Because too much of a good thing is always trouble (especially on Wall Street), market watchers are warning of a new tech bubble after Airbnb’s monster IPO on Thursday. The home-sharing app’s shares rose more than 112% to...more
12/11/2020
/ AirBnB ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Apple ,
Big Tech ,
Bitcoin ,
Bonds ,
Competition ,
Cookies ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Data Privacy ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
European Central Bank ,
Facebook ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Financial Stimulus ,
France ,
Google ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
MassMutual ,
MasterCard ,
Online Platforms ,
Pornography ,
Trade Agreements ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Unemployment ,
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
A new bill that has now passed the House would further increase oversight of “Chinese companies listed on American stock markets, the latest attempt by the United States to scrutinize financial ties with China.” The law...more
12/3/2020
/ CARES Act ,
China ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Financial Markets ,
Foreign Corporations ,
Google ,
Interest Rates ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Listing Rules ,
Mortgages ,
NLRB ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Refinancing ,
Salesforce ,
Securities Regulation ,
Slack ,
Surveillance ,
Theranos ,
UPS ,
Wall Street
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
Wall Street had another come-to-Jesus day over the troubling recent Covid trends, as surging cases throughout the U.S. and across Europe drove markets to their worst performance since June....more
10/30/2020
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Apple ,
Boeing ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Economic Downturn ,
Facebook ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Markets ,
Google ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Infectious Diseases ,
iPhone ,
Layoffs ,
Oil Prices ,
PayPal ,
Qualcomm ,
Stock Prices ,
Tiffany and Company ,
Trump Administration ,
Twitter
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
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
Here’s a fun little exercise. Pull up a chart of Tuesday's market activity, and see if you can pinpoint the exact moment the White House announced to the world that it was pulling support for another Covid stimulus bill...more
10/8/2020
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Apple ,
Banks ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
EU ,
Facebook ,
Financial Stimulus ,
General Electric ,
Google ,
H-1B ,
Highly-Skilled Workers Visa ,
Monopolization ,
Relief Measures ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Trade Deficit ,
Trump Administration ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Wells Notice
House leaders are out with a new Covid stimulus effort—slimmed down from earlier packages but, at $2.2 trillion, a sizeable proposal that they say “is needed to support American households and businesses still experiencing...more
9/29/2020
/ Airlines ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Android ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
App Store ,
Apple ,
Audi ,
CEOs ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Diversity ,
EPIC ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Furloughs ,
Germany ,
Google ,
Google Play Store ,
Insider Trading ,
Mobile Apps ,
National Emissions Standards ,
Relief Measures ,
Search Engines ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
United Airlines ,
US Trade Policies
JPMorgan is preparing to finalize a deal with federal prosecutors and regulators in which the bank would pay nearly $1 billion to “settle civil and criminal charges that its traders rigged futures and securities markets”...more
9/24/2020
/ App Store ,
Apple ,
Big Data ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
E-Commerce ,
Electric Vehicles ,
EPIC ,
Facebook ,
Financial Markets ,
Food Supply ,
Futures ,
Global Warming ,
Google ,
Infectious Diseases ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Mars ,
Mobile Apps ,
Oracle ,
Race Discrimination ,
Race Relations ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Violations ,
Spoofing ,
Spotify ,
Stock Prices ,
TikTok ,
Tinder ,
Trump Administration ,
Twitter ,
Wal-Mart ,
Wall Street ,
Wells Fargo
The latest from Fed Chair Powell and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin’s first of several days on the Hill, including their take that the economy is improving but that continued fiscal support—from the Fed and from Congress—was...more
9/23/2020
/ Accounting Fraud ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
China ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Competition ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
E-Commerce ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Employee Definition ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Gig Economy ,
Google ,
Independent Contractors ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Layoffs ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Mobile Devices ,
Ralph Lauren ,
Retailers ,
Supply and Demand ,
Tesla ,
Trump Administration
Microsoft made a huge gaming move on Monday with its $7.5 billion acquisition of ZeniMax Media, the “parent company of gaming studios like Bethesda,” and maker of titles like “The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Doom, Quake and...more
9/22/2020
/ Antitrust Violations ,
BP ,
Chevron ,
Climate Change ,
Comcast ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Digital Downloads ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Dow Jones ,
Due Process ,
Exxon Mobil ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Committee ,
Free Speech ,
Gaming ,
Google ,
Infrastructure ,
Internet Streaming ,
Microsoft ,
Mobile Apps ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Oracle ,
Renewable Energy ,
Royal Dutch Petroleum ,
Stock Prices ,
Tiffany and Company ,
TikTok ,
Trump Administration
The latest on the potential Oracle/TikTok deal includes news that the Treasury Department has added requirements addressing “how TikTok’s data and source code would be handled and secured” to any potential deal that the...more
9/18/2020
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Big Data ,
Blue Bell Creameries ,
BSA/AML ,
China ,
Data Collection ,
Data Management ,
E-Commerce ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Food Contamination ,
Google ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Listeria ,
MetLife ,
Mobile Apps ,
National Security ,
Social Media ,
Stock Prices ,
Telecommuting ,
TikTok ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment ,
Wal-Mart
If not immune to surprise at this point in 2020, that might be the appropriate feeling at the apparent emergence of late-stage suitor Oracle as the winner of the TikTok sweepstakes. Though terms between ByteDance and Oracle...more
9/15/2020
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Biotechnology ,
Cancer ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Freelance Workers ,
General Motors ,
Gilead Sciences ,
Google ,
Infectious Diseases ,
National Emissions Standards ,
Natural Gas ,
NVIDIA ,
Oil & Gas ,
Oracle ,
Popular ,
Rare Earth Metals ,
Securities Fraud ,
Social Media ,
SoftBank ,
Spoofing ,
TikTok ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
White Collar Crimes ,
Woman Board Members
Big win for Qualcomm this week, with a 9th Circuit panel reversing an antitrust verdict against the company that “had threatened the chip maker’s business model.” The appellate court, in flipping the district court’s ruling,...more
8/12/2020
/ Anticompetitive Behavior ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Apple ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Data Collection ,
Facial Recognition Technology ,
First Amendment ,
General Motors ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Google ,
Judicial Proceedings ,
Microchip Technology ,
Mobile Apps ,
Moderna Inc. ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pinterest ,
Qualcomm ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Retailers ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Stocks ,
Telecommunications ,
Tesla ,
Theranos ,
TikTok ,
Vaccinations ,
Web Tracking ,
Wireless Technology
Major shakeup at Ford, where CEO Jim Hackett is out after a three-year stint in which he “achieved mixed results” but didn’t impress Wall Street enough to keep his job. Ford has installed COO James Farley, a Toyota alum who’s...more
8/6/2020
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Violations ,
BP ,
Business Interruption ,
CEOs ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Commercial Insurance Policies ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disney ,
Enforcement Actions ,
EU ,
Financial Markets ,
Fitbit ,
Ford Motor ,
Google ,
Government Investigations ,
Kodak ,
Newspapers ,
Opioid ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Purdue Pharma ,
Revenue ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Share Price
Much more on what to expect from Big Tech’s “Big Tobacco Moment” on the Hill today, at which Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple’s CEOs will endeavor to make the case that their massive companies don’t “stifle rivals and...more
7/30/2020
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Apple ,
Campaign Finance Reform ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Defense Production Act ,
Facebook ,
Federal Loans ,
Federal Reserve ,
FOMC ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Google ,
Kodak ,
Lyft ,
National Security ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Remote Learning ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Uber ,
Unemployment Benefits
The SEC has served Wells notices to Under Armour, warnings that the company and its execs could “face civil-enforcement action related to the sportswear maker’s past accounting practices,” including “the company’s disclosures...more
7/28/2020
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Board of Governors ,
Dairy Farmers ,
Delta Airlines ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Exchange-Traded Products ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Google ,
Grocery Stores ,
Jeff Bezos ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Office Space ,
Popular ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Relief Measures ,
Remote Working ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Telecommunications ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Wal-Mart ,
Wells Fargo ,
Wells Notice
The latest quarterly reporting shows that America’s biggest banks—among them, JPMorgan, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo—are taking self-imposed hits now in anticipation of a “wave of loan losses” later. Those three are...more
7/16/2020
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Apple ,
Automotive Industry ,
Boeing ,
Citigroup ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Data Collection ,
Data Sellers ,
Default ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Economic Downturn ,
Electric Vehicles ,
EU ,
Google ,
Independent Contractors ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Ireland ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Loans ,
Lyft ,
Mobile Apps ,
Popular ,
Retail Market ,
Tax Liability ,
Uber ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wells Fargo ,
YouTube
OPEC and its oil-producing allies (in Russia and elsewhere) are reportedly working on a plan to ease cuts on oil production they agreed upon in April “amid signs that demand is returning to normal levels following...more
7/14/2020
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Disney ,
Exploration and Production Assets ,
Facebook ,
Florida ,
For Profit Colleges ,
France ,
Google ,
Infrastructure ,
Investment Funds ,
Loan Forgiveness ,
Oil & Gas ,
OPEC ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Political Advertising ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Recovery Plans ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Student Loans ,
Tariffs ,
Threshold Requirements ,
Trump Administration
Germany’s Federal Court of Justice upheld a decision by the country’s antitrust watchdog on Tuesday that “Facebook had abused its dominance in social media to illegally harvest data about its users”—a “major victory for...more
6/26/2020
/ CARES Act ,
Chapter 11 ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Data Collection ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Facebook ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Google ,
Johnson & Johnson ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Tariffs