Shared workspace giant We Work is joining the growing wave of major start-ups planning to go public this year. And like many of its unicorn peers (as we’ve documented), the company “shows no sign of turning a profit anytime...more
4/30/2019
/ Alibaba ,
Alphabet Company ,
Chevron ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
E-Commerce ,
Federal Reserve ,
Foreign Relations ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Huawei ,
Independent Contractors ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Mexico ,
New Guidance ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Sharing Economy ,
Software ,
Spotify ,
Startups ,
Stock Prices ,
Unicorns ,
United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) ,
Wage and Hour
Tuesday was yet another banner day on Wall Street, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq closing at new highs. Most market watchers think we have the Fed’s recent pivot on interest rates to thank for the continuing bull market...more
4/24/2019
/ Administrative Appointments ,
CBS ,
CEOs ,
Chevron ,
Emulex Corp. v Varjabedian ,
EU ,
Exports ,
Federal Reserve ,
FinTech ,
Investment ,
Misleading Statements ,
Nasdaq ,
Private Equity Funds ,
Quarterly Report ,
S&P ,
SCOTUS ,
Social Media ,
Software Developers ,
Spoofing ,
Tariffs ,
Twitter ,
Wall Street
Samsung announced yesterday that it’s postponing the official mass-market introduction of its new foldable smart phone (originally set for the end of the week) based on reports that the pricey device has been malfunctioning....more
4/23/2019
/ #MeToo ,
Anheuser-Busch ,
Boeing ,
CFTC ,
China ,
Elon Musk ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Foreign Currency ,
Google ,
Heinz ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Investment Fraud ,
Kraft ,
NVIDIA ,
Plant Based Products ,
Retailers ,
Safety Standards ,
Samsung ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Smartphones ,
Telecommunications ,
Tesla ,
Trading Platforms ,
Unicorns
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
As a mid-April blizzard again sucks all light (and life and hope) in the world away from us in the North, it feels like an awfully appropriate time to recognize the team of astronomers and other scientists (including Dr....more
4/11/2019
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Banks ,
Capital Raising ,
CFTC ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Downturn ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Services Committee ,
FRB ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Lyft ,
Sharing Economy ,
Software Developers ,
Spoofing ,
Uber ,
UK Brexit
Pinterest has set a price range of $15 to $17 a share for its IPO roadshow today that “will value the company below its last private-market peg of $12 billion.” The company also plans to attempt “the sunset version of...more
4/8/2019
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Aetna ,
Australia ,
Boeing ,
CFTC ,
China ,
Corporate Bonds ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
CVS ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Evidentiary Hearings ,
Exchange-Traded Products ,
Federal Reserve ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Job Creation ,
Money Laundering ,
Pinterest ,
Spoofing ,
Startups ,
Unemployment ,
US Trade Policies
Jobs report Friday again. Which, after February’s dismal numbers, is carrying extra importance today. We’ll be keeping an eye on US manufacturing, among other things. Here’s what to watch....more
4/5/2019
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Aiding and Abetting ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
China ,
Commerzbank ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Divorce ,
Elon Musk ,
Embedded Tweets ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Reserve ,
Jeff Bezos ,
Job Creation ,
Kickbacks ,
Manufacturers ,
Medicare ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Sears ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Social Media ,
Spoofing ,
Tesla ,
Theresa May ,
Trade Relations ,
Twitter ,
UK Brexit ,
Unemployment
Just how bad is the Brexit crisis for Prime Minister May? Well, she’s considering crossing the aisle and, gulp, working with the Labour Party on a departure plan. So really bad. And oh yeah, more time, please....more
4/3/2019
/ BlackRock ,
Bribery ,
Class Action ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Disney ,
Economic Downturn ,
Equal Pay ,
Federal Reserve ,
HSBC ,
IMF ,
Insurance Regulations ,
Nissan ,
Pay Gap ,
Ponzi Scheme ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Stock Markets ,
Theresa May ,
Trump Administration ,
UK Brexit ,
Wall Street ,
Wynn Resorts
Lyft had a banner debut on the public markets, with its shares jumping 8.7% “after opening at $87.24, far above the public offering price of $72.” Some analysts are interpreting the strong showing as a sign that the gig...more
4/1/2019
/ Asbestos Litigation ,
Cancer ,
Chipotle Grill ,
Commodities ,
Data Breach ,
Economic Downturn ,
Federal Reserve ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Johnson & Johnson ,
Libor ,
Lyft ,
Opioid ,
Personal Care Products ,
Peugeot ,
Purdue Pharma ,
Secured Overnight Funding Rate (SOFR) ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Spoofing ,
Trump Administration ,
Wells Fargo
Monsanto’s (and, in turn, Bayer AG’s) terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day in court over its Roundup products’ links to cancer continued yesterday, as a jury awarded $80 million to the California man who it had already...more
3/28/2019
/ Bonds ,
Business Valuations ,
Cancer ,
Class Action ,
EU ,
Fannie Mae ,
Federal Reserve ,
Freddie Mac ,
Health Insurance ,
Huawei ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Investment Banks ,
Lyft ,
Market Manipulation ,
McDonalds ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Minimum Wage ,
Money Laundering ,
Monsanto ,
Pesticides ,
SCOTUS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Startups ,
Telecommunications ,
Theresa May ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Toxic Exposure ,
UK Brexit ,
Unicorns ,
Wage and Hour
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
The Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee wrapped its March meetings yesterday with Chair Powell highlighting the central bank’s “fairly downbeat economic assessment” and the expectation that it will keep rates steady for...more
3/21/2019
/ 21st Century Fox ,
Automotive Industry ,
Capital Raising ,
China ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Disney ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Crisis ,
Ford Motor ,
Foreign Investment ,
Foreign Trade Regulations ,
Greece ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Job Creation ,
Levi Strauss ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Visas ,
Wall Street
The US and China have scheduled two more rounds of high-level trade talks with hopes for an agreement between the economic superpowers by late April, even as China has begun to push back against some of the US’s major...more
3/20/2019
/ Airplane Accidents ,
Android ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Bank of New York (BNY) Mellon ,
Bayer ,
Boeing ,
Cancer ,
China ,
Citibank ,
Contempt ,
Corporate Liability ,
E-Commerce ,
Elon Musk ,
EU ,
Facebook ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Federal Reserve ,
Foreign Trade Regulations ,
Google ,
Instagram ,
Loans ,
Market Manipulation ,
Mobile Apps ,
Monsanto ,
Mortgages ,
OCC ,
Online Advertisements ,
Race Discrimination ,
Search Engines ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Securitization ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Smartphones ,
Tesla ,
Toxic Chemicals ,
Toxic Exposure ,
Web Browsers
Concessions wrenched from EU leaders aside, PM May and her latest Brexit plan again fell apart in Parliament, with lawmakers voting it down 391-242. The defeat raises the ongoing specter of a no-deal departure from the Union...more
3/13/2019
/ 1MDB ,
Aircraft ,
Airplane Accidents ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Boeing ,
Contempt ,
Elon Musk ,
Embedded Tweets ,
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Committee ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tesla ,
Uber ,
UK Brexit ,
Wells Fargo
After the tragic crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 this weekend, Ethiopia, Indonesia, and China have moved to ground all flights on Boeing’s new 737 Max 8 planes until further notice. ...more
3/11/2019
/ Airlines ,
Aviation Industry ,
Board of Directors ,
Boeing ,
Commerzbank ,
Competition ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Fraud ,
General Electric ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Job Creation ,
Martin Shkreli ,
Technology Sector ,
Unemployment ,
Wells Fargo
Federal regulators moved this week to “ease oversight of Wall Street firms by scaling back two major mechanisms that were imposed to scrutinize big financial companies in the wake of the financial crisis.” ...more
3/7/2019
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Automotive Industry ,
Banks ,
Barclays ,
China ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Due Process ,
Electronic Communications ,
Elon Musk ,
Encryption ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Crisis ,
HSBC ,
Huawei ,
Libor ,
NCUA ,
NDAA ,
Pop-Up Stores ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Regulatory Burden ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Short-Term Loans ,
Stress Tests ,
Too Big to Fail ,
Trade Deficit ,
Volcker Rule ,
Wall Street ,
Wireless Industry
New evidence suggests that California’s PG&E repeatedly “delayed a safety overhaul” on a high-voltage transmission line “that is a prime suspect behind the deadliest wildfire in California history.” How repeatedly? Try 5...more
2/28/2019
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Automotive Industry ,
CFTC ,
China ,
COPPA ,
Data Collection ,
Elon Musk ,
Embedded Tweets ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Reserve ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Services Committee ,
GDP ,
Government Bonds ,
Government Shutdown ,
Imports ,
Market Manipulation ,
Mobile Apps ,
Online Safety for Children ,
PG&E ,
Price Manipulation ,
Safety Standards ,
Securities Violations ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Stock Prices ,
Swaps ,
Tariffs ,
Tesla ,
Transmission Lines ,
Trump Administration ,
US-Mexico Border Wall ,
Ways and Means Committee ,
Wells Fargo ,
Wildfires
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
Qatar and ExxonMobil are teaming up on a $10 billion natural gas investment plan in Texas and America’s growing status as an LNG exporting power....more
2/6/2019
/ Banks ,
Barclays ,
Benchmarks ,
Canada ,
Cartels ,
China ,
Commodities ,
Crypto Exchanges ,
Digital Currency ,
Energy Market ,
Energy Projects ,
EURIBOR ,
Exxon Mobil ,
Federal Reserve ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Liquid Natural Gas ,
Market Manipulation ,
Nasdaq ,
Oil & Gas ,
Oil Prices ,
OPEC ,
Proxy Advisory Firms ,
Proxy Voting Guidelines ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Qatar ,
Russia ,
Saudi Arabia ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stress Tests ,
Transparency ,
Unemployment
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
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
We’ve got details on China’s proposed trade peace deal along with thoughts on whether it’ll be sufficient to satisfy a White House that’s been itching for a fight....more
1/9/2019
/ American Express ,
Cannabidiol (CBD) oil ,
China ,
Chrysler ,
Class Action ,
Clean Air Act Violations ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Diesel Fuel ,
Environmental Violations ,
Exports ,
Federal Reserve ,
Fiat ,
Financial Markets ,
Fintech Charter ,
Forex ,
Imports ,
Motor Vehicles ,
No-Deal Brexit ,
OCC ,
PayPal ,
Sears ,
Special Purpose National Bank Charter ,
Supply Chain ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies
The Federal Reserve, as long forecast, raised its benchmark interest rate a quarter point on Wednesday. Chair Powell noted that a downturn in financial markets and weakened financial growth “may signal some softening relative...more
12/20/2018
/ Asbestos ,
Automotive Loans ,
Benchmarks ,
Cambridge Analytica ,
Cancer ,
Collateralized Loan Obligations ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Data Breach ,
E-Cigarettes ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Google ,
Interest Rates ,
Investment Fraud ,
Johnson & Johnson ,
Misrepresentation ,
Mobile Payments ,
Personal Care Products ,
Political Campaigns ,
Public Health ,
SoftBank ,
Square ,
Wall Street
The Fed will wrap up its Open Markets Committee meeting today, and the recent dive on Wall Street has rather suddenly brought a bit of drama to what was a long-promised rate hike. Here’s a bit of background on what it’s been...more
12/19/2018
/ Automotive Industry ,
Barclays ,
Blue Apron ,
Bonds ,
China ,
Corruption ,
Data Breach ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Germany ,
Hedging ,
Huawei ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
National Emissions Standards ,
Oil & Gas ,
Oil Prices ,
Personal Data ,
Quarterly Report ,
Registration Requirement ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
SpaceX ,
Subscription Services ,
Unicorns ,
Verizon ,
Volkswagen ,
Whistleblowers
Unbowed by personal attacks from the White House, Fed Chair Jerome Powell delivered remarks to the Economic Club of New York on Wednesday that markets used as an excuse to jump nearly 600 points by the closing bell. ...more
11/29/2018
/ Bank of England ,
Banks ,
Benchmarks ,
China ,
Commercial Loans ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Deferred Compensation ,
Deregulation ,
Deutsche Bank ,
E-Cigarettes ,
FDIC ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
G20 ,
Huawei ,
Living Will ,
Money Laundering ,
Mossack Fonseca ,
National Security Review Proceedings ,
New Zealand ,
Next Generation ,
Nissan ,
Panama Papers ,
Raids ,
Regulatory Burden ,
Securities Violations ,
Startups ,
Stress Tests ,
Trade Relations ,
UK