The Fed closed out its April Open Markets Committee by holding rates steady at nearly zero but also pledging to “use its ‘full range of tools’ to insulate the economy as coronavirus lockdowns sap economic growth and throw...more
Oil jumped for a second straight day, with futures near $70/barrel as fallout from the U.S.’s drone-strike assassination of Iran’s Qassem Soleimani continues to raise “the prospect of disruptions in the world’s most important...more
PG&E’s woes continue. Not only is the company still in the midst of a dangerous fire season, but it’s struggling to find a path out of bankruptcy while fending off a growing chorus of cities and state officials “threatening...more
Fed Chair Powell was far from the main attraction on the Hill yesterday, but hey, let’s keep it on topic here and note his belief that the U.S. economy is performing well even as certain risks—including “sluggish growth...more
Jobs Report Friday again. Here’s what we’re watching, including the possibility of scary low numbers thanks to the only-recently-resolved GM strike....more
Fiat Chrysler and France’s Peugeot are in the midst of merger talks that, if finalized, could “create a nearly $50 billion trans-Atlantic auto giant.” One option being bandied about in the “fluid” talks is an “all-share...more
The Federal Reserve took the rare step yesterday of stepping “into financial markets . . . to keep interest rates from rising above its target, the first time the central bank has had to carry out this type of ‘market...more
The White House is reportedly nearing a nationwide ban on most flavored e-cigarettes, a direct response to the recent spate of vaping-related illnesses that have affected hundreds across the country....more
A ruling this morning from South Korea’s top court means that Samsung’s de facto leader, its vice chair and chaebol heir Lee Jae-yong, could be heading back behind bars. The high court found that a lower appeals court “had...more
Man-of-the-people PM Boris Johnson is set to as the Queen to suspend parliament for 5 weeks in an attempt to squeeze the time for opposition to the October 31st Brexit deadline, a move that’s prompting concerns about a...more
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
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
All of that SuperBowling seems to have put activist investor Starboard in the mood for some pizza—specifically, former NFL-partner Papa John’s, which has struggled in the wake of the removal of its founder and namesake John...more
The Federal Reserve bank released the minutes from its September meeting yesterday. Among other things, we learned that the Fed Governors moved largely in lockstep on September’s rate hike, even as the crew was less unanimous...more
In order to comply with European antitrust rulings against it earlier this year, Google announced that for the first time it will begin charging telephone handset manufacturers to install Gmail, Google Maps, and other popular...more
Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger have resigned over the direction of their app, which Facebook acquired in 2012. The pair has reportedly been frustrated of late by the increasing intervention of Facebook’s...more
Jobs report Friday! Here’s what to have in mind while you’re reviewing the numbers – Bloomberg and NYTimes and WSJ and MarketWatch Apple officially hit the stupefying $1 trillion market cap mark yesterday, as its shares rose...more
The US government is officially greenlighting fintech, with both the OCC and the Treasury Department issuing statements yesterday in support of the “emerging corner of the financial sector.” For the OCC, that means welcoming...more
The Journal’s weekend report on Facebook’s role in the unauthorized use of data from 50 million users wreaked havoc on the ‘Book’s stock yesterday, with losses spreading across the tech sector (and fellow its FANGers in...more
New Fed chair Jay Powell made his first official appearance before Congress in that capacity, relaying to the House Financial Services Committee yesterday that he viewed the country’s economic outlook as improved since...more
The Fed’s Open Markets Committee meets today, and despite relatively robust economic numbers of late, the lack of oped-for inflation (among other things) is likely to keep the Fed from moving on interest rates again at this...more
There’s been a hitch in Saudi Aramco’s IPO plans (mind-boggling $2 trillion possible valuation and all): where to list. The frontrunners, by the way, are the London Stock Exchange and the NYSE....more