 

The Bolt is a completely different kind of "halo" car. Like the Toyota Prius gas-electric hybrid 15 years ago — based initially on the homely Toyota Echo compact sedan — the Bolt is anti-sexy. Teslas, of course, drip sex appeal.

We all know, however, that mass-market car buyers don't buy sexy. They bought the Prius because it promised low emissions and great fuel economy. And GM is betting that they'll buy the Bolt because it represents more of an idea about mobility than a specific experience of an automobile. The Bolt is accessible, affordable, versatile, high-tech, and is adaptable to ride-sharing and ride-hailing. It's also fun, but not crazy-knock-your-socks-off fun. 

A platform, not business as usual

In short, the Bolt is a platform rather than a commitment to a reliable automotive premise. For that, GM has Corvettes and Camaros — cars that do their thing and do it well, but that aren't flexible. 

The Bolt was designed and engineered to give GM options. They'll sell some, they'll lease some, but they'll also plug the Bolt into GM's Maven mobility division and into its partnership with Lyft for ride-hailing. They'll build in self-driving technologies developed both in-house and technologies acquired through the company's purchase of Silicon Valley startup Cruise Automation.

For a decade, Tesla has given us the car of the future: a sexy, high-performance, networked, and lately semi-self-driving luxury electric car. Last year, Chevy brought us the new car of the future: relatively inexpensive, with decent performance, also networked, and most importantly, plugged into multiple business models. Oh, and it's manufactured at massive industrial scale in the USA.

The Bolt has been on sale in California and Oregon since last year and should appear in the Northeast in a few months. Thus far, sales have been limited, about 1,000 a month. We'll see if that number improves when the car is more widely available. (If you find yourself at the New York Auto Show over the next few weeks, you can check out the Bolt live and in person at the Chevy booth.)

We were lucky enough to get our hands on a well-optioned 2017 Bolt Premier, tipping the cost scales at $43,015 (Chevy is offering only two trim levels of the car, the LT being the base version). We'd driven pre-production versions of the vehicle, but this was our first crack at sampling its talents in the wilds of the New York-New Jersey area.

Here's how it went:

Photos by Hollis Johnson.

SEE ALSO: The Chevy Bolt still doesn't compare to Tesla's Model 3

The base Bolt is $37,495, which means that a $7,500 federal tax credit drops the price to just under $30,000. Our tester was the Premier trim, which starts at $40,905. Once some options were added, we were looking at about $43,000.



Our Bolt was "Summit White" and sported the familiar Chevy bow-tie badge.



The Bolt was envisioned by the carmaker's Korean studio, a lab for the company's small-car platforms. Because it was engineered around its large, 60 kWh LG battery pack — which provides actual structural integrity to the car — the Bolt is distinctive within GM's global lineup. That said, it does have that compact-crossover-hatchback look.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

9 people who were convinced the iPhone would be a major flop (AAPL)

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first iphone

Today is the 10th anniversary of the iPhone.

Obviously, it's a major hit — it basically mints money for Apple, which is now the most valuable company in the world.

But when it first came out, there were a lot of people who didn't think it was all that great. In fact, some people thought it was going to be an outright flop. 

Here are some of those doubters and skeptics: 

SEE ALSO: It's been 10 years since the iPhone went on sale — look how terrible the first one seems today

Steve Ballmer, then Microsoft's CEO: "There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance."

The Microsoft CEO at the time made the claim to USA Today



Richard Sprague, then-Microsoft senior director: "I can’t believe the hype being given to iPhone. I just have to wonder who will want one of these things (other than the religious faithful.)"

Source: Microsoft blog via Daring Fireball



Three years later, Microsoft held a funeral for the iPhone when it launched a new version of Windows Phone.

More details about the Microsoft stunt here



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

How the unlimited data plans from AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint all stack up

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The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

young women smartphones textingEarlier this year, all four of the major US cellphone carriers brought back unlimited data plans. 

If you've been curious about these plans, we've broken each one down, highlighting their pros and cons. 

Of course, the ultimate decision will come down to which carrier has the best service in your area, but this breakdown should give you a good idea about which plan will work best for you. 

DON'T MISS: 50 must-have tech accessories under $50

SEE ALSO: Amazon's store brand makes a lot of great tech, but these are the 10 gadgets actually worth buying

AT&T

AT&T has two different unlimited plans: Unlimited Choice and Unlimited Plus.

Unlimited Choice

Optimized for affordability, AT&T's Unlimited Choice plan limits your maximum data speed, throttles video down to standard definition, and doesn't include a mobile hotspot feature. This plan is built for people who want to stream music, podcasts, and surf the web without fear of data overages. 

Data: 22GB of LTE data, potentially reduced speeds thereafter; 3mbps (Megabytes Per Second) speed cap

Minutes: Unlimited

Texts: Unlimited

Video: Unlimited (SD)

Price for one line: $60

Price for two lines: $115

Hotspot: N/A

Extras:Unlimited talk + text in Mexico and Canada. Unlimited texts to 120+ countries from the US.


Unlimited Plus

AT&T's "true" unlimited plan. For an extra $30 a month, users of this plan have no restrictions on their data use. If you want to use AT&T's service and watch hours of Netflix without the possibility of getting charged extra, this is your plan.

Data: 22GB of LTE data, potentially reduced speeds thereafter.

Minutes: Unlimited

Texts: Unlimited

Video: Unlimited (HD) 

Price for one line: $90

Price for two lines: $145

Hotspot: 10GB of LTE data, 128kbps speed thereafter

Extras: A Free HBO credit through DirecTV, a $25 discount on AT&T DirectTV; unlimited talk + text in Mexico and Canada, unlimited texts to 120+ countries from the US.

Check out AT&T's unlimited data plans here



Verizon

Verizon Unlimited

Verizon's plan is pretty similar to AT&Ts. It's a little less expensive, and has a predefined data cap when traveling around North America. If Verizon has the best coverage where you live, this is a solid unlimited plan.

Data:22GB of LTE data, your speeds can be deprioritized during congested-network periods thereafter

Minutes: Unlimited

Texts: Unlimited

Video: Unlimited (HD)

Price for one line: $80

Price for two lines: $140

Hotspot: 10GB LTE, 3G speed thereafter

Extras: Unlimited talk, text, and data in Mexico and Canada; 500MB of full-speed data, 2G data thereafter

Check out Verizon's unlimited plan here



Sprint

Sprint Unlimited

The least expensive plan on this list, Sprint's unlimited plan also comes with a few caveats. Sprint doesn't say how much your data speed will be throttled after you hit the 23GB LTE cap, and it limits your maximum data speed based on what you're doing. This plan will also increase by $10 a month after 6/30/2018, which is something to consider since you'll be locked into a contract. 

Still, if you're looking for the cheapest unlimited plan out there, and don't mind these caveats, this is still a solid plan.

Data: 23GB of LTE data, unspecified speeds thereafter

Minutes: Unlimited

Texts: Unlimited

Video: Unlimited (1080P)

Gaming: 8mbps

Music: 1.5mbps

Price for one line: $50

Price for two lines: $90 (add a third, fourth, or fifth line at no additional cost until 6/30/18, at which point each extra line costs $30 a month)

Hotspot: 10GB LTE, 2G speed thereafter

Extras: N/A

Check out Sprint's unlimited plan here



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

7 things successful people do the night before a vacation

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water swimming fireworks vacation party New Year's Rio

It's summer, which means it's time to reward yourself with some time off.

But before you jet off to some sunny shore, you need set your affairs in order at work.

The night before your vacation is a crucial time to prepare.

Effective planning will give you peace of mind while you're catching some rays, and it will prevent problems from cropping up when you drag your sunburnt self back into the office in a few days.

The last thing you need after leaving paradise is to have to deal with some preventable fiasco at work.

Here are seven things you should do the night before your vacation starts:

DON'T MISS: 12 signs you desperately need a vacation from work

SEE ALSO: 5 tricks to stop worrying about email while you're on vacation

Clean up

Before you leave the office, take some time to tidy up your desk.

That way, you'll at least know you're coming back to a "well-organized, inviting workspace,"Michael Kerr, an international business speaker and author of "The Humor Advantage," tells Business Insider.



Set up your out-of-office messages

Remember, your phone and inbox won't just freeze up while you're gone.

"Set your out-of-office response on your voice mail and email," Ryan Kahn, a career coach, founder of The Hired Group, and author of "Hired! The Guide for the Recent Grad," tells Business Insider

"This may seem obvious, but it's often overlooked," he says. "You may be on vacation, but others may not be. Don't risk inadvertently damaging any relationships."

"Make sure your voice mail accurately gives your date of return," Lynn Taylor, a national workplace expert and the author of "Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant: How to Manage Childish Boss Behavior and Thrive in Your Job," tells Business Insider.

She also recommends ensuring sure your boss and key coworkers know the procedure regarding emergency contact.

Kerr says that it's also a good idea to include additional info in your OOO messages.

"Let colleagues and customers know what options they have for reaching someone else who can help them," he says.

"Don't overlook the positive goodwill you'll garner from adding some humor to your message: One of my client's e-mail auto response described how she'd been kidnapped by her three small children and held in Disneyland," he says.



Make a list

The night before your vacation, take the time to sit down with a pen and paper.

Kerr suggests creating a final, detailed to-do list of action items, both personal and work-related, that you know you'll need to do once you return from your vacation.

"Doing this will reduce your mental clutter as you head out on vacation and help you feel more relaxed knowing that everything's down on paper and organized for your return," he says.



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This $48 million penthouse comes with 2 parking spots and 2 additional apartments 'for staff or guests'

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A $48 million penthouse in a new Manhattan skyscraper has a rather generous bonus included with purchase.

In addition to the 7,028-square-foot duplex penthouse at the Madison Square Park Tower — located at 45 East 22nd Street — buyers will also get two in-building parking spots and two studio apartments, which the listing notes could be "for staff or guests." The studio apartments are also located within the same tower.

According to the Wall Street Journal, those parking spots usually cost $500,000 each.

Penthouse A itself is being marketed as a "white box" that the buyer can customize as they see fit, going up to five bedrooms and five-and-a-half bathrooms. 

Let's take a look around the duplex and the building. It was developed by Bruce Eichner and is being listed by Fredrik Eklund and John Gomes of Douglas Elliman Real Estate. 

SEE ALSO: We got a peek inside a $20 million apartment in the latest skyscraper to dramatically alter Manhattan's skyline

The unfurnished penthouse has 23-foot ceilings, which are emphasized by dramatic glass walls in parts of the apartment.



Those windows offer some pretty dramatic views, both to the north ...



... and to the south.



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6 new clothing, footwear, and handbag brands every professional woman should know

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The Insider Picks team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business Insider has affiliate partnerships so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.

Lemonade Lookbook Riverside Taxi

Getting dressed for work as a woman can be difficult; it takes longer to do than the guy who can throw on a suit, and most of the options available are missing the mark between flattering and "cute." Instead of making the clothes women want and need, legacy brands have yet to adapt to accommodate the new lifestyles of modern women.

Totes need smarter, more commuter-friendly designs, and well-made classics in premium materials sound much better than the constant churning out of trends in cheap materials—you know, the ones you hate to be in more than a couple of hours, let alone from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (or however long your work day really takes).

For many women, even spending that precious, limited free time in a dressing room to find enough different combinations to wear to work is both exhausting and unappealing — a thought that hasn't made a large enough impact on retail, yet. Instead of expending more of their energy and time working with the complexities of the office, don't many of us wish we could just outsource the problem to a professional who gets it, instead? So we can spend our free time doing what we like, like hanging out with our friends, our family, or even getting ahead in our career. 

These six women's workwear brands, if you don't know them already, will address each of these concerns and a couple more. Here's proof that some people do get it, and thankfully we can spend the time you might not have to find them for you.

I'm willing to bet you’ll be happy to know them: Dagne Dover, MM.LaFleur, Citizen’s Mark, CuyanaOf Mercer, and Margaux.

SEE ALSO: This is the work bag professional women everywhere have been looking for

DON'T MISS: This piece of jewelry is actually a health tracker that tells me when I’m getting stressed

Dagne Dover

Dagne Dover is a relatively new company that has gained notoriety and a bona fide cult following for bags that master sophisticated leather styles and conscious design aimed to simplify the lives of women on the move. Satchels, totes, backpacks, and other products feature commuter-friendly designs without sacrificing style. 

On the outside, the bags are beautiful constructions of high-quality materials like leather in flattering neutral shades. We've covered both their Dakota Backpack and Classic Tote in depth, and our unanimous opinion is that Dagne Dover is doing something special. The design team has anticipated your needs, your lifestyle, and the things you'll carry and delivered with smarter execution than we've seen most anywhere else.

"It’s no longer good enough to just be 'arm candy'. Nowadays we expect the services and products we use to multitask, to be data-driven and to work harder," Mash told Business Insider. "Dagne Dover is the only brand in the handbag market that does so while continuing to be stylish and organized." 

Take a closer look at Dagne Dover's collections here.



MM.LaFleur

MM.LaFleur works off the same basic assumption that President Barack Obama and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg did when they made the decision to pare down their wardrobe selections to only two colors of suits or the same grey shirt for public appearances. There are simply too many other important decisions to make.

Instead of trying to churn out trends, MM.LaFleur is thoughtfully constructing and improving upon the classics that will become your wardrobe staples.

MM.LaFleur was created to cater to women whose work days can look more like 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and who might not want to devote their limited free time to trying on work dresses in a changing room. As a result, they offer a subscription service called the Bento Box, which is a box of workwear staples handpicked for each customer by a discerning MM stylist based on a short quiz of workwear preferences, prices, and office atmosphere. Don't want to think about the complexities of officewear and wish you could just outsource it? Done.

Women can try on their selections at home, keep what they like, and text a number to get UPS to pick up and return what they don't. They're only charged for what they keep, and 70% of MM.LaFleur's customers are repeat clients. 

If you'd like, you can read our full review on MM.LaFleur and their Bento Box here

Check out the complete MM.LaFleur collections here. 



Citizen's Mark

Citizen's Mark might be the one blazer brand to know. While working at the UN in Geneva, Switzerland, Citizen’s Mark founder Cynthia Salim realized at 23 the same thing every working woman inevitably does: It’s hard to find high-quality women's workwear that looks credible.

Salim wanted to create the staples she wished existed for a career that the fashion industry didn't seem to know she and her female peers had. But she quickly realized that the problem ran much deeper than expected: When she contacted wool mills to produce for her, they asked if she'd like men's or women's fabrics. When she couldn't find a satisfactory suit factory in the US, most European factories explained that they only did men's tailoring. When even materials and machines are gendered to reserve the highest quality for menswear, no wonder the market for women was so dissatisfying.

All of Salim's blazers are subsequently made with "male" fabrics in factories that specialize in "male" tailoring. The result is stunning. I reviewed the company and two of the blazers myself, and Citizen's Mark is unlike anything else I've ever owned.  

To further reflect the working woman Salim set out to design for, Citizen's Mark contributes to a responsible global supply chain with responsibility, sustainability, and transparency.

Take a look at the Citizen's Mark collections here.



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Snap is fighting to retain its identity even as it opens up to a sea of new advertisers

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With a flurry of recent updates to its ad products, Snapchat is inviting marketers of all sizes to buy ads on the social app. But the company still seems intent on keeping its sanctity intact.

In other words, despite opening up its doors to the ad masses, it still wants Snapchat to look like Snapchat.

Come July, advertisers will have access to a slick new creative tool called Snapchat Publisher, which will let them create ads in less than two minutes. But before the tool is widely rolled out, Snapchat seems to be doing some quality-control.

The company has been circulating updated specifics and guidelines that marketers are encouraged to keep in mind while creating Snap ads, multiple people told Business Insider. The updated “Creative Guidelines & Specs” deck for Snap ads started making the rounds earlier this month, when the platform announced a series of new ad efforts, including a new Ad Manager tool and a Certified Partners program, apart from the Publisher tool.

"The general theme on Snapchat has been to use all the tools at our disposal to create low-fi ads instead of polished ones," an agency media buyer, who wished to remain anonymous, said. "But we’ve been getting more of those directives the past few weeks."

"They've definitely been pushing for content that feels native to the platform," said Jill Sherman, svp of social media at DigitasLBi. "They’ve always emphasized content that feels as though it was created on the app itself, instead of being highly produced."

Snapchat pioneered the vertical video format, and the new Publisher tool makes it even easier for marketers to adopt it. It can import existing brand assets, trim horizontal videos for the vertical format and also offers Snap-provided ad templates.

Since Snapchat is throwing open the ad floodgates, it makes sense that it would remind marketers of the guidelines for Snap Ads.

"Not all creative agency partners are used to creating videos just for platform," said Sherwin Su, associate social director at digital agency Essence.

But Snapchat has tweaked some of these best practices, too. There are two key differences in the most recent set of guidelines put forward by the company, pointed out Su, associate social director at digital agency Essence.

"Brands are no longer limited to videos, the latest update allows more formats in snap ads including still images, gifs, cinemagraphs and slideshows," he said. "And sound is now optional."

According to another agency social lead, Snapchat is continuing to do creative tests, even encouraging marketers to incorporate organic native tools on the platform like bitmojis and stickers. While it currently allows only emojis and text graphics, it restricts the inclusion of Snapchat native creative tools in ads. That might change moving forward, they said.

Here are some key guidelines for creating Snap Ads posted by the company:

  • The ads must be full screen and vertically formatted, and feature visual branding
  • Strong and relevant call-to-action for Snap Ads with attachments are encouraged
  • No letterboxing/borders of any kind, static collages that fill the screen for the entirety of the ad, copy-heavy ads or the use of Snapcodes or Snapchat usernames
  • No imitation of Snapchat native creative tools and UI features like static doodles, stickers, Bitmoji
  • For Snap ads that have web view attachments, no URLs with auto-playing video or audio, or Facebook, Instagram or Twitter URLs

You can find the full list here or in the slideshow below:  

Snap Ads can be videos, cinemagraphs, gifs or still.



Some key restrictions



Guidelines for Snap Ads between User Stories and Our Stories



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6 unconventional things successful people do over the summer

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The summer goes by quickly — and it's easy to feel like you've squandered the weeks between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

If you're hoping to make this summer different, it's important to set your priorities in advance. As in, block off a chunk of time on your calendar for relaxing, and figure out which specific career challenges you want to tackle.

That's according to Lynn Taylor, a national workplace expert and the author of "Tame Your Terrible Office Tyrant: How to Manage Childish Boss Behavior and Thrive in Your Job." We asked Taylor to tell us about how the most successful people spend the summer months — and how the rest of us can emulate that. Read on to find out what to start doing this weekend.

SEE ALSO: 16 things successful people do over 3-day weekends

Set measurable goals

"Successful people are very strategic," Taylor said, "so why shouldn't that apply to the summertime?"

She gave examples of quantifiable goals that successful people might establish over the summer months:

• Spend X days completely taking time off

• Meet with X number of clients

• Spend X amount of time with family members

Ideally, Taylor added, the areas where you're setting these goals should be ones that have been "on the back burner" for a while.



Consider their professional future

"Summer is a very good time to be reflective about your future," Taylor said. "It's a good idea to put together a document about where you are in your career."

That document can answer questions including:

• Is your current job part of your overall career plan?

• Is your job description consistent with where you want to be right now?

• Is your career consistent with your passions?

• Are you happy going to work?

• Are there certain skill sets that you haven't been tapping in the last year?

• Does your job have growth potential?



Talk to their boss about their career

As you craft the document mentioned above, you might notice that you're not developing your passions as much as you'd like.

Taylor gave an example: You work in public relations and you love brainstorming — but lately you've gotten caught up in pitching clients and haven't gotten to do as much ideation.

Instead of approaching your boss and complaining, or asking their permission to hold more brainstorming sessions, Taylor advised coming up with a plan yourself and presenting it to your boss.

First think about how holding more creative sessions will benefit the company's bottom line. Then consider exactly how you'll go about it — maybe you'll dedicate the last 15 minutes of every weekly staff meeting to brainstorming. "Think like an entrepreneur," Taylor said.



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Steve Ballmer famously slammed the iPhone — here are 12 other times bosses got it wrong on new tech

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North Pole Blockbuster

Sometimes the next big thing isn't easy to spot—even when its the iPhone, which celebrated its 10th anniversary today.

Steve Ballmer, founder of Microsoft, infamously said that Apple's new invention was a waste of money.

"Five hundred dollars? Fully subsidized? With a plan? I said that is the most expensive phone in the world," Ballmer reportedly said of the first iPhone.

"And it doesn't appeal to business customers because it doesn't have a keyboard. Which makes it not a very good email machine."

Here are a few of our favorite times bosses laughed in the face of disruption,  courtesy of research firm CB Insights. We're publishing them here with permission.

Some of the predictions are old enough that they're obviously wrong — people dismissed personal computers and streaming video. And some of those making the predictions ran companies that are now defunct because they missed the boat. With others, the jury is still out as to how off base the dismissal was.

You can see the full list of 33 quotes on CB Insights blog:

Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes on streaming video

"Neither RedBox nor Netflix are even on the radar screen in terms of competition," Blockbuster CEO Jim Keyes told the Motley Fool in 2008. "It's more Wal-Mart and Apple."

His video-rental chain filed for bankruptcy in 2010. Today Netflix is worth $61.93 billion.



Nintendo's North American president on mobile games

These mobile games are "candidly disposable from a consumer standpoint," said Nintendo North America president Reggie Fils-Aime in 2011.

Maybe 65 million monthly active Pokemon Go players changed his mind.



IBM's president on computers

"I think there is a world market for maybe five computers," said Thomas Watson, president of IBM, in 1943.

Needless to say, a few more than that have been sold since then.



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