Fed officials wrapped their June meeting yesterday with the news that “they expected to raise interest rates from rock bottom sooner than they had previously forecast.” That translates to a potential two incremental increases...more
6/17/2021
/ Affordable Housing ,
Anticompetitive Behavior ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Clean Energy ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Federal Reserve ,
Interest Rates ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Merger Controls ,
Microsoft ,
Real Estate Development ,
Rebranding ,
Southwest Airlines ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) ,
Victoria Secret
The Times digs into what it’s calling private equity’s “conquer[ing of] the American tax system”—where “slight-of-hand tax-avoidance strategies” are so “aggressive” and pervasive that “at least three private equity officials...more
6/14/2021
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Apple ,
Bitcoin ,
Classified Information ,
Climate Change ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Exxon Mobil ,
FBI ,
Gag Orders ,
Hackers ,
Internet Retailers ,
Lumber Industry ,
McDonalds ,
Microsoft ,
Pipelines ,
Private Equity ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) ,
Supply Chain ,
Tax Avoidance
In a rare cyber win for the good guys (at least one that’s publicly acknowledged), the DOJ revealed on Monday that it “had seized much of the ransom that a major U.S. pipeline operator had paid last month to a Russian hacking...more
6/8/2021
/ 10b5-1 Plans ,
Apple ,
Commodities ,
Credit Suisse ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Data Collection ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Digital Wallets ,
Hackers ,
Insider Trading ,
Internet Memes ,
Jeff Bezos ,
Oil & Gas ,
Outer Space ,
Pipelines ,
Private Equity ,
Ransomware ,
Russia ,
Stock Prices ,
Tesla
Big Tech quarterly earnings season kicked off this week, and Alphabet got things started with a massive $55B in revenue, up 34% from a year earlier thanks largely to a return of its online advertising business and “continued...more
4/28/2021
/ Alphabet Company ,
Biden Administration ,
Big Tech ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Credit Suisse ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Earnings Reports ,
Economic Growth ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Innovative Technology ,
IRS ,
Manufacturers ,
Microchip Technology ,
Microsoft ,
Online Advertisements ,
Property Managers ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Supply Chain ,
Tax Evasion ,
Tax Fraud
Mega rail news to start our week, as Canadian Pacific will joined forces with Kansas City Southern in a $25 billion deal, “creating the first railroad to traverse Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.” Industry watchers suggest that...more
3/22/2021
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Violations ,
AstraZeneca ,
Capital Requirements ,
CFTC ,
Coinbase ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Data Collection ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
E-Commerce ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) ,
Tesla ,
Turkey ,
Vaccinations ,
Visa Inc ,
Volkswagen
Six-hundred million in its latest funding round means that payments company Stripe’s valuation now tops $95 billion, “making it the most valuable start-up in the United States”....more
3/15/2021
/ American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ,
Biden Administration ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Credit Suisse ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
E-Commerce ,
Economic Downturn ,
Federal Funding ,
Foreign Policy ,
Google ,
Imports ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Microsoft ,
Mobile Apps ,
Retail Market ,
Shopify ,
Startups ,
Tax Evasion ,
Telecommunications ,
Theranos ,
Tribal Governments ,
Whistleblowers
After more than half a year without a leader, the WTO is poised to welcome its “first woman and first African” to the role in the form of Nigerian economist and former finance minister Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. ...more
2/16/2021
/ American Express ,
Apple ,
Biden Administration ,
Big Tech ,
Bristol-Myers Squibb ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Credit Cards ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Downturn ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Fraudulent Marketing ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Google ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Infrastructure ,
Interest Rates ,
Investment Portfolios ,
Nissan ,
OCC ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Recovery Plans ,
Robinhood Financial ,
Sanofi ,
Severe Weather ,
Small Business ,
Tesla ,
White Collar Crimes ,
WTO
Bumble hit markets on Thursday with considerable buzz, and markets validated that love, with company shares opening a mind-boggling $33 above its already-increased offering price. ...more
2/12/2021
/ Asset Management ,
Bank of New York (BNY) Mellon ,
Biden Administration ,
Bitcoin ,
Bloomberg Inc. ,
CBO Report ,
Corporate Restructuring ,
Credit Suisse ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Dating Services ,
Deficit Reduction ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disney ,
Financial Crisis ,
GameStop ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Layoffs ,
Market Manipulation ,
Microchip Technology ,
Oil & Gas ,
RMBS ,
Robinhood Financial ,
Royal Dutch Petroleum ,
Social Media ,
Supply Chain
Friday’s “anemic” jobs report (just 49,000 jobs added in January, and precious few of those in the private sector) “underscored the pandemic’s brutal damage to the job market” and likely made President Biden’s sale of his...more
2/8/2021
/ Alphabet Company ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Apple ,
Biden Administration ,
Boeing ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Defamation ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
DTCC ,
Elon Musk ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Ford Motor ,
General Electric ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Legislative Agendas ,
National Emissions Standards ,
Popular ,
SoftBank ,
Stock Trades ,
Super Bowl ,
Twitter ,
Unemployment
GameStop’s continuing surge this week has gone from something of a lark to a collective small-trader effort to stick it to Wall Street hedge funds and institutionalists, with share-price fundamentals discarded entirely in...more
1/28/2021
/ Apple ,
Bitcoin ,
Boeing ,
Chrysler ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Downturn ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fiat ,
Financial Markets ,
GameStop ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Interest Rates ,
iPhone ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Market Manipulation ,
Netflix ,
Quarterly Report ,
Reddit ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Short Selling ,
Stock Prices
Aaaand we’re back. Hope all have stayed safe and healthy. Let’s get to business. Friday’s Jobs Report saw the U.S. recovery thrown in reverse, with employers cutting 140,000 jobs in December amidst “rising coronavirus cases...more
1/11/2021
/ ATMs ,
Bitcoin ,
Boeing ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Credit Suisse ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Facebook ,
Foreign Policy ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Theranos ,
Twitter ,
UK Brexit ,
Unemployment
Drugmaker AstraZeneca agreed on Saturday to buy biopharma company Alexion for $39 billion in cash and stock. In the deal—the “biggest by a health care company this year”—will help AstraZeneca expand into the immunology...more
12/14/2020
/ AirBnB ,
Alexion ,
Alphabet Company ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
AstraZeneca ,
Biden Administration ,
Certiorari ,
Class Certification ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Congressional Committees ,
Corporate Sales Transactions ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disney ,
DoorDash ,
EU ,
Gaming ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Hackers ,
Housing Market ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Life Sciences ,
Real Estate Transactions ,
Retail Sales ,
Russia ,
SCOTUS ,
Stock Prices ,
Trade Negotiations ,
UK Brexit
After an ill-fated multi-year effort to develop a self-driving car, Uber (which spent “hundreds of millions of dollars” on the project) is “handing the autonomous vehicle effort over to a Silicon Valley start-up”—Aurora—along...more
12/8/2020
/ Automotive Industry ,
Capital Raising ,
Common Stock ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dish Network ,
Driverless Cars ,
Failure to Comply ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FTC Act ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Loan Modifications ,
MasterCard ,
Meat Processing Plants ,
Mortgage Servicers ,
Musical Sound Recordings ,
Pornography ,
Poultry ,
Price-Fixing ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Startups ,
Target ,
TCPA ,
Telemarketing ,
Tesla ,
Theranos ,
TikTok ,
Uber ,
Visa Inc
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
In yet another blow to the suffering movie theater industry, Warner Bros. announced on Thursday that all of its 2021 release calendar—including “big-budget extravaganzas like ‘Dune’ and ‘The Matrix 4’”—will arrive...more
12/4/2020
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Automotive Industry ,
Biden Administration ,
Capital One ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Exploration and Production Assets ,
Facebook ,
Foreign Workers ,
H-1B ,
Huawei ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Internet Streaming ,
Job Market ,
Lame Duck Session ,
Movies ,
Oil & Gas ,
OPEC ,
Paris Agreement ,
Podcasts ,
Russia ,
Ryanair ,
Senate Confirmation Hearings ,
Unemployment ,
Warner Brothers Entertainment
Former Fed Chair Janet Yellen is “poised to become the first female Treasury secretary and one of few people to ever have wielded economic power from the White House, the Federal Reserve and the president’s cabinet.” If...more
11/24/2020
/ Biden Administration ,
BlackRock ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
E-Commerce ,
Economic Downturn ,
Elon Musk ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Distress ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Foreign Relations ,
Fuel Efficiency ,
General Motors ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Janet Yellen ,
Macy's ,
National Emissions Standards ,
Retailers ,
Tesla ,
Trump Administration ,
Visa Inc
The FAA has once again given Boeing the green light to send its troubled 737 Max models into the sky, “20 months after it was grounded following two fatal crashes blamed on faulty software and a host of company and government...more
11/19/2020
/ Aircraft ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Apple ,
Aviation Industry ,
Boeing ,
Coca Cola ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Discrimination ,
E-Commerce ,
Economic Downturn ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Financial Markets ,
Glass Ceiling ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Google ,
Infectious Diseases ,
iPhone ,
IRS ,
Jeffrey Epstein ,
Layoffs ,
MLB ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stock Prices ,
Target ,
Tax Court ,
Victoria Secret
A handful of tech’s biggest leaders—the CEOs of Facebook, Twitter, and Google, to be precise—descend upon the Hill today for a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on content monitoring and Section 230, the “slim and powerful...more
10/28/2020
/ Business Closures ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Growth ,
Facebook ,
Financial Stimulus ,
GDP ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Google ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Instant Messaging Apps ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Mobile Apps ,
Netherlands ,
Tiffany and Company ,
Trump Administration ,
Twitter ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
Uber ,
User-Generated Content ,
Visa Inc
PE-backed Inspire Brands is in negotiations to take over Dunkin’ Brands Group, the parent of both Dunkin’ and Baskin-Robbins, in a deal valued at nearly $9 billion. Inspire includes Buffalo Wild Wings and Jimmy John’s among...more
10/26/2020
/ 1MDB ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Anti-Corruption ,
AT&T ,
Bayer ,
Chapter 11 ,
CNN ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Compliance Monitoring ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dunkin' Donuts ,
Employee Rights ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Guitar Center ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Internet Streaming ,
Investment ,
Monsanto ,
National Security ,
Presidential Elections ,
Private Equity ,
Right to Vote ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Startups ,
TikTok ,
Trump Administration ,
Wage and Hour
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
The Justice Department on Wednesday announced an $8.3 billion settlement with Purdue Pharma as part of a deal in which the company will plead guilty to criminal charges “related to its marketing of the addictive painkiller”...more
10/22/2020
/ Aircraft ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Boeing ,
Bonds ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Drug & Alcohol Abuse ,
EU ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Foreign Investment ,
Google ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Meat Processing Plants ,
Opioid ,
OSHA ,
Pain Management ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Profits ,
Purdue Pharma ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Social Networks ,
Startups ,
Tesla
The Google antitrust waiting game wrapped on Tuesday with the DOJ filing a federal D.C.-based lawsuit against the Alphabet unit, accusing the company “of using several exclusive business contacts and agreements to lock out...more
10/21/2020
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Apple ,
Bribery ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Exclusive Dealing Agreements ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Google ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Mobile Apps ,
Oil & Gas ,
Popular ,
Relief Measures ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Trump Administration ,
Unregistered Securities
The WTO—already on shaky ground with the White House—did little to endear itself on Tuesday with a decision giving the EU “permission to impose tariffs on $4 billion worth of American products annually in retaliation for...more
10/14/2020
/ 5G Network ,
Airbus ,
Aircraft ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Apple ,
Bank of America ,
Boeing ,
Citigroup ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
E-Commerce ,
EU ,
Google ,
Investment Funds ,
iPhone ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Libor ,
Meat Processing Plants ,
Movie Theaters ,
Poultry ,
Price-Fixing ,
Quarterly Report ,
Retaliatory Tariffs ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Tariffs ,
Theranos ,
Trade Retaliation ,
Trade Wars ,
US Trade Policies ,
WTO
Yesterday’s jobless numbers were down a bit from a week earlier but still topped 800,000 for the 4th week in a row. “Claims remain above the pre-pandemic peak of 695,000 and are higher than in any previous recession for...more
10/9/2020
/ 1MDB ,
AT&T ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Downturn ,
Federal Bans ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Google ,
Infectious Diseases ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Layoffs ,
Lobbying ,
Malaysia ,
National Security ,
NLRB ,
Political Campaigns ,
Recovery Plans ,
Relief Measures ,
Restructuring ,
Sovereign Wealth Funds ,
TikTok ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Unions ,
Warner Brothers Entertainment ,
White Collar Crimes
Federal regulators—including the Federal Reserve and the OCC—have fined Citigroup $400 million over “longstanding” failures in the areas of risk management, data governance, and internal controls. In addition to the fine, the...more
10/8/2020
/ Agribusiness ,
Airlines ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Big Tech ,
Bonds ,
Citigroup ,
Corporate Governance ,
Data Management ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
E-Commerce ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Stimulus ,
FinTech ,
Information Governance ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Internal Controls ,
Layoffs ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Meat Processing Plants ,
OCC ,
Popular ,
Poultry ,
Price-Fixing ,
Recovery Plans ,
Relief Measures ,
Retail Market ,
Risk Management ,
Stock Prices ,
TikTok ,
Trump Administration ,
Wells Fargo