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Pfizer has a new strategy for fighting cancer that could generate $5 billion a year. We got a look inside. (PFE)

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Pfizer

  • Developing drugs to treat cancer is a major part of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer's future strategy.
  • Pfizer already has a presence in treatments for breast cancer and prostate cancer but is working to expand that. The company hopes that oncology franchises will start bringing in an additional $5 billion annually in the next several years.
  • Andy Schmeltz, Pfizer's global head of oncology, told Business Insider about the "recipe" that will help set the company apart.

Sitting in his spacious, wood-accented midtown office, Pfizer oncology chief Andy Schmeltz gestures to a diagram that charts out the drug giant's agenda for the next several years.

It shows the pharmaceutical company's ambitious "15 in 5" plan, laying out the 15 franchises that could become billion-dollar sellers for the company — far more than the five and two produced in prior five-year spans.

It's impossible not to notice how many of the drugs treat cancer. At a third of the list, oncology is a division Pfizer hopes that by 2022 will start bringing in at least $5 billion more each year, with at least a billion in sales expected in total from four new cancer drugs that were recently approved.

"We're glad you noticed," Schmeltz said, smiling.

One stereotype in the healthcare industry goes something like this: Small, adaptable biotech companies come up with innovative new drugs, and then large, slow-moving pharmaceutical companies sweep in and buy them.

The perception has held particularly strong for Pfizer, which ranks as one of the biggest US drugmakers, with a nearly $250 billion market cap and up to $55.5 billion in expected 2018 revenue. Pfizer is perhaps best known for the erectile-dysfunction medication Viagra and the high-cholesterol treatment Lipitor.

The 170-year-old drug behemoth is on a mission to change that, though, with oncology set to play a key role. As part of its focus on producing more cutting-edge medicines, Pfizer recently announced a spin-off of its consumer-health business with GlaxoSmithKline that will include popular brands like Advil, ChapStick and Emergen-C.

The company "gets the rap, historically, of being large and slow and, to be honest with you, if you go back not too many years, had a reputation for questionable R&D [research and development] productivity," Schmeltz told Business Insider last month. But "when we see the science moving in a particular direction, we can really move quickly."

A 'recipe' for cancer investments

Pfizer is currently focused on two types of cancer: breast cancer, through drugs including its flagship medication Ibrance, and prostate cancer, through its drug Xtandi.

Schmeltz, a 16-year Pfizer veteran who came up through the commercial side of the company and started as global president of Pfizer Oncology a year ago, pointed to Ibrance as an example of how quickly Pfizer can move.

Andy Schmeltz, Pfizer cancer chief

The breast-cancer drug had its first major data presentation just three years before its US approval in 2015, Pfizer says. Today, it says, about 73% of people with advanced breast cancer are eligible for Ibrance or a medication like it.

The drug giant also has ambitions in treatments for renal cell carcinoma (Sutent, Inlyta, and Inlyta plus Bavencio), lung cancer (Xalkori, Lorbrena, and Vizimpro) and hematology, Schmeltz said, plus targeted immunotherapy approaches with avelumab.

Read more:From the gene therapy that spurred a $9 billion acquisition to a CBD medication for rare types of childhood epilepsy, here are the 12 promising drugs to watch in 2019

Morgan Stanley analyst David Risinger, who has called Ibrance Pfizer's top growth driver, said late last month that "its oncology pipeline includes a collective group of new cancer drugs that add up to blockbuster sales potential."

Not all Pfizer's investments have panned out. Two late-stage ovarian-cancer studies failed in recent months. Bavencio has also had failures when tried in other types of cancers.

Pfizer is also active in longer-term research, the third prong of the company's strategy, which it hopes will produce the next big medical innovations.

Other companies working in oncology — and there are a growing number — have become leaders in immuno-oncology, which uses the body's immune system to fight cancer, or focus on blood cancers.

But part of what Schmeltz calls "the right recipe" means doing the opposite, or investing in a balanced way across different anticancer approaches.

Today, that means using roughly half of Pfizer's resources to invest in categories like small-molecule, targeted, and precision therapies, or drugs that target specific cancer-linked molecules, and roughly half in immuno-oncology approaches, according to Schmeltz, "rather than disproportionately going in one direction or the other."

"We're trying to be thoughtful that, given the unmet need in oncology, you can't have deep expertise and capability in everything across oncology," he told Business Insider.

Cancer, immunotherapy, immuno-oncology

Read more:A Yale scientist who pioneered a cutting-edge approach to cancer treatment is warning that the field is going off-course — and that drug giants could be making it worse

Building from breast and prostate cancer

The pharmaceutical giant also plans to keep leading in treatments for breast and prostate cancer, Schmeltz said.

If ongoing studies testing Ibrance in early breast cancer and as an add-on therapy are successful, they "could really expand the utility of Ibrance to women with breast cancer before the cancer has metastasized, which really could make a profound difference for them," he said, referring to the process by which cancer spreads in the body.

Those results are expected around 2020 or later. Including a form of metastatic breast cancer that Ibrance is already approved for, success could mean roughly doubling the number of people eligible for the drug, according to Schmeltz.

The same strategy applies in prostate cancer as well. Pfizer acquired Xtandi, which is jointly commercialized with Japan's Astellas Pharma, as part of a $14 billion acquisition of Medivation back in 2016. It started off in the metastatic disease and recently got a US approval in a nonmetastatic form of the disease.

The drug is also being studied in metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer and nonmetastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer — all paving the way to a wider potential patient population, Schmeltz said.

Read more:Pfizer executives are changing their tune on an approach for a promising new way to treat cancer, and it could be where the field is headed

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Media companies are launching streaming services to survive — here's how they can thrive

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movies streaming

Consumers having been “cutting the cord,” or canceling their pay-TV subscriptions in favor of internet-delivered alternatives, for years now, but the trend reached new heights in 2017. 

There’s little reason to believe that this phenomenon will slow down any time soon either, so pay-tv providers will have to find new ways to generate revenue as their primary source continues to erode. 

One of the most prominent ways media companies are recuperating cord-cutting losses is by launching their own direct-to-consumer streaming services. 

But what makes for a successful streaming video service? 

The Business Insider Intelligence Digital Media research team has written a note breaking down the evolving landscape of streaming video on-demand (SVOD). The note looks at which characteristics consumers care about most in a streaming service and which are just "nice to have." 

To get your FREE copy, click here.

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The biggest healthcare investor conference starts on Monday — here are the top 5 areas we're keeping an eye on

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Jamie Dimon

Starting Monday, thousands of pharmaceutical industry executives, investors, bankers, and analysts will swarm into San Francisco for the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference.

Now in its 37th year, the conference has ballooned from a small event with 150 attendees that was essentially the "birth of biotech," to an event attended by everyone from the biggest pharma company to the smallest biotech. JPMorgan said more than 485 companies are scheduled to present this year.

It's a spot for these companies to meet with investors and each other, and can be the starting point for takeovers or other deals. 

It's also a place where more deals — maybe even on the scale of Thursday's $74 billion merger between Bristol-Myers Squibb and Celgene— could get announced. 

From confronting the threat of technology giants' healthcare advances to covering the cost of one-time treatments, here are some of the key topics we'll be asking about this week. 

We'll be sending out our best stories from the week in Dispensed, our weekly dispatch of pharma, biotech, and healthcare news. Sign up here.

Who’s next to merge?

2018 saw a number of mega-deals, including the $77 billion Takeda-Shire merger. Now with the BMS-Celgene deal in place, the healthcare industry is wondering who might be next to pair up.

"With large caps, generally, falling under pressure the last few years, one has to acknowledge the potential for additional consolidation of profitable companies," Baird Equity Research biotech analyst Brian Skorney wrote in a note Thursday. 

Alternatively, Celgene could find another dance partner in a counter-bid.

Alethia Young, an analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald remarked in a note Thursday that it's possible others go in to big on Celgene — specifically Amgen and Johnson & Johnson. That's in large part because of the two companies focus on hematology. Joining up with either of those two companies could create more synergies than the company has with BMS. 



How will we pay for seven-figure drugs? What about other costly treatments?

The issue of paying for medications is now a constant conversation for the drug industry, with prices continuing to go up even after political pressure in 2018. We'll definitely be keeping an eye on pharma's 2019 plans.

But a new wrinkle that's quickly coming into focus: How are we going to pay for one-time treatments?

Already, treatments like cell therapy for cancer treatments and a gene therapy for a hereditary form of blindness have tested the waters.

But more are in the works. That includes Novartis' gene therapy for spinal muscular atrophy, a rare genetic condition that affects muscle movement in children and is the leading genetic cause of mortality in infants that could be approved in the US by as early as May 2019. When that happens, Novartis said it would be cost-effective at a price of between $4-5 million

It might take some new payment arrangements to get health insurers on board to cover the cost of treatment, such as paying in installments over a set amount of time. What that looks like and who takes the lead on that will be a big question that should get answered in 2019. 



How has the pharma-payer power dynamic shifted?

In 2018, two massive healthcare deals closed, redrawing the lines around what defines a healthcare company: 

The health insurer Cigna combined with Express Scripts, which manages pharmacy benefits. And CVS Health, a big pharmacy chain that also owns a drug benefits business, acquired the health insurer Aetna.

We'll find out a lot more this year about the strategies of the combined companies. Both new firms will be looking for places to cut costs, as well as seeking to gain more control over how patients access healthcare. It's happening at a time when new medications are getting approved that challenge the way we pay for treatments.

It remains to be seen how the two newly formed healthcare companies wield their new negotiating power, and how drugmakers will respond to that increased pressure. 



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

The 50 best-selling cocktails in the world in 2019

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bamboo cocktail

While the world of cocktails may seem to be constantly evolving, year after year it's the classic recipes that customers continue to demand.

In its January issue, Drinks International released its list of the world's best-selling classic cocktails in 2019 — and it shows that while bartenders may put a modern spin on old recipes, the desire for established, sophisticated drinks remains.

The website asked bartenders from 127 of the best bars in 38 countries around the world — all of which have won or been nominated for global awards over the past year — to rank their 10 best-selling cocktails.

Read more: The 30 best-selling cocktails in the world in 2018

It then weighted and ranked each drink to compile the list.

From Moscow mules to mai tais, scroll down to see the 50 best-selling cocktails in the world, ranked in ascending order, and to see how many you've tried.

50. White Russian

Made popular in the '90s by "The Big Lebowski," this vodka, cream, and coffee-liqueur cocktail may not be as trendy as it once was, but it still made its way into the top 50.



49. Bellini

Invented by Giuseppe Cipriani, the founder of Harry's Bar in Venice, the Bellini may not be considered to be a cocktail by some, with only two ingredients — prosecco and peach purée or nectar.



48. Champagne Cocktail

Made with sugar, Angostura bitters, Champagne, brandy, and a maraschino cherry as a garnish, the Champagne Cocktail seems a little outdated next to some of its more modern contenders.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

There are 4 ski destinations in the world where homes consistently sell for over $25 million, and only one of them is in the US

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Aspen Colorado home

  • Real estate consultancy Knight Frank's report on global ultra-prime destinations includes four ski destinations.
  • Three of those are in the Alps, including St. Moritz, the hidden gem beloved by the 1%.
  • Aspen is the only American market represented in the list of ultra-prime real estate markets.

The world's wealthiest people are buying homes in four main ski destinations globally, and they're focused mostly in the Alps. The only exception to the European dominance in this field — and it comes as no major surprise, given its reputation and prices — can be found in Aspen, Colorado.

That's according to a recent Knight Frank report on the global ultra-prime market, which looks at destinations that have seen at least three home sales over $25 million every year for the past three years running.

Those four ski destinations fit into a larger scheme of 17 total ultra-prime destinations, including cities like London, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

While the town is home to a year-round population of only about 7,400, Aspen has for years been recognized as a hot spot for the rich and famous, attracting the likes of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, Elton John, and Jack Nicholson.

Media mogul Lachlan Murdoch numbers amongst the high net-worth individuals who have contributed to Aspen's ultra-prime standing; in 2017, he bought a $29 million mansion that includes a horse stable and a 300-bottle wine cellar.

Read more: 50 of the best ski resorts to visit this winter in the US and Canada, ranked from most expensive to least

The three European ski destinations can be found in St. Moritz, Courchevel, and Gstaad. The first two, in particular, are familiar names amongst celebrities and business moguls looking to kick back in style on and off the slopes, and both are host to resorts that have historically been listed amongst the most expensive in the world.

St. Moritz is, as Business Insider's Hillary Hoffower previously reported, a Swiss resort "... with world-class skiing, the birthplace of Alpine winter tourism, twice a home to the Winter Olympics, and a hidden gem for the one percent."

Gstaad, meanwhile, also in Switzerland, is home to the winter campus of the world's most expensive school, Switzerland's Institut Le Rosey.

SEE ALSO: A new report reveals the 17 most popular housing markets for the world's richest people, and a notoriously expensive city is missing from the list

Join the conversation about this story »

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We compared Costco and Jet prices to see which company offers better deals. Here's the verdict. (COST, WMT)

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Costco Homepage 2

  • Costco and Walmart-owned Jet.comsell just about everything.
  • Both stores sell in bulk, offer free two-day shipping with membership, and carry inexpensive private-label products.
  • We compared prices across a few categories at both stores and found Costco was generally less expensive. Here's how they stack up.
Costco and Walmart-owned Jet.com sell just about everything.

The two companies have a lot in common, including two-day delivery on online orders and selling essentials in bulk quantities.

While Costco requires a membership to shop in its stores, it doesn't require one to shop online. The retail giant is well-loved by customers, and its website offers many similar deals to its stores. For shoppers who do hold a Costco membership, the warehouse club offers free two-day shipping for many essentials and same-day delivery for groceries. The website also has plenty of products from Costco's beloved private-label brand Kirkland Signature.

But Jet has been making strides to compete with Costco, like offering daily deals and free two-day shipping without membership fees. Though Jet can't compete with Costco's physical presence, it offers JetCash, which are rewards incentives that can be used as cash on the site. It also has a private-label brand called Uniquely J, which is designed to attract millennials by creating environmentally friendly products in artist-designed packaging.

Even though products are sometimes listed in different quantities or under different categories, the websites have a huge overlap in what they sell. To see which of the two stores had better deals and was more user-friendly, we compared common items from different categories on each site to see which had better deals.

Here's how the two compare:

SEE ALSO: We compared Amazon and Costco prices to see which company offers better deals. Here's the verdict.

Costco doesn't require a membership to shop online, but a membership is necessary to access two-day delivery. The homepage of the website is very busy.



Jet's website is less busy, and free two-day delivery is advertised on all orders of $35 or more.



Costco's category page is also very busy. The large number of categories makes it more difficult to find things.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider

From the gene therapy that spurred a $9 billion acquisition to a CBD medication for rare types of childhood epilepsy, here are the 12 promising drugs to watch in 2019

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Drug medicine pills

  • Investors should keep an eye on 12 key new drugs going into 2019, according to Jefferies analyst Michael Yee.
  • The medications range from a gene therapy that could be a game-changer for a rare disease to a CBD product for rare childhood epilepsy and a fish-based drug that could improve heart health.
  • But new drug launches can be a bumpy time for companies, so buying shares in these drugmakers may not make sense, Yee said.

New year, new drug launches. 

In 2019, there are 12 medications investors should watch out for, according to Jefferies analyst Michael Yee. All of them have either been approved or could be soon.

They include the gene therapy that spurred a $9 billion acquisition, a CBD medication for rare types of childhood epilepsy, and a drug that could be the first specifically approved for postpartum depression. 

But in spite of all the activity, Yee urged caution on buying shares in these biotech companies.

His key point: Nothing lifts a biotech's stock like a new drug approval — but what happens after that, when companies actually have to sell that medication, is often a mixed bag.

Few small to mid-size biotech companies had unequivocally strong launches this past year, with the exception of the drugmaker Neurocrine Biosciences, Yee said. Meanwhile, the landscape for drugmakers going into 2019 remains tricky.

"Given the challenging glass-half-empty environment, we argue the hurdle seems even higher for companies to deliver in 2019," Yee said.

Here are Yee's picks for next year's key new medications:

1. An eczema medication expanding into asthma

Already sold for the skin-inflammation condition eczema, Regeneron's Dupixent was just approved as a maintenance medication for moderate-to-severe asthma in mid-October. The 2019 launch will be important, Yee said.

The connection between eczema and asthma may not appear obvious, but both are diseases where inflammation plays, or is thought to play, a role. Dupixent is also being tested out in many other inflammation-related diseases, including grass and peanut allergies, with plans to study it in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, as well.

See more:A treatment for the most common food allergy could be available next year, and one biotech just drew ahead in the race for the $3 billion market

2. A longer-lasting rare disease drug

Alexion's blockbuster drug, Soliris, has been on the market for the ultra-rare blood disorder paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) for 11 years. Also approved for other conditions, Soliris is a linchpin product for Alexion, having brought in nearly 90% of the biotech's 2017 revenue.

It's perhaps no surprise, then, that the company is steeling for new competition. 

The company's new product, Ultomiris, is intended to be a next-generation version of the drug. Ultomiris extends the timeline that patients have to get dosed, from bi-weekly to every eight weeks; it also conveniently provides new patent protections for the biotech.

Alexion got Ultomiris approved last week, and its plans to switch patients over "will matter a lot," Yee said. 

3. The first cannabis-derived drug in the US

gw pharma medical marijuana growhouse

The best known compound in cannabis is THC, but another, non-psychoactive component, CBD, powers the medication Epidiolex, the first cannabis-derived drug in the US. 

The prescription medication, made by GW Pharmaceuticals, was approved over the summer for two rare childhood seizure disorders and just launched November 1.

Read more:A drug derived from marijuana has triggered the first federal shift on cannabis in half a century, and experts predict an avalanche effect

4. Two rare disease drugs in a space that once had no medications at all

When Alnylam's Onpattro was approved in August, it became the first US treatment for the rare, progressive disease ATTR amyloidosis.

Now, there are two drugs for the disease: Onpattro and Ionis/Akcea's Tegsedi, which was approved by the FDA in October. Though distinct, both are intended for the nerve damage and pain that come with ATTR amyloidosis. 

ATTR amyloidosis is known to be difficult to diagnose, and patients didn't have many options until recently, so finding patients will be the next challenge for the biotech companies.

5. A medication that could be the first for postpartum depression

Of the nearly 4 million births that happen each year in the US, nearly 15% of those new mothers are affected by an extended postpartum depression.

Treatment options include antidepressants and counseling, but there could soon be another option: the biotech Sage Therapeutics' Zulresso.

If approved, Zulresso would be the first medication approved specifically for postpartum depression. Zulresso is being reviewed by US drug regulators, and a decision is expected by March 19, 2019. 

Read more:A pharma CEO says a new depression drug could have lasting effects after one short course, like antibiotics — here's what experts think

6. A fish oil-based drug with possible heart health benefits

fish oil whole 30

A common claim about fish-oil supplements is that they're good for your heart, but there isn't evidence to back it up. 

So imagine the surprise when Amarin Pharmaceuticals' Vascepa, which is derived from fish oil, showed promise in reducing cardiovascular risk in a large, multiyear clinical trial. 

Further data will be of interest to investors, but there's "potential for M&A either way," Yee said. 

7. An antidote for life-threatening bleeding

Drugs called anticoagulants are used to treat conditions such as strokes and pulmonary embolisms, a type of artery blockage. One particular type, factor Xa inhibitors, has become increasingly popular, but it has a major complication: bleeding.   

Portola Pharmaceuticals' Andexxa, approved in the US in May, is used to reverse anticoagulation in cases when patients have life-threatening or uncontrolled bleeding. The product has since been taken to market and brought in nearly $8 million in sales in its first full quarter. 

8. A medication for patients with aggressive breast cancer

Triple-negative breast cancer is an aggressive form of the disease, quicker to recur and spread. Immunomedics' IMMU-132 is intended for patients who have already failed to respond to at least two other medications for the disease. A US approval decision is expected by late January, and if the drug is approved, it "will have a lot of focus," according to Yee. 

9. A Parkinson's disease drug launch spurring existential questions for a biotech

Parkinson's disease drugs can do a lot of good for patients, but, as the disease progresses, they don't work optimally all of the time. Acorda Therapeutics' Inbrija got approved by the FDA last week for intermittent treatment of those "off" episodes and is expected to become available by the first quarter of next year. 

The approval decision, which came early, is also bringing new attention to what will become of the company — whether it will work to sell Inbrija, or sell itself instead. Notably, Parkinson's disease drugs are considered "strategically valuable," Stifel analyst Paul Matteis pointed out after the late December approval. 

10. A multiple myeloma drug with an FDA decision expected by April

The biotech Karyopharm Therapeutics could get an FDA approval decision for its multiple-myeloma drug Selinexor by April 6, 2019. 

11. The gene therapy behind a $9 billion acquisition that could threaten another biotech

Novartis CEO Vas NarasimhanWhen Swiss drug-giant Novartis acquired the biotech AveXis for nearly $9 billion, the pharmaceutical company was clear about its intentions.

AveXis' lead product, AVXS-101, could be the "first-ever one-time gene-replacement therapy for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a disease which results in early death or lifelong disability with considerable healthcare costs," Novartis said in April.

The gene therapy, now being called Zolgensma, could also pose a major competitive threat to Biogen's crucial spinal muscular atrophy therapy Spinraza

The FDA has agreed to look at Novartis' Zolgensma application, and a decision is expected in May.

12. An ovarian-cancer drug from a Shanghai-based biotech

The Shanghai-based biopharmaceutical company Zai Lab Limited is carrying out its first launch, for the ovarian-cancer drug Zejula in Hong Kong. Zejula is also up before the China National Medical Products Administration, where a much larger patient population could be in reach.

These could prove a "key read-through for Asia biotech," Yee said, which has attracted US investment interest of late but has also been hit by wider market conditions. 

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What to do if you find out your coworker makes way more than you

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confused annoyed woman

  • It's important to discuss salary with your coworkers.
  • But sometimes you might hear information that you wish you hadn't learned — like, for instance, that a coworker in a similar role is making way more than you are.
  • Here's what to do if you find out your coworker makes more than you.

 

So, you asked your coworkers about their salaries— and found out that, even though they're in a similar role to yours, they're making way more than you are. Now what?

First of all, stay calm.

Next, don't run to your boss and demand a raise, said Katie Donovan, a salary negotiation coach.

"If you do find out that others are earning more, do not rush to your manager demanding more 'because so and so earns more,'" Donovan told Business Insider. 

Anna Cosic, career strategist, agrees. "It's important to note that the information you eventually gather is not intended to be used towards HR or your manager saying that since X is making $Y, so should I," Cosic said. "That rarely pays off and they may have several different reasons that someone makes more than you do."

But, you should ask for a raise — calmly

Plan out a meeting with your boss in which you show why you deserve to make more. As we've previously reported, any good salary negotiation presents a case for your promotion based on data.

That data should show that you have excelled in your role. Vicki Salemi, career expert for Monster, told Business Insider you should already know the quantitative ways that your company measures performance. Think sales goals, output, or another barometer. 

A bonus just for you: Click here to claim 30 days of access to Business Insider PRIME

It also might include qualitative information, Salemi said. If you led training or became a trustworthy person during a year with tumultuous office politics, you should include that in your discussion.

That data should also show that the number you're asking for is on par with what folks in your position normally make. Check out salary data websites like Payscale, Glassdoor, Indeed, and Salary to see the median pay for your industry, position, and location.

Don't tell your boss you know how much your peers make

When you talk to your boss, don't say that you know your coworkers make more than you do — and definitely avoid name dropping or number dropping. That could cause negative repercussions for your coworker.

When it comes down to it, your company "may have several different reasons that someone makes more than you do," Cosic said. 

Instead, MarketWatch suggests saying something like: "It was brought to my attention that the market value for my position is X." 

That way, you can protect your coworkers while still (hopefully) securing more money for yourself. 

SEE ALSO: Here's how to ask your coworkers how much they're making, according to experts

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The CEO of a top travel app who gets up at 5:15 a.m. says he tricked himself into becoming a morning person by changing his daily exercise routine

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workout yoga instructor stretching

  • Sam Shank, CEO of booking app HotelTonight, gets up at 5:15 every morning, even though he wasn't always a morning person.
  • He says that starting his morning with a workout class helped him adjust to the new routine.
  • The penalties incurred by missed classes and the expectation of seeing the same people in workout classes were key parts of making the change stick.

Sam Shank wasn't always a morning person. Nowadays, though, the HotelTonight CEO starts every morning bright and early.

"I get up at 5:15 every morning, and if you'd told me five years ago that I'd be getting up that early, I'd be like, 'you're crazy,'" he recently told Business Insider.

As someone who wasn't necessarily hardwired for early mornings, Shank used to exercise after work. However, moving those workouts to the beginning of the day proved "transformational" for his lifestyle: Getting his exercise — which varies from HIIT workouts and boot camp classes to pilates and yoga — done in the morning allows him to be in the office by 7:30 a.m. and fuels him with energy for the whole day. It also frees up time in the evening to spend with his family.

As for the trick that got him to stick to the routine, Shank found the solution in gym classes.

Sam Shank Headshot

"It was committing to an exercise class," he said. "There's a penalty if you don't show up at Equinox or ClassPass ... and there's an expectation where you see the same people all the time."

"That commitment was key for me," he added.

Shank launched the online travel company in January 2011. Users are able to book discounted, last-minute hotel rooms via its app or mobile site, and they can access a wide range of hotels across international destinations.

Read more: The CEO of a top travel app says the best boutique hotels all have the same 2 things in common, no matter what city they're in

His morning routine puts him in good company. Early mornings are a common feature of many successful peoples' routines, from actors like Melissa McCarthy, who gets up at 4:30 a.m. and starts her day with a "carefully curated" routine to CEOs like Tim Cook, who reportedly starts his day at 3:45 a.m.

But a morning workout is just one way in which the CEO is deliberate with his time.

He also noted that he blocks out what he calls "Sam time" on his calendar: two- to three-hour chunks that he purposely leaves unplanned and unscheduled. He uses that time for anything from talking to members of his 260-person team and checking in with mentors to delving into any given detail of his company's work.

"I made it a goal for my assistant to put those in my calendar for five hours a week," Shank explained.

SEE ALSO: I interviewed over 300 highly successful people about their morning routines — here are 5 things they do to have a focused and productive day, every day

READ MORE: What your daily routine should look like, according to science

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Costco is selling a massive tub of Nutella that weighs almost 7 pounds for $22 (COST)

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  • Costco is selling a tub of Nutella that weighs in at nearly seven pounds. 
  • The 6.6-pound Nutella bucket can be purchased in stores or online for $21.99. 
  • It is hard to find a better deal on Nutella than this mega-tub of the beloved spread, with customers paying $3.33 per pound.

Costco is selling some super-sized Nutella. 

The bulk retailer has a 6.6-pound tub of Nutella spread for $21.99, a deal spotted by BestProducts.com. 

If you order online— where the bucket of hazelnut spread is available for purchase — you have to pay an extra $3 delivery fee. Costco doesn't require a membership to shop online, but a membership is necessary to access two-day delivery. 

Read more:We compared Costco and Jet prices to see which company offers better deals. Here's the verdict.

It's hard to find a better deal on Nutella than this mega-tub of the beloved goop, with customers paying $3.33 per pound of Nutella. Costco shoppers can also purchase two 33.5-ounce jars of Nutella for $13.99. 

Costco is known for its low prices and sometimes surprising deals. Now, alongside wine, coffins, and engagement rings, you can pick up a massive Nutella bucket. 

SEE ALSO: 7 things you probably didn't know you can buy at Costco

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The amazing video game marathon that raises millions of dollars for charity returns today — here's how to tune in

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  • Awesome Games Done Quick, a charity video game marathon, begins on January 6th and will run until midnight on January 13th.
  • The event runs nonstop all week — all told, it'll run for 168 consecutive hours of gameplay, with players and games swapping out over the course of the marathon.  
  • Players will be speedrunning dozens of different games, and can earn extra money for charity by beating them as quickly as possible.
  • Games Done Quick, the organization behind AGDQ, has helped raise nearly $17 million for charity since it started the event in 2011.

Awesome Games Done Quick, a charity speedrunning marathon, begins today, January 6th, and will run for 168 consecutive hours until midnight on January 13th. The week-long event will benefit Doctors without Borders and the Prevent Cancer Foundation, and is the largest single global fundraising event for both organizations.

Hundreds of players and video game fans will fill the Marriot Bethesda North Hotel in Rockville, Maryland for AGDQ this week, and hundreds of thousands more will tune in to watch on Amazon's Twitch.

Games Done Quick, the organization behind the marathon, has raised more than $17 million for charity since 2011. Along with AGDQ, the organization hosts Summer Games Done Quick, and has put together smaller fundraisers for specific causes, like 2017's Harvey Relief Done Quick.

The speedrunning community is a group of hardcore video game players dedicated to beating specific games as quickly as possible. Dedicated players spend hours studying the fastest routes and techniques to shave fractions of seconds off their times, and share video and strategy of their runs online. Speed Demos Archive, a sister site to Games Done Quick, archives videos of record speed runs, and serves as an organizing base for the community.

The selection of games this year spans every console generation, from the original "Sonic the Hedgehog" to more recent hits like "Super Mario Odyssey" and "Dead Cells."

Viewers at home can tune in and donate throughout the week-long event, and messages attached to their donations are read live on the broadcast. AGDQ 2018 peaked at 198,744 concurrent viewers and brought in a record $2.295 million from 32,368 different donors. The largest individual donation was $108.092.32.

As one of the community's premiere events, Awesome Games Done Quick has been home to multiple world record runs, too. Some players offer additional donation incentives, like completing their game on a harder difficulty if a viewer donates more than $100 during their session.

Below you can watch AGDQ starting at 11:30 a.m. PT on January, 6th; be sure to check the schedule to find specific times for each game, including how long the run will take.

Awesome Games Done Quick mobilizes a unique community that is also crazy entertaining to help raise millions for great causes. No matter how the gaming actually goes, everybody winds up a winner. 

SEE ALSO: Watch this gamer beat 'Super Mario Bros.' in under five minutes and set a new world record in the process

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There's only a few days left to sign up for AmEx's limited-edition rose gold credit card

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  • When American Express launched its new American Express® Gold Card in October, it also introduced a special, limited-edition rose gold version of the card. 
  • The new design — the regular version of the new Gold Card is a metallic gold — comes in addition to competitive rewards on restaurants and supermarkets in the US, airfare, and more.
  • You can request the rose gold card if you're a new applicant, or currently hold AmEx's previous version of the card, the Premier Rewards Gold. 
  • However, the rose gold version is only available until January 9.
  • New cardholders can also get a unique, limited-time welcome bonus if they apply before the same date.
  • Here's what you need to know about the AmEx Gold Card.

When American Express reintroduced its Gold Card this fall, the card got a fantastic set of improvements to its rewards earning scheme and suite of benefits.

As part of the overhaul, AmEx unveiled a new chic, gold-colored metal version of the card, similar to the Platinum Card's design. AmEx also introduced a limited-edition rose gold variation of the card — it was so popular that AmEx encountered shipping delays.

Current and new users are able request either the regular or the rose gold card. However, the latter option goes away on January 9.

That means that this is the last chance to get the rose gold version of the card.

Also going away January 9: a unique limited-time bonus for new members. If you don't have the Gold Card and open one by then, AmEx will "pick up the tip" when you dine out. During the first three months, new card members will get 20% back on US restaurant charges — in the form of a statement credit — up to $100 total.

Learn more:Amex is issuing a limited-edition rose gold version of its brand-new Gold Card — here's how to request one in 5 minutes

That's in addition to the standard welcome bonus of 25,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $2,000 in the first three months. Some people may be targeted for a higher bonus.

The new Gold Card earns 4x Membership Rewards points per dollar spent at US restaurants, as well as on the first $25,000 spent each calendar year at US supermarkets (and 1x point after that). It also earns 3x points on flights booked directly through the airline, and 1x point on everything else.

That makes it among the most competitive cards for restaurants and supermarkets in the US — since it's possible to get more than 1¢ of value for each Membership Rewards point, the value is more than 4% back.

Learn more: AmEx Platinum cardholders can potentially get the $200 airline fee credit twice in their first year — here's how

The Gold Card features several other benefits, too. Cardholders can get up to $120 in dining credits a year — split into $10 chunks each month — when they use their cards to order food through Grubhub or Seamless, or at The Cheesecake Factory, Ruth's Chris Steak House, and participating Shake Shack locations. That's in addition to a $100 airline fee credit each calendar year.

The card's annual fee is $250, but between the annual credits and the rewards, it should be easy to earn enough value to more than make up for that.

Click here to learn more about the American Express Gold Card from Insider Picks' partner: The Points Guy.

SEE ALSO: The AmEx Platinum is available to active duty servicemembers at no annual fee — but even with the fee, the credit card is a great value

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Acting chief of staff Mulvaney says shut down negotiations have stalled: 'We're back at square one'

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  • Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney says negotiations to end the government shutdown are "back at square one."
  • Mulvaney says Democrats will not negotiate around the White House's demand for $5.6 billion for border security. 
  • The statements come a day after Saturday's shutdown negotiations, which President Donald Trump and Mulvaney said were unproductive. 

Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney took to Sunday morning TV to deliver the White House's grim message on the partial government shutdown: "We're back at square one."

"We're at $5.6 billion. And I think they're at zero," Mulvaney told Chuck Todd on "Meet the Press," referencing the $5.6 billion that the White House is demanding be added to the spending bill that currently has Congress in a deadlock and the federal government at a partial standstill. 

"It’s status quo," he continued, "it's the same money you had from last year. The status quo is not acceptable right now and that's all the Democrats are offering us.”

The statements come a day after Vice President Mike Pence and other top Trump administration staff met with Democratic Congressional leaders in an attempt to find a middle ground on a spending bill. Following the meeting, Pence's office called the discussions "productive," but Trump tweeted "Not much headway made today," and Mulvaney told CNN "the opening line from one of the lead Democrat negotiators was that they were not there to talk about any agreement."

Read more:Trump and Pence offered completely different accounts of a meeting to resolve the government shutdown

Another meeting is scheduled for Sunday, but Trump himself said he didn't expect much progress to be made.

The White House and Democratic leaders are currently locked in a battle over funding for border security. The Trump administration is demanding a $5.6 billion allocation for its proposed "wall," while Democrats are attempting to negotiate that number down.

On CNN's State of the Union, Democratic Senator Doug Jones of Alabama echoed the party line, saying, "I do not believe that holding government workers and all those affected by government services hostage is the way to determine how best to secure our borders, which everyone wants."

An estimated 800,000 Americans are currently furloughed or working without pay until the shutdown ends.

SEE ALSO: SHUTDOWN SHOWDOWN: Trump threatens to close the government for 'months or even years' to get border-wall funding

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Jeremy Corbyn allies deny Labour plans to abstain on May's Brexit deal

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  • Senior Labour source denies claim that Labour plans to abstain on the upcoming vote on May's Brexit deal.
  • A website known to be close to Corbyn's senior team claimed the party could abstain in order to force the DUP to abandon May's government and force a general election.
  • Any abstention by Labour MPs could allow May to pass her deal with the EU. 
  • However a source close to Corbyn told Business Insider that the claims have "no basis in fact."

LONDON — A senior Labour source close to the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has dismissed suggestions that the party will abstain on the upcoming meaningful vote on the Brexit deal as having "no basis in fact."

A post published on Sunday by the website Skwawkbox, which is known to be close to figures in Corbyn's senior team, suggested that the party could abstain on the vote in order to secure support from the Democratic Unionist Party for triggering an early general election.

However, a source close to Corbyn told Business Insider that the claim about Labour's Brexit tactics "has no basis in fact."

"This piece doesn't represent our position at all," the source said.

"The story has no basis in fact. It is not a scenario anyone is thinking about."

The DUP, which props up May's minority government, has promised to vote against May's deal when it comes before Parliament later this month but withdraw its support from the government entirely if the vote on the deal passes.

This has led to the suggestion that Labour could abstain in order to force a fatal blow to May's governing majority.

"The key to Labour’s tactics over the coming two weeks or so will be the DUP," the website wrote on Sunday.

"Labour could not support May’s deal – but an abstention on [the meaningful vote] would bring things to the point where the DUP would be faced with a choice between bringing down the government or living with a backstop that would put it on a probably permanently-different basis to the rest of the UK...

"This could see a no-confidence vote in play, probably on Jan 22 – opening the door to a general election by 21 March and the opportunity for a Corbyn government to seek an extension to Article 50 when the EU commission meets that week."

Skwawkbox

The claim comes as the party comes under growing pressure to back a second Brexit referendum.

The Shadow International Trade Secretary Barry Gardiner told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show that backing a so-called People's Vote now would "divide" the country.

"It is the responsibility of government to unite the country not divide it," he said, adding that an incoming Labour government would instead seek to negotiate "a different, better deal," with the EU.

The Shadow Foreign Secretary also accused the People's Vote campaign of using the issue to attack the Labour party.

"I think some people within the People’s Vote movement seem to think that their purpose is to slap the Labour party around," she told BBC 5Live’s Pienaar’s Politics.

Sources close to the Labour leader have previously told Business Insider that they are extremely reluctant to back another referendum.

They claim the party has conducted private polling and focus groups in key marginal seats the party is targeting, which suggest that doing so could cost Labour the next general election.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Anthony Scaramucci claims Trump isn't a nationalist: 'He likes saying that because it irks these intellectual elitists'

Jeremy Corbyn allies deny Labour plans to abstain on May's Brexit deal

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Jeremy Corbyn

  • Senior Labour source denies claim that Labour plans to abstain on the upcoming vote on May's Brexit deal.
  • A website known to be close to Corbyn's senior team claimed the party could abstain in order to force the DUP to abandon May's government and force a general election.
  • Any abstention by Labour MPs could allow May to pass her deal with the EU. 
  • However a source close to Corbyn told Business Insider that the claims have "no basis in fact."

LONDON — A senior Labour source close to the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has dismissed suggestions that the party will abstain on the upcoming meaningful vote on the Brexit deal as having "no basis in fact."

A post published on Sunday by the website Skwawkbox, which is known to be close to figures in Corbyn's senior team, suggested that the party could abstain on the vote in order to secure support from the Democratic Unionist Party for triggering an early general election.

However, a source close to Corbyn told Business Insider that the claim about Labour's Brexit tactics "has no basis in fact."

"This piece doesn't represent our position at all," the source said.

"The story has no basis in fact. It is not a scenario anyone is thinking about."

The DUP, which props up May's minority government, has promised to vote against May's deal when it comes before Parliament later this month but withdraw its support from the government entirely if the vote on the deal passes.

This has led to the suggestion that Labour could abstain in order to force a fatal blow to May's governing majority.

"The key to Labour’s tactics over the coming two weeks or so will be the DUP," the website wrote on Sunday.

"Labour could not support May’s deal – but an abstention on [the meaningful vote] would bring things to the point where the DUP would be faced with a choice between bringing down the government or living with a backstop that would put it on a probably permanently-different basis to the rest of the UK...

"This could see a no-confidence vote in play, probably on Jan 22 – opening the door to a general election by 21 March and the opportunity for a Corbyn government to seek an extension to Article 50 when the EU commission meets that week."

abstain

The claim comes as the party comes under growing pressure to back a second Brexit referendum.

The Shadow International Trade Secretary Barry Gardiner told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show that backing a so-called People's Vote now would "divide" the country.

"It is the responsibility of government to unite the country not divide it," he said, adding that an incoming Labour government would instead seek to negotiate "a different, better deal," with the EU.

The Shadow Foreign Secretary also accused the People's Vote campaign of using the issue to attack the Labour party.

"I think some people within the People’s Vote movement seem to think that their purpose is to slap the Labour party around," she told BBC 5Live’s Pienaar’s Politics.

Sources close to the Labour leader have previously told Business Insider that they are extremely reluctant to back another referendum.

They claim the party has conducted private polling and focus groups in key marginal seats the party is targeting, which suggest that doing so could cost Labour the next general election.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Anthony Scaramucci claims Trump isn't a nationalist: 'He likes saying that because it irks these intellectual elitists'


Prepaid card transactions will hit $396 billion by 2022 — and new players like Apple, Amazon, and Venmo are trying to gain share

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This is a preview of a research report from Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service. To learn more about Business Insider Intelligence, click here.

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The US prepaid card ecosystem is huge, with 10.7 billion prepaid card transactions made in 2016 reaching $290 billion. And it’s shifting focus from low-income, un- and underbanked consumers toward millennials and higher-income adults.

But as the market evolves, legacy prepaid issuers, like Green Dot, are under threat. The market is becoming more competitive as tech companies like Apple, Square, and Venmo develop their own prepaid offerings, likely as part of a push to drive customers to engage with their core peer-to-peer (P2P) transfer or digital wallet apps. These players’ robust digital offerings and ability to offer prepaid services for lower, or no fees are undercutting legacy businesses. And on top of crowding, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is implementing regulations next year that could impact some issuers’ monetization strategies.

As a result, the US prepaid card market is becoming an increasingly complicated space for issuers to navigate, so prepaid issuers need to rethink their strategies to best attract consumers. Companies can attract a bigger user base if they target younger users from both low-income and high-income segments. They should also provide convenient offerings, that integrate digital features to make account information accessible, to cater to young consumers’ preferences.

Business Insider Intelligence has put together a detailed report that explores the evolving prepaid card industry, identifies how issuers can maintain profitability in a market that’s being challenged by new players and impending government regulations, and evaluates various paths to success.

Here are some key takeaways from the report:

  • There were 10.7 billion prepaid card transactions worth $290 billion in 2016, according to The Federal Reserve. Business Insider Intelligence expects that to grow to $396 billion by 2022. 
  • The prepaid space has historically been filled with incumbents like Green Dot. But new players, like Apple, Amazon, and Venmo, are trying to gain share, which is pushing large prepaid firms to merge or acquire one another to grow.
  • Issuers can adapt to the change in the space, and grow their share of the market, by providing convenient, multichannel access, and doing so in a way that facilitates profitability. Targeting younger consumers, both from the underbanked and high-income segments, as well as accessing users from physical as well as digital channels, can help facilitate this growth.

In full, the report:

  • Sizes the US prepaid card market and estimates its future trajectory.
  • Identifies industry leaders and the newcomers to prepaid that are threatening their market share.
  • Evaluates growth factors and inhibitors that are increasing competition in the space.
  • Issues recommendations and strategies that issuers can implement to stay ahead in such a rapidly shifting space.

Subscribe to an All-Access pass to Business Insider Intelligence and gain immediate access to:

This report and more than 250 other expertly researched reports
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Salesforce’s CEO sets $20 billion sales target for 2022 (CRM)

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  • Mark Benioff, Salesforce’s founder, chairman and co-CEO, said he’s targeting $20 billion in sales by 2022 in an interview with CNBC.
  • Salesforce had $10.48 billion in sales in 2018, nearly a 25% increase from 2017.
  • In March, Salesforce acquired MuleSoft, a tech company that allows developers to connect different apps together, in a deal valued at $6.5 billion.

The calendar might have just flipped to 2019, but Salesforce’s Mark Benioff already has expectations for 2022.

The founder, chairman and co-CEO of the San Francisco-based software company said he’s targeting $20 billion in sales for 2022 in an interview with CNBC.

Salesforce had $10.48 billion in sales in 2018, a 24.88% uptick from 2017.

Read more:The rise of Marc Benioff, the bombastic Salesforce CEO who's buying up Time Magazine for $190 million

Benioff’s goal for 2022 is roughly on par with the growth of the company’s sales in recent years. Since 2014, Salesforce has increased sales by over 106%.

However, the company had a volatile end to 2018. After Salesforce stock reached a company-high of $160 per share in September, its value dropped nearly 24% in the ensuing months. Still, Salesforce shares jumped 5% after the company offered a ‘beat and raise’ in its third-quarter earnings report at the end of November. Salesforce shares are currently valued at $137.96.

A key part of Salesforce’s continued growth will be MuleSoft, which it acquired last year for a deal valued at $6.5 billion. MuleSoft offers cloud services, like Salesforce, to allow developers to connect different apps together.

SEE ALSO: Salesforce has lost nearly 24% of its value since September — here's why Wall Street has high hopes for its Tuesday earnings report

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NOW WATCH: The equity chief at $6.3 trillion BlackRock weighs in on the trade war, a possible recession, and offers her best investing advice for a tricky 2019 landscape

What Andrew Cuomo's plan to end the L train closure means for cheaper rent

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  • New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Thursday that New York City's L train would not shut down for 15 months as previously planned.
  • While some residents are rejoicing that their commute will no longer be impacted, experts say the change in plan could drive up rental prices substantially.
  • Residents who have already secured cheaper rent as a result of the planned closures could also see prices rise, according to a real estate lawyer. 

Since New York City's Metropolitan Transit Authority announced it would be closing its L train — a major transit link between areas of Brooklyn and Manhattan — rental prices in the impacted neighborhoods have dropped substantially as landlords lowered rent to entice new residents and convince others to stay. 

These lower rents came into question on Thursday after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo halted plans to close the subway route and announced that the city would be using new technology, used in Europe for tunnel construction, to avoid having to fully close the line. 

Officials had said in 2016 that the L train would need to be shut down starting in April so that the MTA could repair flood damage left over from Hurricane Sandy. 250,000 people commute via the L train daily. 

Read more: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo axes plan to shut down the L Train, saves Brooklynites from commuting hell

Experts are expecting rental prices to shoot back up as a result, and some say that those residents who have already secured cheaper rents could also be impacted.

Michael Lefkowitz, a real estate lawyer at New York-based firm Rosenberg & Estis, told Business Insider that it is likely that some landlords would have included concession clauses in their leases. These clauses might say, for example, that the lower rents being offered are dependent on the L train closing down. Now that the train line is no longer slated to close, tenants may not be eligible for those deals anymore. 

"It all depends on how any of these concession clauses have been drafted," he said. "If there is no contingency on whether the L train closed, then the rent is lower."

Those who don't have such clauses in their leases have gotten lucky, experts say. 

"Renters who have managed to negotiate deals in recent months have struck gold,"StreetEasy's senior economist, Grant Long, said in a comment emailed to Business Insider on Thursday.

Long said that rents in North Brooklyn have fallen a cumulative 1.5% since the shutdown was first announced in April 2016, while rents in the rest of the borough have increased by a cumulative 3.3%.

"I think some people got a very nice, happy new year gift," Dave Maundrell, executive vice president of new developments for Brooklyn and Queens at brokerage firm CitiHabitats, told Business Insider on Thursday. 

Micahel Allen, executive manager of sales at Douglas Elliman, echoed this.

"Tenants who signed leases in the last year or so are patting themselves on the back right now," he said in an email to Business Insider on Friday. 

Once a lease has been executed by both parties, providing there are no clauses, the terms are binding.

"The landlord would not be able to renegotiate the terms during the lease period,"Jessica Peters, a real estate broker for Douglas Elliman in Williamsburg, told Business Insider. 

The only way a landlord could wriggle out of these terms is when the lease expires, she said. At this point, residents could see prices shooting back up.

"Concessions are probably going to get reduced quickly," Maundrell said. "And when leases expire, previous concessions are going to burn off, without question." 

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DOUBLE DOINK: Eagles win Wild Card after Bears kicker's game-winning field goal bounces twice off the goal post

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  • The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Chicago Bears, 16-15, in the Wild Card to advance in the playoffs.
  • Bears kicker Cody Parkey missed the go-ahead field goal in the final seconds when the ball hit the upright, then took a bad bounce on the crossbar.

The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Chicago Bears, 16-15, to advance in the Wild Card after Bears kicker Cody Parkey missed the go-ahead field goal in the final seconds.

In a low-scoring affair, Nick Foles led the go-ahead drive in the final minutes, hitting Golden Tate for the go-ahead touchdown to make it 16-15 with one minute to play. Running back Wendell Smallwood was stopped short of the goal line on the two-point conversion.

The Bears took over with less than a minute remaining, needing only to get into field goal range. Tarik Cohen helped their cause with a 35-yard kick return, then Mitch Trubisky made several big throws, including a 25-yard completion to Allen Robinson to get into range.

With ten seconds remaining, the Bears went for the field goal on 4th-and-2. The Eagles iced Parkey on his first attempt (which went through the goal posts). On Parkey's second attempt, he hit the upright, and the ball took a bad bounce on the crossbar and fell out. No good. Eagles win.

The ball might have fallen through the uprights if it had just landed differently on the cross.

Foles and the Eagles' magic continues, as they're through to the second round to play the New Orleans Saints.

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NOW WATCH: Bernie Madoff was arrested 10 years ago today — here's what his life is like in prison

Lady Gaga's blue ball gown looks almost exactly like one Judy Garland wore over half a decade ago in 'A Star Is Born'

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  • Lady Gaga wore a blue Valentino gown to the 2019 Golden Globes on Sunday.
  • Her statement dress looks a lot like the gown that Judy Garland wore in the "A Star Is Born" movie from 1954.
  • Both dresses expose the shoulders and have a ball-gown silhouette, as well as a voluminous skirt and fitted bodice.   
  • Gaga's dress, which matched with her new hair color, makes a statement of its own as a modern update of the look.

Lady Gaga turned heads as she arrived at the 76th annual Golden Globes, held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills on Sunday, wearing a voluminous, powder-blue ball gown.

Gaga's couture Valentino dress is reminiscent of a gown that Judy Garland wore in the "A Star Is Born" movie from over half a century ago.

Lady Gaga Judy Garland

Garland and Gaga both played leading roles in versions of "A Star Is Born." Garland played the role of Vicki Lester in the 1954 movie, while Gaga played Ally opposite Bradley Cooper in the role of Jack, in the 2018 version.

Their dresses may have a slightly different color — Gaga's is a much brighter shade of blue, while Garland's appears to be more of a silvery blue — but have similar details.

Each dress bares the shoulders and has a ball-gown silhouette, as well as a voluminous skirt and fitted bodice. But instead of gathered fabric at the shoulders, as on Garland's dress, Gaga's gown has low, puffy sleeves that fall as far as her wrists — perhaps a modern update of Garland's elbow-length gloves.

It appears to have a much longer train, too.

Judy Garland in

Their accessories are also slightly different. Although she wore diamond stud earrings like Garland, Gaga wore a Tiffany diamond necklace, and wore delicate bracelets on her wrists.

Like the latest version of "A Star Is Born," Gaga's outfit is a modern take on a classic, and no less worthy of attention.

Visit INSIDER's homepage for more.

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