This Dec. 2 marks the 40th anniversary of Marty Feldman’s death. Of the dozen or so people I’ve recently informed of this factoid, most had the same reaction — a slightly confused expression, followed by some variation of “Really? He’s been gone that long?” The others just stared blankly at me for a few seconds before the named clicked. “Oh,” they said. “That guy with the eyes?”

Yep, that guy with the eyes.

The late British comedian’s wonky, bugged-out orbs were his trademark, a perpetual sight gag (no pun intended) that made every line he delivered seem hysterically funny, even when it wasn’t necessarily intended as such. Those eyes lent Igor (pronounced EYE-gor), Feldman’s Hollywood breakthrough role in Mel Brooks’ 1974 film Young Frankenstein, a wonderful mixture of goofiness and menace — indeed, Gene Wilder specifically wrote the part of the hunchbacked henchman with him in mind, after catching a broadcast of the short-lived variety show The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine on late-night TV.

Those eyes provided significant grist for humorous riffage in his own posthumously published autobiography eYE Marty, as well as inspiration for “Marty Feldman Eyes,” a Dr. Demento-approved 1981 novelty spoof of Kim Carnes’ “Bette Davis Eyes” waxed by the immortal Bruce “Baby Man” Baum with Little Roger & the Goosebumps.

But there was so much more to Feldman than his eyes, which Brooks once likened to “hard-boiled eggs that somebody painted eyeballs on and didn’t paint them on right.” Long before he became a TV and film star, Feldman was an in-demand writer for British radio and TV. He and writing partner Barry Took penned scripts for the popular Granada Television sitcoms The Army Game and Bootsie and Snudge, as well as the first three series of the BBC Radio sketch comedy series Round the Horne. The latter program, which in its mid-1960s heyday drew 15 million listeners per episode, bridged the gap between The Goon Show and Monty Python’s Flying Circus with its fast-paced gags and its satirical references to contemporary and political events, as well as its radical-for-the-time use of camp humor and sexual innuendo.

At a time when homosexuality was still illegal in Great Britain, Feldman and Took regularly worked Polari — a form of slang popular in British gay and theatrical subculture — into their sketches for Round the Horne characters Julian and Sandy, an exceedingly flamboyant pair of out-of-work actors portrayed by Hugh Paddick and Kenneth Williams. It was a brilliantly subversive gambit; not only did the Polari dialogue introduce much of the show’s audience to all manner of raunchy gay humor, but BBC executives couldn’t object to its usage, because to do so would be to admit that they themselves were conversant in gay slang. (And why might that be, eh?) Julian and Sandy became so popular with British listeners that some historians have credited their Round the Horne sketches as an influential factor in the gradual repeal of Britain’s anti-gay laws, which began in 1967.

Marty Feldman, circa 1975. Photo by Getty Images

Feldman wasn’t gay, but he felt an affinity for persecuted minorities, something he attributed to having felt like an outsider from an early age. The initial cause of his sense of “otherness” wasn’t his eyes — which wouldn’t reach their famous state of protrusion until his mid-20s, when thyroid surgery caused them to bulge— but rather his Jewishness. Born in London’s East End in 1934 to Jewish immigrants from Ukraine, Feldman was usually the only Jew in the dozen or so schools he attended (many of which he either ran away or was expelled from).

“I didn’t do Bible class because I was a Jew,” he recalled in eYE Marty. “They didn’t know what to do with me, so they would just give me extra Maths. The Bible must have been hard work because God knows Maths was.”

Comedy was an escape for Feldman, both from the grimness of his urban surroundings and the cruelty of his teachers and fellow students. Though he would later come to idolize Buster Keaton (and would eventually be buried near him at Forest Lawn Memorial-Parks in the Hollywood Hills), his initial comedic touchstones were Laurel and Hardy and Danny Kaye. After seeing the latter at the London Palladium, young Feldman made his first attempt at standup comedy, telling jokes at a bar mitzvah for pocket money. His act, taken wholesale from Kaye’s performance, along with jokes “nicked” from Max Miller, Jack Carson and Mickey Rooney, wasn’t well-received by the audience.

“I didn’t see anything incongruous in a 12-year-old smoking a cigarette and talking about my wife,” he’d later recall. “I couldn’t understand why they’d got annoyed with me!”

Feldman’s other early love was jazz, and he approached the form (and the trumpet in particular) with a similar mixture of enthusiasm and cluelessness. Having dropped out of school for good shortly before his 15th birthday, he decided to “be” Miles Davis, though he spent significantly more time ingesting gin and Benzedrine than actually practicing his instrument. He found some gigs during a yearlong sojourn in Paris, but those were due more to his chutzpah than any discernible talent.

Marty Feldman with his wife Lauretta Sullivan, 1970. Photo by Getty Images

“I was so bad,” he later wrote, “and would always say to the rest of the band that they would have to carry me a bit to get going, because the chest was weak from the TB and it still had a hold on me, but once I got going I would catch up.” (As you may have guessed, Feldman never actually suffered from tuberculosis.)

Ironically, Feldman left his biggest musical mark not on jazz, but on rock and (eventually) rap. Back in the recording studio after catching a screening of Young Frankenstein, members of the band Aerosmith were still in stitches over Igor instructing Gene Wilder’s Dr. Frankenstein to “walk this way,” and Dr. Frankenstein mimicking Igor’s humpbacked limp. Their producer Jack Douglas thought the phrase might make a good title for the funky instrumental that the band was working on. A flurry of Steven Tyler lyrics later, and one of Aerosmith’s signature anthems was born. A No. 10 hit in 1976, “Walk This Way” would chart even higher a decade later, when rappers Run-D.M.C. covered it with assistance from Tyler and Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry.

Throughout all his musical misadventures — and similarly ill-fated stage stints as everything from a hypnotist’s assistant to one-third of a comedy trio that filled the gaps between dance numbers in a traveling burlesque revue called Saucy Girls of 1952 — Feldman amused himself by writing poetry and comedy sketches. Scottish comedy writer John Law took an interest in Feldman after catching his act at a Saucy Girls performance, and helped steer him into writing for radio shows. His first full-time writing gig was the BBC Light Programme radio show Educating Archie, starring a ventriloquist and his dummy. Though Feldman bristled at the absurdity of a ventriloquist act performing on the radio — and was rather creeped out by the dummy — the enormously popular show soon led to better projects and better money.

By 1966, he’d become the chief writer and script editor of The Frost Report, the BBC1 satirical show that introduced the talents of John Cleese, Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett to British television audiences, and featured a stable of talented writers included John Law as well as Graham Chapman, Michael Palin and Terry Jones. Palin and Jones, who would go on to form Monty Python’s Flying Circus with Cleese and Chapman, took Feldman’s support as major validation at a time when they were still the new kids on the BBC block.

“That was the first real encouragement we ever had,” Palin recalled decades later in an interview with author Robert Ross for his book Marty Feldman: The Biography of a Comedy Legend. “To get a few words of praise from someone as good as Marty was amazing.”

Feldman’s turn on the other side of the camera finally came in late 1967, when Chapman, Cleese and future Goodies member Tim Brooke-Taylor insisted that he co-star with them in what would become ITV’s At Last the 1948 Show, despite producer David Frost’s unease at the prospect.

“Tim told me that Frost said that my ‘grotesque looks’ would put the public off and thus sink the show,” Feldman later wrote. For his part, Feldman thought doing some comedic acting would be a “giggle,” and that he’d soon be able to return to writing full-time. But while At Last the 1948 Show is largely remembered today as the immediate precursor to Python, it was also the show that turned Feldman into an unlikely star. Far from putting off the public, Feldman’s oddball looks — along with his loopy charm and expert comedic timing — proved popular enough to earn him a BBC series of his own (Marty) as well as the lead role in the 1970 film comedy Every Home Should Have One.

While American audiences tend to remember Feldman primarily for his supporting roles in Young Frankenstein, Mel Brooks’ Silent Movie and Gene Wilder’s The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes’ Smarter Brother, it’s worth tracking down Every Home Should Have One to see how well he could carry a film by himself. Co-written by Feldman with Took and Herbert Kretzmer, the film is a witty low-budget send-up of both contemporary television ads and the “clean up television” campaigns mounted by conservative activists like Mary Whitehouse.

Feldman plays an advertising man who, encouraged by the example of his swinging boss Shelley Berman, has an affair with his family’s Swedish au pair and nearly loses his wife and son in the process. The film nicely showcases Feldman’s gift for Keaton-esque physical comedy, as well as his warm, endearing presence; despite Frost’s concerns about Feldman’s looks, he’s charming and charismatic enough here to convince the viewer that Julie Ege (who plays the au pair) would actually find him attractive.

With its whimsical satire and modest conceptual reach, Every Home Should Have One should have been a good a template for Feldman to follow when — following his success in Brooks’ films — Universal Pictures signed him to direct five films. Unfortunately, the two films Feldman directed (and wrote) for Universal before his death, 1977’s The Last Remake of Beau Geste and 1980’s In God We Tru$t were massive misfires undone by inconsistent jokes, unwieldy concepts and satire too broad by half. Feldman, who had relocated with his wife Lauretta to Hollywood, was especially crushed by the failure of the latter film, which parodied televangelism and religious conservatism at a time when the U.S. was taking a hard turn to the right.

Disillusioned by his Hollywood experience, Feldman intended to return to England and write for television again, but he died of a heart attack at the age of 48 before he could carry out that plan. At the time of his death, he was in Mexico City shooting Yellowbeard, a pirate comedy starring and co-written by Graham Chapman.

Though Feldman wasn’t especially enamored of the script, he gave a typically hilarious performance as the bumbling buccaneer Gilbert, and by all accounts delighted in being surrounded by a cast of friends that included Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Madeline Kahn, Peter Cook, Peter Boyle and Spike Milligan. Though his death cast something of a pall over the film — which completely tanked at the box office — Chapman was philosophical about it. “I try to look at the positive side,” he said later. “I take pleasure knowing that Marty was back on form for his last role.”

While it still feels tragic and unfair that he died so young, Marty Feldman made a substantial contribution to comedy while he was here, which is probably why it doesn’t really feel like he’s been gone for 40 years. “Comedy, like sodomy, is an unnatural act,” Feldman liked to say — but at his bug-eyed best, he made it look like the most natural thing in the world.

The post How Marty Feldman became the great forgotten Jewish comic appeared first on The Forward.

I’m always surprised when friends say they can’t be bothered to make homemade latkes for Hanukkah. Takeout latkes or latkes from the frozen foods section or a mix never taste as good as latkes made from scratch. There’s nothing like a golden potato pancake served hot and crispy right out of the frying pan.

Besides, what’s so complicated? You shred 2½ pounds of potatoes (russet potatoes, also known as Idaho, work best) and a yellow onion or two; combine with three eggs, a teaspoon or more of salt, pepper and ¼ cup of matzo meal or flour, then form the patties and fry.

But the prep and frying are time-consuming, and there are many pitfalls on the path to latke perfection. I should know: I learned the hard way — by screwing up. My mistakes also led me to discover four secrets to making great latkes. Here they are.

The worst latke mistake of all time

Pro tip No. 1: Don’t peel or shred those potatoes until you are ready to cook them.

Once when the first night of Hanukkah fell on a weeknight, I did my latke prep in advance. I figured that would make it faster to get dinner on the table for my hungry family when I got home from work. So I grated the potatoes the night before and refrigerated them overnight.

Unfortunately, once you peel, shred and expose a potato to air, it oxidizes and turns a sickly gray. My prepped potatoes were completely discolored! But I didn’t have time to start over, so I cooked what I had. Then I turned out the lights and we ate by the dim light of two menorah candles so nobody could see what the latkes looked like. 

By the way, if you alternate grating the potatoes with grating the onions, mixing together as you go along, the onions slow down the oxidation of the potatoes.

Preventing a common latke problem

Pro tip No. 2: Squeeze the moisture out of your potatoes and onions to keep them from falling apart.

The first time or two I made latkes, it was hard to keep them in one piece in the frying pan. But there’s an easy solution. Just wring the potatoes and onions out.

That’s right — after shredding them, but before adding other ingredients, take the potatoes and onions a handful at a time and squeeze them over the sink, as if you were wringing out a wet sponge. You won’t believe how much liquid comes out. Some recipes say you need cheesecloth or a fancy bag or gadget to do this. You don’t. Just use your hands. Put a colander in the sink to catch any bits of potato that pop out as you squeeze.

The eggs and matzo meal also help keep the latkes from falling apart. So after you’ve squeezed out the liquid and added the other ingredients, give the mixture a couple of minutes to bind.

By the way, there’s no secret to peeling and grating; not much room for blunder there. Most people use a peeler, but I’m faster with a small, sharp paring knife. (Some cooks don’t peel at all, but I don’t like dirty potato skins.)

As for shredding: box grater or food processor? If the potatoes are hand-grated, the shreds are coarser and the latkes will be lacier. (Perhaps you’ve heard it said that latkes aren’t authentic unless the cook knicks a knuckle or grates a fingernail along with the potatoes. OK, gross! But it happens.)

Using a food processor takes less time than grating by hand. I often use my Cuisinart (with the shredding disk), especially if I’m making a double batch of latkes for a party. If you have folks offering to help, slicing the potatoes and putting them in the machine is an easily delegated chore. Food-processed latkes turn out denser than hand-shredded, but I like them just as much.

Homemade latkes in a frying pan. Photo by Beth Harpaz

Frying the perfect latke

Pro tip No. 3: Getting the oil and the heat right matters — a lot.

I can’t say that I ever fried latkes in olive oil, but that’s because I’d already made that mistake frying chicken cutlets, so I knew it was a bad idea. Olive oil smokes and burns food at a lower temperature than other oils, and you don’t want to trigger the smoke alarm. (Been there.) So, use canola, corn or some other vegetable oil, and turn the heat up to moderately high. The oil must be hot enough to crisp and brown the latke exterior while at the same time cooking the inside through.

You’ll also have better, faster results in a stainless steel or coated fry pan than a heavy cast-iron pan. Again, I know this from experience: I often have one batch going in my cast-iron pan and another in my trusty old Farberware pan. The results taste the same to me; it’s just trickier with cast iron because the pan is heavier and takes longer to heat up.

Heat the pan on high for a few seconds (count to 10) before you pour the oil. And don’t just coat the pan. Put in enough oil — maybe a quarter-inch deep — so that your latkes are about halfway immersed. The oil is hot enough when a droplet of water flicked into the pan sizzles.

If the oil isn’t hot enough, the latkes will take too long to cook, becoming greasy instead of crispy. (Yup, I’ve done that, too.)

Don’t flip until they’re golden brown on the bottom. If you can’t see the edges browning, they’re probably not ready; take a peek before you turn them over. Flip them too soon, and they could fall apart. And don’t crowd them. You might also have to notch the heat up a tad once the pan is full. Give yourself room to slide the spatula under each pancake without disturbing the others.

To shape the latkes and get them in the pan in one piece, I use a big serving spoon to scoop the mixture from the bowl. Sometimes I pat them with my hands before carefully sliding them into the hot oil.

From stove to table: Every minute counts

Pro tip No. 4: Degrease and serve those latkes as fast as you can.

Set up a degreasing station in advance. Spread newspaper or a brown paper bag out on a counter, then cover with a layer of paper towels. As each hot, cooked latke comes out of the pan, lay it carefully on the paper towels. Press another paper towel on the top of each latke to sop up grease from that side, too.

Set the table (or have someone else do it) before you start cooking so you can serve the latkes immediately. You don’t want to be running back and forth for drinks, plates, applesauce and sour cream at this point. Trust me: Latkes taste better piping hot than when they’ve been sitting around for 15 minutes.

But there have been times when I couldn’t serve the latkes right away; guests were running late or some other problem needed tending. So I always preheat the oven to 375 and have a cookie sheet ready in case I need to keep them warm.

If I’m making more than one batch, I try to serve the first batch and make the second batch while the first batch is being eaten, rather than waiting until both batches are done. I usually have enough time to enjoy one latke myself at the table before that second round needs flipping.

By the way, I love latkes so much that I make them year-round, often with recipes that use sweet potatoes or other vegetables. There are vegan (eggless) versions as well. Putting latkes into your regular meal rotation is also a great way to practice your technique. That way, when Hanukkah rolls around, you’ll have mastered all the secrets to potato pancake perfection.

The post Four secrets for making great homemade latkes for Hanukkah appeared first on The Forward.

The U.S. Justice Department’s criminal division is weighing issuing additional guidance for corporations on employees’ use of personal devices and third-party messaging applications, a top official said on Thursday.

The agency is also considering whether it needs to offer more guidance on how prosecutors weigh a company’s executive clawback policies in investigations into corporate misconduct, said Nicole Argentieri, Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the agency’s criminal division.

Kroger Co (KR.N) raised its annual same-store sales and profit forecasts on Thursday, boosted by steady demand for groceries and household essentials, and as it kept prices relatively cheaper than rivals.

Kroger, like Walmart Inc (WMT.N), has been successful in using its scale and large store network to negotiate lower prices with suppliers, helping it pull in more inflation-weary customers to its stores.

“The larger food retailers out there like Walmart, Target and Kroger are gaining market share at the expense of smaller independent and specialty grocers” CFRA Research analyst Arun Sundaram said.

Kroger forecast fiscal 2022 adjusted same-store sales growth of 5.1% to 5.3%, compared with a 4% to 4.5% rise previously. It lifted its annual earnings per share forecast to between $4.05 and $4.15 from $3.95 to $4.05.

In comparison, discount store chain Dollar General Corp (DG.N), which stocks more imported discretionary merchandise, cut its profit forecast on Thursday due to high transportation costs. read more

Shares of Kroger, which is in the process of buying smaller rival Albertsons Cos Inc (ACI.N) in a $25 billion deal, rose 3.6% premarket after the company also beat same-store sales estimates in the third quarter.

Kroger’s blowout quarterly results and forecast are not expected to add to anti-competition concerns regulators have regarding the company’s Albertsons acquisition, according to Sundaram.

“Politicians will use the quarterly results as more ammo to push back on the merger, but the topics the FTC (U.S. Federal Trade Commission) is looking at are more to do with grocery market share and store divestment, rather than Kroger’s top and bottom line this quarter,” Sundaram said.

Kroger’s same-store sales, excluding fuel, climbed 6.9% in the third quarter ended Nov. 5, beating estimates of 4.5%, according to Refinitiv IBES data.

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The S&P 500 and Nasdaq opened higher on Thursday after data showed a mild easing in inflation and solid consumer spending in October, adding to hopes of a likely downshift in the Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate hike policy.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) fell 56.2 points, or 0.16%, at the open to 34533.59. The S&P 500 (.SPX) rose 7.0 points, or 0.17%, at the open to 4087.14​, while the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) rose 7.2 points, or 0.06%, to 11475.172 at the opening bell.

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Ukraine on Thursday urged the European Union to include in its new sanctions package measures that would target Russia’s missile industry, after Moscow’s systematic strikes on the country’s energy grid.

Following military defeats on the ground, Russia began targeting Ukrainian energy facilities, causing severe damage and power shortages ahead of winter.

“I thanked the EU for its continued defence assistance and stressed that next EU sanctions should include those hitting Russia’s missile production industry: it must be put to a halt,” Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on social media.

After meeting EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell at regional security talks in Poland, Kuleba wrote on Twitter that they agreed that “total war against Ukraine means total support for Ukraine”.

On Thursday, Ukraine’s electricity operator said that nearly half of the country’s electricity grid remained damaged after the Russian strikes last week disrupted power to millions of people.

The post Ukraine Urges EU to Sanction Russia’s Missile Industry appeared first on Kyiv Post.

Today, I am thinking about Kevin Allen who is currently serving life in prison for selling $20 worth of marijuana in Louisiana. Marijuana is now legal for medical use in Louisiana. So, why is Kevin Allen still in jail?

Today, I am thinking about Rudi Gammo who is serving five and a half years for operating a Detroit-sanctioned medical dispensary. The father of three is currently incarcerated while marijuana sale in Michigan has become a multibillion-dollar industry.

Today, I am thinking about thousands of people who are arrested for marijuana in this country every year. Today, I am thinking about myself. I spent 25 years in prison for selling three pounds of marijuana. I was not supposed to get out of prison until 2038. I would have spent six decades behind bars; six decades lost with my family.

[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

I had a lot of help and support from many people—an entire community and movement helped me get out. But I left a lot of people behind in prison. I can still hear their voices. They do not have the support that I had.

Even now 25 years later, the main question on my mind is: who has marijuana really harmed? From where I’m standing, it seems to have overwhelmingly harmed people who look like me and come from backgrounds like mine.

On Oct. 6, 2022, President Biden announced a marijuana pardon for people convicted of federal marijuana possession. However, since no one in federal prison is serving sentences for only marijuana possession, zero people will actually be freed. Just the same, this pardon will not do anything for the thousands in city jails, county jails, or state penitentiaries. Those incarcerated on these local levels are not benefiting from this pardon.

Read More: Marijuana Will Be Legal in Half the U.S. If These Ballot Measures Pass in the 2022 Midterms

This pardon was a grand claim, but as you look closer, you realize the reality I have known for a while: The system is rigged.

Even now, I am angry because, after spending 25 years in prison, I was placed on parole for four years. There is no humanity or true consideration for a person’s life when this parole choice was made. It is a shame that the criminal justice system can pick and choose what offense and amount of time someone gets in prison because of financial ability or the color of their skin. In fact, from 1992 to 2021, a majority (nearly 55%) of citizens and legal residents convicted of at least one count of federal marijuana possession were Black or Hispanic, according to a recent report from the U.S. Sentencing Commission.

The president’s reform is a step in the right direction, but until we tell it like it is and say our criminal justice system is broken, we are just playing games, playing politics, and doing nothing but putting a band-aid on a bleeding wound.

President Biden was careful that this pardon was only extended to those in possession of marijuana. What about those sitting in prison for selling marijuana? It doesn’t make any sense that states all over this country are making millions selling marijuana and those same states—like Michigan—have people serving time for doing the same thing. This isn’t new—I’m just trying to understand why when two people do the same thing, one is a criminal and the other is a businessman.

I believe everyone serving time for any marijuana charge deserves to be set free and without a count on their record. I also believe we still need to do more.

The day I found out marijuana was legal and being sold for a profit, I was wondering why I was still in prison. Why did I not only have to still serve my sentence, but also have to continue to fight to receive clemency? I know many people who are still serving time for marijuana charges are asking themselves the same question—that even after marijuana was made legal, they have been left in prison.

Prison is hell on earth. The conditions in most prisons make you feel less than human, make you feel like a dog! You become a number, a punching bag, a statement for a slick politician. You are at mercy of a broken system.

So, what do we need to do? It is bigger than just a marijuana pardon; it is prison reform. It is fixing the broken system that is used to lock up people of color, and destroy their families and communities. It is changing how people who are locked up are treated and giving them access to healthcare and decent food. It is rehabilitation programs, so when they get out of prison, they are set up to succeed and not get trapped by the system that is looking for any reason to lock them up again.

The day I was charged, I thought I was going to be in prison for 45 days. Since it was a simple marijuana charge, I was told by friends and my attorney that it didn’t warrant a serious sentence. I wish I knew then what I know now—the system was not designed to work. Or, at least, not designed to work for a man who looks like me.

A three-pound marijuana sale is why I was standing in front of a judge that day, but it was a tactic like stacking charges that led to a 60-year sentence, or a trap sentencing. When prosecutors “stack” charges, defendants can be sentenced as repeat offenders even if they have no prior convictions. This can lead to a trap sentence—a conviction that does not fit the original crime they were being charged for. Instead, they are now being charged for various additional offenses that may have nothing to do with what they were detained for in the first place.

What President Biden is doing is good, but it is not all that needs to be done. It is one step forward in a long climb toward prison reform. The work I’m doing with organizations like The Last Prisoner Project and the Michael Thompson Clemency Project is making sure that no one is left behind in prison, whether it be for marijuana or because they received a cruel sentence that did not match their crime.

So, today, I am thinking about my former inmates and friends LeRoy Washington and Horace Peterson, who deserve their country to give them a second chance. A fair chance, this time.

Wall Street was set to extend gains on Thursday after data showed a mild easing in inflation and solid consumer spending in October, adding to hopes of a likely downshift in the Federal Reserve’s policy on aggressive rate hikes.

A reading from the Commerce Department showed consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, rose 0.8% after an unrevised 0.6% increase in September.

The core personal consumption expenditure (PCE) index, excluding volatile items, eased to 0.2%, against expectations of 0.3%.

“People are feeling that the worst is behind us,” said Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research in New York.

“Today’s PCE was sort of a confirmation that indeed inflation is coming down and would offer credibility to the likelihood that the Fed will raise rates by 50 basis points in December and then probably end its rate tightening program in the latter part of the first quarter.”

This added to optimism after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday it was time to slow down coming interest rate hikes, while also signaling a protracted economic adjustment amid high borrowing costs.

The S&P 500 index (.SPX) closed above its 200-day moving average for the first time since April in the previous session, while the Nasdaq index (.IXIC) ended over 4% higher.

Powell, however, cautioned that the fight against inflation was far from over and indicated that the terminal rate will be “somewhat higher” than the 4.6% indicated by policymakers in their September projections.

Traders are now seeing a 91% chance that the Fed will increase its key benchmark rate by 50 basis points in December, with the terminal rate expected to peak under 5% in May 2023. FEDWATCH

Investors also await nonfarm payrolls data on Friday, with the ADP report on Wednesday suggesting cooling demand for labor.

Separately, a report from the Labor Department on Thursday showed initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 16,000 to a seasonally adjusted 225,000 for the week ended Nov. 26.

At 8:53 a.m. ET, Dow e-minis were up 38 points, or 0.11%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 12.5 points, or 0.31%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 34.75 points, or 0.29%.

Most megacap technology and growth stocks such as Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O), Apple Inc (AAPL.O), Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) and Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) reversed earlier declines to rise between 0.2% and 0.5% amid a dip in Treasury yields.

Salesforce Inc (CRM.N) lost 7.1% in premarket trading on Thursday after the software maker said Bret Taylor would step down as co-chief executive officer in January and that co-founder Marc Benioff will become the sole CEO.

Costco Wholesale Corp (COST.O) fell 3.2% after the membership-only retail chain reported slower sales growth in November.

Florida’s Chief Financial Officer said on Thursday his department would pull $2 billion worth of its assets managed by BlackRock Inc (BLK.N), the biggest such divestment by a state opposed to the asset manager’s environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) policies.

While the move will hardly dent BlackRock’s $8 trillion in assets, it underscores how the backlash among many Republican politicians, such as those in Florida, against ESG investing, which they see as promoting a “woke agenda” is gathering steam.

Republicans are set to assume control of the House of Representatives in January. This will allow them to hold hearings on ESG and grill the chief executives of BlackRock and other major assets managers about their ESG policies, and also pressure regulators to scrutinize them.

In a statement, Florida CFO Jimmy Patronis said the state’s Treasury, which he oversees, would remove BlackRock as manager of about $600 million of short-term investments and have its custodian freeze $1.43 billion of long-term securities now with BlackRock, with an eye on reallocating the money to other money managers by the start of 2023.

Patronis accused BlackRock of focusing on ESG rather than higher returns for investors.

“Florida’s Treasury Division is divesting from BlackRock because they have openly stated they’ve got other goals than producing returns,” Patronis said in the statement provided by his office.

A BlackRock representative did not immediately comment.

While BlackRock has encouraged portfolio companies to take steps like disclosing more data about their carbon emissions or to add more diverse board members, it has said its efforts are aimed at improving company performance and resisted calls for steps like divesting from oil companies. U.S. Democratic officials have argued BlackRock doesn’t press ESG concerns enough. read more

So far, only Republican-controlled states have made major reallocations away from BlackRock, including $794 million pulled by Louisiana’s treasurer read more and $500 million by Missouri’s treasurer, both in October.

Earlier this week, Republican attorneys general from various states asked a federal regulator to limit Vanguard Group Inc’s activities over ESG concerns, and asked United Parcel Service Inc (UPS.N) and FedEx Corp (FDX.N) to clarify their policies on tracking firearms shipments.