Uber has reportedly finalized a deal to acquire Postmates for $2.65 billion in an all-stock deal, a venture aimed at taking on DoorDash and other food delivery rivals....more
A resurgent virus is spelling trouble for the promised return of the American economy, with states seeing big Covid blooms now losing ground on the economic activity and hiring that helped propel markets to their best quarter...more
By a 5-4 margin, the Supreme Court has ordered the restructuring of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, “ruling the agency’s structure was unconstitutional because its director held too much unchecked power.” The fix,...more
7/1/2020
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
China ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Federal Reserve ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
GrubHub ,
Investment Adviser ,
Lululemon ,
Movie Theaters ,
National Security ,
On-Demand Services ,
Postmates ,
Removal For-Cause ,
Restaurant Industry ,
Retirement Plan ,
Reversal ,
S&P ,
SCOTUS ,
Seila Law LLC v Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ,
Separation of Powers ,
Severability Doctrine ,
Single Director ,
Uber ,
Wage and Hour ,
Zoom®
Fracking pioneer Chesapeake Energy has filed for bankruptcy, “unable to overcome a mountain of debt that became unsustainable after a decade of stubbornly low gas prices.” The company grew wildly in the early 2000s under...more
6/29/2020
/ Boeing ,
Bonds ,
Chapter 11 ,
China ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Fracking ,
National Security ,
Online Advertisements ,
Trade Relations
Bayer, the German parent company of Monsanto, will pay more than $10 billion to resolve “tens of thousands of claims in the United States that its popular weedkiller Roundup causes cancer.” The settlement covers an estimated...more
6/26/2020
/ Alibaba ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Bayer ,
Climate Change ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Disparate Impact ,
E-Commerce ,
eBay ,
Economic Downturn ,
Exxon Mobil ,
Financial Markets ,
Fraud ,
IMF ,
Jeff Bezos ,
Monsanto ,
Oil & Gas ,
Race Relations ,
SoftBank ,
Toxic Exposure ,
Unemployment ,
Wall Street
On Monday, the White House announced its plan to extend a “freeze on ‘green cards’ for new immigrants” and to “suspend H-1B, L-1, J and other temporary work visas for skilled workers, managers and au pairs through the end of...more
6/23/2020
/ CFTC ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Disgorgement ,
Financial Fraud ,
Google ,
H-1B ,
H-2B ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigration Procedures ,
Infrastructure ,
Mobile Apps ,
Online Advertisements ,
Revenue ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Spoofing ,
Stock Markets ,
Trade Relations ,
Trading Platforms ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment ,
Workplace Decontamination
After weeks of “backlash over a lack of transparency,” the Treasury Department has agreed to make public information detailing “borrower information for recipients of millions of small-business loans through the $660 billion...more
6/22/2020
/ Apple ,
CARES Act ,
Cayman Islands ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Donald Trump ,
Equipment Failure ,
Extortion ,
Federal Prosecutors ,
FinTech ,
Intel ,
Microchip Technology ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
PG&E ,
Resignation ,
Trump Administration ,
Wildfires
Some rare last-minute SEC intervention forced Hertz to suspend its planned sale of up to $500 million in shares of the bankrupt car-rental company while the agency undertakes a closer review of the offering....more
6/18/2020
/ Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) ,
CARES Act ,
Charitable Donations ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Economic Downturn ,
Financial Stimulus ,
FinTech ,
Germany ,
Government Lockdown ,
Hertz ,
Inflated Projections ,
Low-Income Issues ,
Minority-Owned Businesses ,
Netflix ,
Opportunity Zones ,
Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020 (PPPFA) ,
PepsiCo ,
Race Relations ,
Real Estate Development ,
Recessions ,
Scholarships ,
Small Business ,
Stock Prices ,
Stock Sale Agreements ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment
May saw a huge jump in consumer activity to the tune of +17.7%, as Americans unleashed their pent-up demand. It was welcome news for markets and beyond, but “the underlying data presents a more complicated picture and shows...more
6/18/2020
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
AT&T ,
Capital Markets ,
Commerzbank ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Culture ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disney ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Executive Orders ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
HSBC ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Layoffs ,
McDonalds ,
Morgan Stanley ,
Occupational Exposure ,
Online Platforms ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Public Nuisance ,
Race Relations ,
Recovery Plans ,
Retail Market ,
Retail Sales ,
Social Media ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment ,
Workplace Safety
On Monday, the Supreme Court delivered a surprising and monumental win for LGBTQ and transgender Americans, ruling 6-3 that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 applies to protect “gay and transgender workers from workplace...more
6/16/2020
/ 24-Hour Fitness ,
Altitude Express Inc v Zarda ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
App Store ,
Apple ,
Bond Markets ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
BP ,
Chapter 11 ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cyber-Stalking ,
Data Collection ,
eBay ,
EEOC v RG & GR Harris Funeral Homes ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
EU ,
Federal Reserve ,
Gender Identity ,
Hiring & Firing ,
LGBTQ ,
Oil & Gas ,
SCOTUS ,
Senate Banking Committee ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Transgender
Rising infection rates around the U.S. and the globe are worrying markets, as fear of a second wave of cases linked with the reopening of the economy freaks out traders....more
6/15/2020
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
American Express ,
Apple ,
China ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Culture ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Foreign Currency ,
Google ,
Hertz ,
Liability ,
Microsoft ,
Nissan ,
Payment Processors ,
PayPal ,
Race Relations ,
Recessions ,
Recovery Plans ,
Small Business ,
Social Distancing ,
Square ,
Unemployment
The European Union’s antitrust authority is reportedly within days of filing charges against Amazon for the company’s “treatment of third-party sellers,” the latest step in a “two-year probe into Amazon’s alleged mistreatment...more
6/11/2020
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Bid Rigging ,
CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EU ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Stimulus ,
FinTech ,
Hertz ,
Insolvency ,
Interest Rates ,
NYSE ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Popular ,
Price-Fixing ,
Tyson Foods ,
Unemployment
The Fed is expected to hold rates steady as its June Open Market Committee meeting wraps today. Analysts expect that the better-than-expected May jobs numbers won’t be nearly enough for the central bank to suggest it is close...more
6/10/2020
/ 1MDB ,
Adidas ,
Airbus ,
Airlines ,
Aviation Industry ,
Class Action ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Death Benefits ,
Diversity ,
Federal Reserve ,
France ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Infrastructure ,
Insolvency ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Life Insurance ,
MetLife ,
Mixed-Use Zoning ,
Mobile Apps ,
Movie Theaters ,
Race Discrimination ,
Race Relations ,
Resignation ,
S&P ,
Stock Prices ,
White Collar Crimes
No one—truly, not even the most casual economic observer—should be shocked by yesterday’s official declaration from the National Bureau of Economic Research that the U.S. is in a recession that officially began in February....more
6/9/2020
/ Airlines ,
BP ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Economic Downturn ,
Federal Loans ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Layoffs ,
Main Street Lending Programs ,
Recessions ,
S&P
So about those May jobs numbers . . . . The return of 2.5 million jobs in May was a welcome and largely unexpected surprise. But the Bureau of Labor Statistics admitted later on Friday that the unemployment rate—reported as...more
6/8/2020
/ AstraZeneca ,
Bias ,
Boeing ,
Competition ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Federal Contractors ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Gilead Sciences ,
Huawei ,
Libor ,
NASA ,
Race Discrimination ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Stock Exchange ,
Stock Prices ,
Unemployment ,
Zoom®
The DOJ has begun the prosecutorial phase of its chicken price-fixing investigation with a one-count indictment accusing current and former senior execs at Pilgrim’s Pride and Claxton Poultry Farms—including their current...more
6/4/2020
/ Agribusiness ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Banks ,
Bias ,
Bonds ,
Class Action ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
European Central Bank ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Interest Rates ,
Layoffs ,
Meat Processing Plants ,
Oracle ,
Overdraft Fees ,
Payday Loans ,
Price-Fixing ,
Relief Measures ,
Unemployment ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Vulnerable Victims ,
Warner Music Group
A proposed class action filed in federal court in California on Tuesday accuses Google of “surreptitiously amass[ing] billions of bits of information—every day—about internet users even if they opt out of sharing their...more
6/3/2020
/ Cancer ,
CARES Act ,
Class Action ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Data Collection ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Facebook ,
Google ,
Microsoft ,
Monsanto ,
Non-Performing Loans (NPL) ,
Police Brutality ,
Protests ,
Slack ,
Twitter ,
Zoom®
New estimates from the Congressional Budget Office suggest that the “U.S. economy could take the better part of a decade to fully recover from the coronavirus pandemic and related shutdown” and see as much as a 3% contraction...more
6/2/2020
/ CBO Report ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Discharge of Pollutants ,
Economic Downturn ,
Facebook ,
Financial Crisis ,
GDP ,
Mark Zuckerberg ,
Oil & Gas ,
Puerto Rico ,
Puerto Rico Oversight Management and Economic Stability Act (PROMESA) ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
REIT ,
SCOTUS ,
Virtual Currency ,
Volkswagen ,
Zoom®
Civic unrest in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis is complicating reopening plans for cities and businesses around the country trying to restart after months of coronavirus-related closures....more
6/1/2020
/ Air Carriers ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Branding ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Data Breach ,
Debt ,
ETFs ,
Federal Reserve ,
Food Manufacturers ,
Forex ,
Hedge Funds ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Layoffs ,
NASA ,
Nestle ,
Outer Space ,
Plant Based Products ,
Police Brutality ,
Police Misconduct ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Renault-Nissan ,
Retailers ,
SpaceX ,
The Hague ,
Warner Music Group
The path for extradition of Huawei exec Meng Wanzhou is much clearer now that a Canadian court has ruled that “the conduct she is accused of in the United States, if proved, also constitutes a crime in Canada.” That...more
5/28/2020
/ Attorney-Client Privilege ,
Canada ,
Capital One ,
China ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Data Breach ,
Data Management ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Discovery ,
Economic Downturn ,
Elon Musk ,
Eviction ,
Extradition ,
General Electric ,
Hiring Statistics ,
Huawei ,
Lost Profits ,
NASA ,
Outer Space ,
Renault-Nissan ,
Rental Property ,
S&P ,
SpaceX ,
Telecommunications ,
Wall Street
With HBO Max entering the fray today, we’ve got your latest dispatch from the streaming wars, including thoughts on Max’s ability to deliver on its promise to “crush” Netflix despite a very crowded playing field, a spendy...more
5/28/2020
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
AT&T ,
Boeing ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corporate Bonuses ,
Dow Jones ,
Driverless Cars ,
EU ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Gig Economy ,
Google ,
HBO ,
Hertz ,
Independent Contractors ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Internet Streaming ,
Layoffs ,
Lyft ,
Popular ,
Recessions ,
Stock Prices ,
Taco Bell ,
Uber ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Wal-Mart ,
Wall Street ,
Warner Music Group
Unable to reach a last-minute deal with investors, rental car mainstay Hertz filed for bankruptcy late Friday night, doing so “without a clear plan with creditors in place—a rare move for a company of its size.” Though, like...more
5/27/2020
/ Bailout ,
Bayer ,
Cancer ,
CARES Act ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Conspiracies ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Drug Pricing ,
Economic Downturn ,
European Banking Authority (EBA) ,
Financial Distress ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Generic Drugs ,
Germany ,
Hertz ,
Hospitals ,
Lufthansa ,
Meat Processing Plants ,
Monsanto ,
Mortgages ,
Operators of Essential Services ,
Popular ,
Regeneron ,
Sanofi ,
Teva Pharmaceuticals
This week’s latest initial unemployment filings numbered 2.4 million, a “slight drop-off in the wave of historically high weekly filings” since the pandemic hit the U.S. economy. Don’t get too excited, though. Continuing...more
5/22/2020
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Chapter 11 ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
E-Commerce ,
Economic Downturn ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Gig Economy ,
Hertz ,
Independent Contractors ,
Investment ,
Layoffs ,
Recessions ,
S&P ,
Secretary of the Treasury ,
Unemployment ,
Wrongful Termination ,
Zoom®
Podcasting megastar (and, for me, “News Radio” jack-of-all-trades) Joe Rogan has signed a multiyear deal to bring his “Joe Rogan Experience” show to Spotify, an agreement that “could be worth more than $100 million based on...more
5/22/2020
/ Apple ,
Automotive Loans ,
Bonds ,
Business Development ,
CARES Act ,
Contact Tracing ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Credit Cards ,
Economic Downturn ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Distress ,
Financial Markets ,
Gig Economy ,
Google ,
Independent Contractors ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Loan Forgiveness ,
McDonalds ,
Meeting Minutes ,
Mobile Apps ,
Nissan ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Podcasts ,
Software ,
Spotify ,
UK ,
Unemployment ,
Unions ,
United Airlines
In testimony to the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday, Fed Chair Powell and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin both “offered a stark assessment of the fragile state” of the U.S. economy, though they differed in a solution. ...more
5/20/2020
/ Air Carriers ,
Airlines ,
Auto Lease ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Data Breach ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Nasdaq ,
OCC ,
Sony ,
Sports ,
Target ,
U.S. Treasury