A bad day for J&J in Oklahoma at the close of the state’s trial against Johnson & Johnson means that the company’s on the hook for upwards of $572 million for its role in the opioid crisis that’s decimated swaths of the...more
8/27/2019
/ Argentina ,
China ,
DEA ,
Drug & Alcohol Abuse ,
Exports ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Fraud ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Heinz ,
IMF ,
Imports ,
Johnson & Johnson ,
Kraft ,
Loans ,
Marijuana ,
Martin Act ,
Nissan ,
Opioid ,
Pain Management ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Resignation ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Retaliation ,
Trade Wars ,
US Trade Policies ,
White Collar Crimes
Amgen will pay $13.4 billion in cash to buy psoriasis treatment Otezla, a deal that will “pave the way for Bristol-Myers Squibb to complete its acquisition of Celgene” by addressing “regulatory concerns over their union”....more
8/26/2019
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Amgen ,
Automotive Industry ,
Boeing ,
Bristol-Myers Squibb ,
China ,
Credit Monitoring ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Discriminatory Lending Practices ,
Economic Development ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Federal Reserve ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Adviser ,
Financial Markets ,
Hasbro ,
Imports ,
Japan ,
Life Sciences ,
Motor Vehicles ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Product Defects ,
Restitution ,
Solar Panels ,
Suppliers ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Tesla ,
Trade Agreements ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
UK Brexit ,
Wal-Mart ,
Wealth Management ,
Wells Fargo
Wall Street’s post-tariff-delay jubilance was short lived, as an inverted bond yield curve reared its ugly head yesterday, sending shares plummeting on a brutal day across all markets....more
8/15/2019
/ Accounting Fraud ,
Alibaba ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Basketball ,
Bernie Madoff ,
China ,
FCC ,
Financial Markets ,
General Electric ,
Prospectus ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Recessions ,
Securities Violations ,
Sharing Economy ,
Sprint ,
T-Mobile ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Retaliation ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
Warren Buffett ,
Whistleblowers
In the internal battle between keeping China off balance and keeping Wall Street happy, the White House has decided once again to focus on the latter, walking back the latest tariff escalation by postponing promised...more
8/14/2019
/ Banks ,
CBS ,
China ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Credit Scores ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Data Management ,
Facebook ,
Fannie Mae ,
Freddie Mac ,
Generation Z ,
Imports ,
Instagram ,
Libor ,
Mortgages ,
Multidistrict Litigation ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Tax Evasion ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies ,
Viacom
A volatile August on Wall Street has insiders asking whether we should be taking our cues from 1998 or 2007.
With that in mind, our financial term of the week is “countercyclical capital buffer,” a wonkish special for you...more
8/13/2019
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Automotive Industry ,
Big Tech ,
Bonds ,
Brick-and-Mortar Stores ,
Capital Requirements ,
CBS ,
China ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Data Breach ,
Deregulation ,
Donald Trump ,
Economic Downturn ,
Educational Institutions ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Embedded Tweets ,
ETFs ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
General Motors ,
Oil & Gas ,
Predatory Lending ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Retail Market ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Silicon Valley ,
Social Networks ,
Student Loans ,
Tariffs ,
Tumblr ,
Verizon ,
Viacom ,
Volcker Rule ,
Volkswagen ,
Wall Street
Les Wexner, the billionaire CEO of Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works parent company L Brands, has accused his former money manager and confidant, Jeffrey Epstein, of misappropriating “vast sums of money” from Wexner and...more
8/8/2019
/ Amazon ,
America Invents Act ,
Banks ,
Bonds ,
Broadcom ,
China ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Federal Reserve ,
FedEx ,
Financial Crisis ,
Financial Markets ,
Foreign Currency ,
Government Agencies ,
Huawei ,
Misappropriation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Rating Agencies ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Shipping ,
Symantec ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
Victoria Secret ,
Wall Street ,
Wealth Management ,
White Collar Crimes
Last week’s wild economic ride combined with China’s currency-devaluing response (and, arguably, months more of trade-war-driven global uncertainty) led to the worst day on Wall Street since last December, with the Dow...more
8/6/2019
/ China ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Currency Manipulation ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Exports ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Transactions ,
Foreign Currency ,
Grand Juries ,
Imports ,
Marriott ,
Media ,
Money Services Business ,
Opioid ,
Pain Management ,
Publishers ,
Quarterly Report ,
Subpoenas ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Retaliation ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
Tyson Foods ,
US Trade Policies
HSBC chief John Flint is out just 18 months after he assumed the role as head of the London-based bank, likely due to clashes with Board Chair Mark Tucker and the lender’s focus on expanding in China. HSBC also announced it...more
8/5/2019
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Blockchain ,
Bonds ,
Cancer ,
CBS ,
China ,
Credit Default Swaps ,
Derivatives ,
Digital Currency ,
Economic Downturn ,
EU ,
Exports ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Foreign Currency ,
HSBC ,
IMF ,
Imports ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Job Creation ,
Johnson & Johnson ,
Layoffs ,
Patent Applications ,
S&P ,
Talent Management ,
Tariffs ,
Toxic Exposure ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment ,
Viacom ,
Wal-Mart ,
Wall Street ,
World Bank
Apparently hoping to urge China off of its new go-slow tactic, the White House is applying its maximum pressure campaign again, announcing yesterday that the US will “impose a 10 percent tariff on an additional $300 billion...more
8/2/2019
/ Antitrust Investigations ,
Aviation Industry ,
Bank of England ,
Barclays ,
Benchmarks ,
Boeing ,
Bondholders ,
China ,
Facebook ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Foreign Currency ,
General Electric ,
Hedge Funds ,
Interest Rates ,
Job Creation ,
Layoffs ,
Puerto Rico ,
Restructuring ,
Stock Markets ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Retaliation ,
Trade Wars ,
Unemployment ,
US Trade Policies
The Fed delivered on its expected quarter-point rate cut yesterday, the first decrease in short term rates since 2008. Fed Chair Powell cited “the implications of global developments for the economic outlook as well as muted...more
8/1/2019
/ Aluminum Sales ,
Bank of England ,
China ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Currency Fluctuation ,
Elon Musk ,
Energy Sector ,
Exports ,
Federal Reserve ,
Foreign Currency ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Investment Fraud ,
Nordstrom Inc. ,
Prior Authorization ,
Retail Market ,
Share Price ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
SolarCity ,
Tariffs ,
Tesla ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
UK Brexit ,
Unemployment ,
US Trade Policies ,
White Collar Crimes
Financial giant Capital One, the fifth-largest credit card issuer in the U.S., announced on Monday that a hacker illegally accessed “the personal information of approximately 106 million card customers and applicants, one of...more
7/30/2019
/ Agribusiness ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Background Checks ,
Boeing ,
Capital One ,
China ,
Citigroup ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Data Breach ,
Farms ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Financial Planning ,
Grocery Stores ,
Investors' Exchange (IEX) ,
Layoffs ,
Ryanair ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Wars ,
Trading Platforms ,
Uber ,
US Trade Policies ,
Whole Foods
The announcement itself isn’t a shock, but given the potential players, it’s headline-worthy anyway: the DOJ announced yesterday that it’s officially opening an antitrust probe into Big Tech companies and “whether they had...more
7/24/2019
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Banks ,
Big Tech ,
Bonds ,
China ,
DaimlerChrysler ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Financial Transactions ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Interest Rates ,
Living Will ,
Money Laundering ,
Sharing Economy ,
Snapchat ,
Sprint ,
T-Mobile ,
Tariffs ,
Telecommunications ,
Trade Relations ,
US Trade Policies
Credit bureau Equifax is closing in on an agreement with federal and state authorities in which it would pay $650-700 million to resolve claims related to the massive breach it revealed in September 2017 that exposed personal...more
7/22/2019
/ Brick-and-Mortar Stores ,
China ,
Commercial Leases ,
Data Breach ,
E-Commerce ,
Equifax ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FOMC ,
Foreign Investment ,
Google ,
Johnson & Johnson ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Public Health ,
Real Estate Investments ,
Renault-Nissan ,
Rental Property ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Silicon Valley ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
Uber
Netflix has been priming markets for bad news, and it delivered on Wednesday, reporting the loss of 126,000 paid U.S. subscribers in Q2—the company’s first domestic decrease since it started its streaming service 12 years...more
7/18/2019
/ Antitrust Violations ,
Bernie Madoff ,
China ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Cryptocurrency ,
EU ,
Facebook ,
Huawei ,
Internet Streaming ,
Investment Fraud ,
Netflix ,
Qualcomm ,
Quarterly Report ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Wars ,
US Trade Policies
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is the latest prominent government official to express concerns about Facebook’s coming Libra launch. Speaking at a briefing yesterday, Mnuchin focused on national security issues related to...more
7/16/2019
/ Agribusiness ,
Agricultural Sector ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Bayer ,
Broadcom ,
Cancer ,
Charles Schwab ,
China ,
Chipotle Grill ,
CMBS ,
Cryptocurrency ,
E-Commerce ,
Facebook ,
Farms ,
Fraud ,
Monsanto ,
National Security ,
RMBS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Senate Banking Committee ,
Subsidiaries ,
Symantec ,
Target ,
Tariffs ,
Toxic Exposure ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
USAA ,
Wal-Mart ,
Wealth Management
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
Big Euro (and global) financial news emerging on Tuesday, as European officials rather surprisingly nominated current IMF chief Christine Lagarde to succeed Mario Draghi as European Central Bank president....more
7/3/2019
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Aviation Industry ,
Bank of America ,
Benchmarks ,
China ,
Electric Vehicles ,
EU ,
European Central Bank ,
Federal Reserve ,
Foreign Relations ,
Government Aid ,
Hedge Funds ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Lloyds Banking Group ,
Prison ,
Quarterly Report ,
Rabobank ,
Saudi Arabia ,
Tariffs ,
Tesla ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies
OPEC nations met yesterday and agreed to continue their production cutting goals into 2020 in an effort to, according to the experts, “prop[] up prices while demand for oil is weakening”....more
7/2/2019
/ Apple ,
Beer ,
Beverage Manufacturers ,
Capital Requirements ,
Chapter 11 ,
China ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Deutsche Bank ,
ETFs ,
EURIBOR ,
Exploration and Production Assets ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
FinTech ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Mark Zuckerberg ,
Nasdaq ,
Oil & Gas ,
OPEC ,
Regulation A ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) ,
Startups ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Wars ,
UK ,
US Trade Policies
The US and China agreed to resume trade talks after a 7-week hiatus, “averting for now an escalation of their multibillion-dollar tariff war that has roiled global markets and threatened the future of the world’s two largest...more
7/1/2019
/ Arbitration Agreements ,
Boeing ,
China ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Deportation ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Exports ,
Franchisee ,
Hospitality Industry ,
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ,
Immigration Reform ,
Imports ,
Internships ,
Martin Shkreli ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Non-Disclosure Agreement ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Semiconductors ,
Subway ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Theranos ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Retaliation ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
Undocumented Immigrants ,
US Trade Policies ,
YouTube
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
In case you haven’t had your eye on matters of global intrigue of late, figured we’d get you a bit caught up so that you know why your gas prices are heading north in the next couple of weeks....more
6/17/2019
/ Alternative Investment Funds ,
AT&T ,
Corporate Bonds ,
Credit Suisse ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Deficit Reduction ,
Facebook ,
Federal Budget ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Italy ,
Judges ,
KPMG ,
MasterCard ,
Oil & Gas ,
Oil Prices ,
PayPal ,
Plant Based Products ,
Recusal ,
RMBS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Tariffs ,
Taxi Cabs ,
Time Warner ,
Tyson Foods ,
Uber ,
Unfair Pricing ,
Visa Inc ,
Wall Street
Sprint and T-Mobile are facing new merger headwinds in the form of a NY & CA state AG-led lawsuit in the Southern District of New York that seeks to block the deal, alleging that it would cost customers of the companies “at...more
6/12/2019
/ Activist Investors ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Apple ,
China ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Google ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Loans ,
On-Demand Services ,
Raytheon ,
Slack ,
Sprint ,
T-Mobile ,
Tariffs ,
Telecommunications ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
Wells Fargo ,
Wireless Industry
Opioid manufacturer Insys Therapeutics, which just last week agreed to pay $225 million to “settle a federal investigation into the marketing practices for its powerful fentanyl painkiller,” has filed for bankruptcy...more
6/11/2019
/ Aerospace ,
Chapter 11 ,
Chrysler ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Defense Sector ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Elon Musk ,
Fast Track Process ,
Federal Reserve ,
Fiat ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Insider Trading ,
Interest Rates ,
Mexico ,
Money Laundering ,
Nasdaq ,
NYSE ,
Opioid ,
Pain Management ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Raytheon ,
Regulation A ,
Renault-Nissan ,
Shutterfly ,
Tariffs ,
Tesla ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Wars ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies
The White House announced on Friday that the US and Mexico reached a deal that it deemed sufficient to keep from levying the threatened 5% tariffs on Mexican goods that was set to take effect today. As details of that deal...more
6/10/2019
/ Aerospace ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
China ,
Cross-Border Transactions ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Defense Sector ,
Digital Currency ,
Economic Sanctions ,
FedEx ,
Huawei ,
Imports ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Job Creation ,
Mexico ,
National Security ,
Raytheon ,
Salesforce ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
Uber ,
Unemployment ,
US Trade Policies ,
Virtual Currency
Jobs Report Friday again! Lots to look for in the numbers this month, especially considering the economic uncertainty that’s defined the past few weeks....more
6/7/2019
/ 5G Network ,
Add-ons ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Barnes and Noble ,
Bribery ,
Chrysler ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Critical Infrastructure Sectors ,
FCC ,
Fiat ,
Financial Institutions ,
Going-Private Transactions ,
Google ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Huawei ,
Job Creation ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Mexico ,
Opioid ,
Renault-Nissan ,
Robocalling ,
Tariffs ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment ,
US Trade Policies ,
Wells Fargo