A quick check-in with Fed Chair Powell, the man trying to help keep the US economy humming—a hard enough job as it is, but one made much tougher by a White House that hasn’t been shy about voicing its near-constant...more
4/15/2019
/ Apple ,
Danske Bank ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Emulex Corp. v Varjabedian ,
Exports ,
False Statements ,
Farm Animals ,
Federal Reserve ,
General Electric ,
KPMG ,
Money Laundering ,
Omissions ,
Ownership of Works ,
Patents ,
Qualcomm ,
Subprime Mortgages ,
Tender Offers ,
Trans-Pacific Partnership ,
Trump Administration ,
Waste Management ,
White Collar Crimes
OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family, reached a deal this week with the state of Oklahoma in which they will pay “$270 million to avoid going to a state court trial over the company’s role in the...more
3/27/2019
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Apple ,
Barclays ,
Boeing ,
China ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Federal Reserve ,
Interest Rates ,
International Trade Commission (ITC) ,
IP License ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Lyft ,
Opioid ,
OxyContin ,
Pain Management ,
Patent Litigation ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Qualcomm ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Share Price ,
Tariffs ,
Theresa May ,
Trade Relations ,
Uber ,
UK Brexit ,
US Trade Policies ,
Wealth Management ,
Whistleblower Awards
Fascinating weekend feature from the Journal exploring how Sears Roebuck went from the dominant force in American retailing to the bankrupt shell of a company that it is now—all within a period of just 40 years....more
3/18/2019
/ #MeToo ,
Allianz ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Apple ,
Cambridge Analytica ,
China ,
Class Action ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Data-Sharing ,
Defamation ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Disclosure ,
Economic Downturn ,
Facebook ,
Gaming ,
Google ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
iPhone ,
Loan Modifications ,
Lyft ,
Mobile Apps ,
Mortgages ,
Patent Infringement ,
Personal Data ,
Qualcomm ,
Retailers ,
Sears ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Social Media ,
Technology Sector ,
UK Brexit ,
Wall Street ,
Wealth Management ,
Wells Fargo
The Federal Reserve released the minutes from its consequential January meeting yesterday, giving us (and Wall Street) the skinny on its new policy course that shifted from gradual regular rate hikes to a wait-and-see...more
2/21/2019
/ 5G Network ,
Apple ,
Credit Cards ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Markets ,
Fines ,
France ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Huawei ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
iPhone ,
Joint Venture ,
Lyft ,
Municipal Bonds ,
Nasdaq ,
Opportunity Zones ,
Sharing Economy ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Evasion ,
Tesla ,
UBS ,
UK Brexit ,
Valuation ,
Venture Capital
CBS isn’t the only large company with insider trading worries. In complaints made public yesterday, the SEC has accused Gene Levoff, Apple’s former senior director of corporate law and corporate secretary, of “repeatedly”...more
2/14/2019
/ Apple ,
Automobile Recall ,
CBS ,
CFTC ,
Class Action ,
Cloud Computing ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Data Breach ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Examination Priorities ,
Ford Motor ,
Futures ,
General Electric ,
Google ,
Housing Market ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Insider Trading ,
Levi Strauss ,
Product Defects ,
Renault-Nissan ,
Retail Market ,
Sears ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Fraud ,
Sprint ,
Swaps ,
T-Mobile ,
Takeover Bids ,
Telecommunications ,
Trade Options ,
Wendy's
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
2/4/2019
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Apple ,
Berkshire Hathaway ,
Citgo ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Confidential Information ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Former Employee ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Google ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Misappropriation ,
Online Marketplace Lending ,
Opioid ,
OxyContin ,
Papa John's International ,
Payday Loans ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Proprietary Information ,
Sears ,
Venezuela
Once again, it’s Jobs Report Friday. Here’s some things to keep in mind as you review the numbers...more
2/1/2019
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Apple ,
Automotive Industry ,
Banks ,
Cartels ,
China ,
Cloud Computing ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
EU ,
Facebook ,
Government Bonds ,
Huawei ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Job Creation ,
Mobile Apps ,
No-Deal Brexit ,
Smartphones ,
T-Mobile ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trade Secrets ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment ,
US Trade Policies
The Fed wrapped its January meetings yesterday with the expected news that it would leave the benchmark interest rate unchanged and the less-guaranteed report that it was hitting the pause button on future rate hikes (aka,...more
1/31/2019
/ Activist Investors ,
Alphabet Company ,
Apple ,
China ,
Commerzbank ,
Data Collection ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Diversity ,
EU ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
GDP ,
General Elections ,
Global Market ,
Google ,
Interest Rates ,
Internal Controls ,
KPMG ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Scams ,
Takeovers ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
UK Brexit
Though expected after its earlier move to cut its revenue forecast, Apple’s official quarterly profits reporting yesterday still disappointed, as the company posted its “first holiday-quarter drop in both revenue and profit...more
1/30/2019
/ Apple ,
Barclays ,
CBO Report ,
China ,
Class Action ,
Dark Pool ,
Federal Budget ,
Federal Funding ,
FinTech ,
Foreign Investment ,
Forex ,
Government Shutdown ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Market Manipulation ,
Polar Vortex ,
Quarterly Report ,
Real Estate Investments ,
Securities Fraud ,
Social Media ,
Standard Chartered Bank ,
Trump Administration ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
US-Mexico Border Wall ,
Venture Capital
California’s trouble-plagued Pacific Gas & Electric utility has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, listing debts of more than $51.7 billion....more
1/29/2019
/ Apple ,
Bonds ,
Caterpillar ,
Chapter 11 ,
China ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Cyber Crimes ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Government Shutdown ,
Huawei ,
Made in the USA ,
Manufacturers ,
NVIDIA ,
PG&E ,
Ponzi Scheme ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
S&P ,
Sanction Violations ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Trade Secrets ,
Trump Administration ,
UK Brexit ,
Utilities Sector ,
Wildfires
The financial world has been busy—and generally not in a great way—since we’ve been gone. Luckily, we’re returning on something of a rare high note after a stronger-than-expected December jobs report and some reassurance...more
1/7/2019
/ Airbags ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Ambac Financial Group ,
Apple ,
Automobile Recall ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Countrywide ,
Design Defects ,
E-Cigarettes ,
Earnings Reports ,
Eli Lilly ,
Elon Musk ,
Embedded Tweets ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Ford Motor ,
Jeff Bezos ,
Job Creation ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Nissan ,
Retailers ,
RMBS ,
Sears ,
Unemployment
PM May will live to fight another day after surviving Wednesday’s no-confidence vote. But her prospects of getting the controversial Brexit plan through the UK parliament are still poor, at best....more
12/13/2018
/ Apple ,
Banks ,
China ,
Commerzbank ,
Data Breach ,
Deregulation ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Farm Bill ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Germany ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Insider Trading ,
Marriott ,
Pending Legislation ,
Stock Prices ,
Trade Relations ,
UBS ,
UK Brexit
The G-20 summit in Buenos Aires wrapped this weekend with the nations agreeing to a joint statement that “affirms the importance of the multilateral trading system” while giving ground to both the US and China over language...more
12/3/2018
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Apple ,
Automotive Industry ,
China ,
Class Action ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Energy Sector ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Failure To Disclose ,
Financial Crisis ,
Foreign Relations ,
FRCP 23 ,
G20 ,
General Electric ,
Material Misstatements ,
Microsoft ,
Natural Gas ,
Nissan ,
Oil & Gas ,
Oil Prices ,
OPEC ,
Qatar ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Snapchat ,
Tariffs ,
Tesla ,
US Trade Policies ,
White Collar Crimes
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
New York has sued Exxon Mobile over its alleged failure to disclose to its shareholder the “expected risk of climate change to its business”—behavior that the state asserts amounts to a “’longstanding fraudulent scheme’ to...more
10/25/2018
/ Apple ,
China ,
Climate Change ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Data Protection ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ethics Breach ,
Exxon Mobil ,
Failure To Disclose ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Foreign Relations ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Investment Fraud ,
Misleading Impressions ,
Oil & Gas ,
Payday Loans ,
Quarterly Report ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stock Prices ,
Tariffs ,
Tesla ,
Trading Plans ,
Trump Administration ,
Wells Fargo ,
WTO
Google has announced plans to shutter Google Plus, its “floundering answer to Facebook,” following the discovery of a security vulnerability that “exposed the private data of up to 500,000 users of the service.” Google...more
10/9/2018
/ 21st Century Fox ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Apple ,
China ,
Class Action ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Disney ,
Google ,
Hackers ,
Hedge Funds ,
Identity Theft ,
Insider Trading ,
Netflix ,
Papa John's International ,
Personally Identifiable Information ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Surveillance ,
Takeover Bids ,
Tariffs
Hiding somewhat in the shadows during the rise of virtual currencies over the past year or two has been blockchain, the ledger technology that undergirds bitcoin and other cryptos, and its potential application beyond digital...more
9/26/2018
/ Apple ,
Arby's ,
Banking Sector ,
Blockchain ,
Capital Raising ,
Community Reinvestment Act ,
Confidential Information ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Digital Currency ,
Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) ,
Facebook ,
Fast-Food Industry ,
Financial Markets ,
FOMC ,
Franchises ,
Fraud ,
Futures ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Instagram ,
Intel ,
iPhone ,
Low-Income Issues ,
Market Manipulation ,
Money Laundering ,
Qualcomm ,
Redlining ,
Securities Violations ,
Social Media ,
Software ,
Spoofing ,
Virtual Currency ,
Wal-Mart ,
White Collar Crimes
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
Less than a day after the Journal reported that CBS and the Redstones are nearing a deal to resolve their many differences, we’ve learned that CBS chief Les Moonves—facing an investigation into alleged sexual harassment...more
9/7/2018
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Apple ,
CBS ,
China ,
Credit Ratings ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Elon Musk ,
Emerging Markets ,
EU ,
Fannie Mae ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Fraud ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Freddie Mac ,
Investors ,
Job Creation ,
Lehman Brothers ,
NY Supreme Court ,
Price Manipulation ,
Quicken Loans ,
RMBS ,
S&P ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Stock Prices ,
Stocks ,
Tesla ,
Unemployment ,
Wells Fargo
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
8/3/2018
/ Alibaba ,
Apple ,
Bank of England ,
Barclays ,
Capital Raising ,
Citibank ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Financial Markets ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Job Creation ,
Libor ,
REIT ,
Retailers ,
Settlement ,
Sonos ,
Starbucks ,
Stock Prices ,
Unemployment
A surprisingly strong May US jobs report helped propel stocks up on Friday and end a tumultuous week on a high note....more
6/4/2018
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Apple ,
Australia ,
Banks ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Drug Trafficking ,
E-Commerce ,
Economic Development ,
Financial Markets ,
Hulu ,
Job Creation ,
Money Laundering ,
Referendums ,
SEC Commissioner ,
Smartphones ,
Stock Prices ,
Switzerland ,
Tariffs ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment ,
US Trade Policies ,
Warren Buffett
Europe’s much-ballyhooed (and feared) General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) officially goes into effect today. Here’s a look at the mad dash across all sectors (and outside of the EU) to comply....more
5/25/2018
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Apple ,
CBS ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Deregulation ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Driverless Cars ,
Economic Growth Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act ,
FDIC ,
Federal Housing Administration (FHA) ,
FHA Loans ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Services Industry ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Medicare ,
Non-Bank Lenders ,
Out-of-Pocket Expenses ,
Pfizer ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Viacom ,
Volkswagen
Anbang Insurance founder Wu Xiahoui’s fall from grace now includes an 18-year prison sentence for his conviction by a Shanghai court for using Anbang to “cheat investors out of more than $10 billion”....more
5/11/2018
/ Anbang ,
Apple ,
Apple Pay ,
Barclays ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Credit Cards ,
Currency Manipulation ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fraud and Abuse ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Grand Juries ,
Investment Fraud ,
RBS ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
RICO ,
RMBS ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Student Loans ,
Wal-Mart ,
Wells Fargo ,
Whistleblowers
Another day, another massive Chinese IPO. This time, its ride-hailing company (and former Uber rival) Didi Chuxing, which could go public later this year and has its sights set on a $70-$80 billion valuation....more
4/24/2018
/ Administrative Proceedings ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Apple ,
China ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
E-Commerce ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Interest Rates ,
Internet Retailers ,
Lucia v SEC ,
Mobile Apps ,
Retail Market ,
Ridesharing ,
SCOTUS ,
Takeda Pharmaceuticals ,
Wal-Mart
Embattled credit reporting company Equifax has chosen private equity exec Mark Begor as its new CEO. Begor will replace interim CEO Paulino do Rego Barros, who has been in the role since former CEO Richard Smith resigned...more
3/29/2018
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Apple ,
Automotive Industry ,
BMW ,
Copyright Infringement ,
DaimlerChrysler ,
Equifax ,
iPhone ,
Oracle v Google ,
Renault-Nissan ,
Smartphones ,
Stock Prices ,
Technology Sector ,
Tesla