Friday’s jobs report was not only 200,000 jobs below projections for November, but it marked the fifth straight month of a diminished pace of hiring in the United States and brought urgency to facing the reality that there...more
12/7/2020
/ AirBnB ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Architecture ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Asset Purchase Agreements ,
Barnes and Noble ,
Bitcoin ,
Chick-Fil-A ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Drones ,
E-Commerce ,
Employment Discrimination ,
ETFs ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Fuel Efficiency ,
Google ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Job Creation ,
Job Market ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Meat Processing Plants ,
Nissan ,
Price Gouging ,
Real Estate Development ,
Relief Measures ,
Retail Market ,
Unemployment ,
Vanguard
Mere months after an announced major investment in start-up electric truck company Nikola (and the subsequent claims that the company had “exaggerated its capabilities), General Motors announced this week that it had...more
12/1/2020
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Biden Administration ,
Big Tech ,
Bitcoin ,
Business Valuations ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
DoorDash ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Facebook ,
FCC ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
GAO ,
General Motors ,
Hydrogen Power ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Nasdaq ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Retail Sales ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Startups ,
Unemployment
The G-20 held a virtual summit this weekend, and discussions about taming the pandemic and addressing “the global economic damage it has wrought dominated” the meeting....more
11/23/2020
/ AirBnB ,
Airlines ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Biden Administration ,
Bitcoin ,
Black Friday ,
Chapter 11 ,
China ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
France ,
G20 ,
Guitar Center ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Infrastructure ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Refineries ,
Retailers ,
Student Loans
A California appeals court has affirmed a lower court decision requiring Uber and Lyft to “treat their California drivers as employees, providing them with the benefits and wages they are entitled to under state labor law.”...more
10/23/2020
/ 1MDB ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Anticompetitive Behavior ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Bayer ,
Bitcoin ,
Bonuses ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Clawbacks ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employee Definition ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Executive Compensation ,
Facebook ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Gig Economy ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Google ,
Independent Contractors ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Infrastructure ,
Lyft ,
Misclassification ,
Monopolization ,
Opioid ,
PayPal ,
Popular ,
Retail Market ,
Ridesharing ,
Right to Vote ,
Uber ,
Unemployment ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wal-Mart
Still-new TIkTok CEO Kevin Mayer has stepped down, “just months after taking the helm of the viral short video app.” ByteDance had appointed Mayer in May in an effort “to make the case that TikTok operates as a separate...more
8/28/2020
/ Accredited Investors ,
Apple ,
Banks ,
Bitcoin ,
China ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Data Collection ,
Data Mining ,
Disney ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Ford Motor ,
Goods or Services ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Infectious Diseases ,
iPhone ,
Layoffs ,
Mark Zuckerberg ,
Mobile Apps ,
National Security ,
Online Advertisements ,
Remote Working ,
Salesforce ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Social Media ,
Telecommuting ,
TikTok ,
Trump Administration
As expected, the Fed kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday while also signaling that “they would wait to see how the economy fared before making another move”....more
12/12/2019
/ Airplane Accidents ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Bitcoin ,
Boeing ,
Charitable Donations ,
Charitable Organizations ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Dairy Farmers ,
Dairy Farmers of America ,
Deficit Reduction ,
Disney ,
Farms ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
FinCEN ,
General Elections ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Insider Trading ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Internet Streaming ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Joint Venture ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Lost Profits ,
Mobile Devices ,
Nestle ,
Private Equity ,
prohibit ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Race Discrimination ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Religious Institutions ,
Saudi Aramco ,
Stock Prices ,
Suspicious Activities ,
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Virtual Currency
Uber reported another quarter of billion+ dollar losses, but as so many things on Wall Street & Silicon Valley tend to go, the news wasn’t all bad because those numbers were far better than the $5.2 billion it lost in Q2....more
11/5/2019
/ Bitcoin ,
China ,
Currency Exchange ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Economic Reform ,
Exports ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
FSB ,
Imports ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Market Manipulation ,
McDonalds ,
Office Space ,
Oil & Gas ,
Popular ,
Resignation ,
Revenue ,
RMBS ,
Saudi Aramco ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sharing Economy ,
SoftBank ,
Startups ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Wars ,
Uber ,
US Trade Policies
The EU has granted the UK another extension for the Brexit process, giving Britain until January 31 to leave (unless its Parliament passes a divorce deal sooner)....more
10/28/2019
/ Airplane Accidents ,
Aviation Industry ,
Bailout ,
Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
Boeing ,
China ,
Cloud Computing ,
Department of Defense (DOD) ,
Employment Contract ,
EU ,
Exxon Mobil ,
Fashion Industry ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
General Motors ,
H&M ,
Industry Consolidation ,
Labor Relations ,
Louis Vuitton ,
Luxury Goods ,
Microsoft ,
Opportunity Zones ,
Rulemaking Process ,
SoftBank ,
Strike ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tiffany and Company ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Wall Street
Because the Nissan leadership scandal is about as well-contained as Chernobyl in the early days [thanks, HBO], French automaker Renault has voted this morning to remove Chief Executive Thierry Bolloré amid concerns over the...more
10/11/2019
/ Automotive Industry ,
Banks ,
Bitcoin ,
Business Valuations ,
California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) ,
Capital Rules ,
CFTC ,
China ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Commodities ,
Commodity Exchange Act (CEA) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Electricity ,
Ether ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
General Motors ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Investment Banks ,
Labor Relations ,
Layoffs ,
Lenders ,
Liquidity ,
Personal Data ,
PG&E ,
Regulatory Burden ,
Renault-Nissan ,
Reorganizations ,
Retailers ,
Rollbacks ,
Saudi Arabia ,
Saudi Aramco ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
UAW ,
US Trade Policies ,
Victoria Secret ,
Wal-Mart
The US has blacklisted 28 Chinese companies—mostly in the tech sector—over China’s “campaign targeting Uighurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities in the autonomous region of Xingjiang,” a move that’s drawn both...more
10/8/2019
/ Antitrust Litigation ,
Bitcoin ,
Blacklist ,
CEOs ,
China ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Currency Exchange ,
Economic Growth ,
Electricity ,
Employee Benefits ,
EU ,
Exports ,
Farms ,
General Electric ,
Internet Streaming ,
NBC ,
Nissan ,
Pensions ,
Price Manipulation ,
Recessions ,
Renewable Energy ,
Retailers ,
RICO ,
Solar Energy ,
Supply Chain ,
Target ,
Trade Agreements ,
Trade Policy ,
Trade Relations ,
Trading Platforms ,
Trump Administration ,
UK Brexit ,
World Bank
The big takeaway from Day 1 of Fed Chair Powell’s Congressional testimony is that a July rate cut is still definitely on the table, despite last week’s strong US jobs numbers. As the Times puts it, “That the Fed is...more
7/11/2019
/ 1MDB ,
Anti-Money Laundering ,
Bitcoin ,
Capital Raising ,
Corruption ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Digital Currency ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
France ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Huawei ,
Illegal Tipping ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Insider Trading ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Regulation A ,
S&P ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sexual Assault ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Telecommunications ,
Trade Retaliation ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
UNESCO ,
Unfair Trade Practices Act ,
White Collar Crimes
Ford announced major cuts to its European workforce yesterday, announcing that it would reduce its overall headcount there by 1/5 (or about 12,000 workers), roughly half of whom are salaried employees. Ford first revealed the...more
6/28/2019
/ Bitcoin ,
Bonds ,
Capital Gains ,
Data Breach ,
Equifax ,
Facebook ,
Ford Motor ,
G20 ,
Job Creation ,
National Security ,
Native American Issues ,
Nissan ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tax Reform ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment
The DOJ has jumped on board claims made in existing civil class-action lawsuits and is considering criminal price-fixing charges against “some of the biggest American poultry companies, including Tyson Foods and Pilgrim’s...more
6/27/2019
/ Activist Investors ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Bitcoin ,
China ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Data Breach ,
Data-Sharing ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Electronic Medical Records ,
Facebook ,
Food Supply ,
G20 ,
Google ,
Imports ,
Oil & Gas ,
Patient Privacy Rights ,
Price-Fixing ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Retaliation ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
Tyson Foods ,
US Trade Policies
Good news for the country’s biggest banks, as the Fed confirmed on Friday that all “could weather an extreme market shock—including double-digit unemployment and a 50% U.S. stocks decline—and still have enough capital to...more
6/24/2019
/ Banks ,
Bitcoin ,
Caesars ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Federal Reserve ,
Gaming ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Housing Market ,
Insider Trading ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Musical Sound Recordings ,
Ponzi Scheme ,
SAC Capital ,
Stress Tests ,
Toys R Us ,
US v Newman ,
Vacated
Fiat Chrysler and struggling post-Ghosn French automaker Renault are in talks to complete a merger of equals that could “reshape the global automobile industry.” If a deal is reached the combined company would be the third...more
5/28/2019
/ Alibaba ,
Bitcoin ,
Chrysler ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Data Breach ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Fiat ,
Financial Services Industry ,
First American Title Insurance Co. ,
Hong Kong Stock Exchange ,
Huawei ,
Insider Trading ,
IP License ,
Johnson & Johnson ,
Licensing Rights ,
Mortgages ,
Nuisance ,
Opioid ,
Payment Processors ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Public Listing ,
Publishers ,
Renault-Nissan ,
Trump Administration ,
Vulnerability Assessments ,
White Collar Crimes
FCC Chair Ajit Pai gave his agency’s stamp of approval to the pending $26 billion T-Mobile/Sprint merger on Monday, helping move the deal towards completion based on pledges from the companies to develop “a robust 5G network...more
5/21/2019
/ 5G Network ,
Adidas ,
Bitcoin ,
Enforcement Actions ,
ETFs ,
Facebook ,
FCC ,
Financial Markets ,
Fines ,
Ford Motor ,
Foreign Banks ,
Forex ,
Google ,
Huawei ,
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) ,
Layoffs ,
Market Manipulation ,
Nike ,
RBS ,
Secured Overnight Funding Rate (SOFR) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sprint ,
T-Mobile ,
Tariffs ,
Telecommunications ,
UBS ,
US Trade Policies ,
Virtual Currency
In what can only be classified as a second major “Oh yeah? Try this on for size” moment from Jeff Bezos in as many weeks, Amazon has announced that it’s canceling its planned HQ2 project in Queens, NY. Some local activists...more
2/15/2019
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Bitcoin ,
China ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Facebook ,
Federal Funding ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Government Shutdown ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Retail Market ,
Securities Fraud ,
Token Sales ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Unregistered Securities ,
US Trade Policies ,
US-Mexico Border Wall ,
Wall Street
General Motors delivered the harsh news on Monday that it plans to idle five North American factories and cut more than 14,000 jobs in an effort to save costs....more
11/27/2018
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Apple ,
Automotive Industry ,
Bitcoin ,
Campbell Soup Company ,
Citigroup ,
Cyber Monday ,
E-Commerce ,
EURIBOR ,
General Motors ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
iPhone ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Layoffs ,
Manufacturers ,
Mobile Apps
The downfall of Nissan’s Carlos Ghosn continues today with news that Ghosn has been arrested by Japanese prosecutors over the recently revealed whistle-blower complaint alleging that he had “been misrepresenting his salary as...more
11/21/2018
/ Amazon ,
Automotive Industry ,
Bitcoin ,
CEOs ,
Chapter 11 ,
China ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Disney ,
Federal Reserve ,
Film Industry ,
FSB ,
General Electric ,
Indictments ,
Japan ,
Merrill Lynch ,
Nissan ,
Restructuring ,
Sanction Violations ,
Spoofing
A no-deal Brexit wouldn’t merely be a disaster for PM May’s government. It would wreak definite havoc on UK-based companies (and those that do big business there). Here’s what they’re sweating at the moment....more
11/16/2018
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Bitcoin ,
Citibank ,
Derivative Suit ,
E-Cigarettes ,
Elon Musk ,
EU ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
HSBC ,
Interest Rates ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
No-Deal Brexit ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
SIBOR ,
SpaceX ,
Tesla ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Wells Fargo ,
Withdrawal Agreement
As promised, the Fed on Wednesday announced “one of the most significant rollbacks of bank rules” since the White House changed hands in the form of a draft proposal that would loosen capital and liquidity requirements for...more
11/1/2018
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Annuities ,
Bitcoin ,
Capital Requirements ,
Credit Ratings ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Deregulation ,
Digital Taxes ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
General Electric ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Investment ,
Investment Products ,
Life Insurance ,
Liquidity ,
Minimum Wage ,
Moody's ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stocks ,
Technology Sector ,
UK ,
Virtual Currency
The SEC has taken its first enforcement action against a hedge fund over its cryptocurrency investments—namely, falsely holding itself out as the “first regulated fund in the U.S. focused on crypto assets.” It also targeted a...more
9/12/2018
/ Apple ,
Banking Sector ,
Bitcoin ,
China ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Assets ,
Digital Currency ,
Enforcement Actions ,
FCC ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Independent Contractors ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Job Creation ,
Misclassification ,
Mobile Devices ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sprint ,
State Labor Laws ,
T-Mobile ,
Telecommunications ,
Token Sales ,
Trade Relations ,
Uber ,
Unemployment ,
Unregistered Securities ,
Virtual Currency ,
Whistleblowers
So about that whole going private thing. Change of plans for Elon & co. Here’s the inside scoop on the reversal...more
8/27/2018
/ Automotive Industry ,
Bitcoin ,
Bribery ,
China ,
Conglomerates ,
Corruption ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Elon Musk ,
ETFs ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Free Trade Agreements ,
Going-Private Transactions ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Investment ,
Korea ,
Mexico ,
Minority Shareholders ,
NAFTA ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tariffs ,
Tesla ,
Trade Relations ,
US Trade Policies ,
Virtual Currency ,
White Collar Crimes
Here’s all you need to know from the Fed minutes released yesterday, including next month’s rate increase, an apparent plan to continue rate hikes at their gradual pace (unless White House trade policies “scramble their...more
8/23/2018
/ Auto Insurance ,
Bitcoin ,
Blockchain ,
China ,
Chrysler ,
Citigroup ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Disgorgement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
ETFs ,
Fiat ,
Forex ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Market Manipulation ,
Price Manipulation ,
Putative Class Actions ,
S&P ,
Saudi Arabia ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Options ,
Trade Relations ,
US Trade Policies ,
Virtual Currency
Facebook’s disappointing Q2 earnings (and, presumably, some pent-up scandal-fueled anti-‘Book sentiment) sent its stock into freefall yesterday, erasing more than $120 billion from the company’s market value as shares dove...more
7/27/2018
/ Advertising ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Bank of America ,
Barclays ,
Bitcoin ,
Chipotle Grill ,
Commodities ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Earnings Reports ,
Enforcement Actions ,
ETFs ,
EU ,
Facebook ,
Fast-Food Industry ,
Financial Markets ,
Franchises ,
Multidistrict Litigation ,
Nasdaq ,
Price-Fixing ,
Qualcomm ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sinclair Broadcast Group ,
Stock Prices ,
Tariffs ,
Television Programming ,
Trade Relations ,
US Trade Policies