Former Fed Chair Janet Yellen is “poised to become the first female Treasury secretary and one of few people to ever have wielded economic power from the White House, the Federal Reserve and the president’s cabinet.” If...more
11/24/2020
/ Biden Administration ,
BlackRock ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
E-Commerce ,
Economic Downturn ,
Elon Musk ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Distress ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Foreign Relations ,
Fuel Efficiency ,
General Motors ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Janet Yellen ,
Macy's ,
National Emissions Standards ,
Retailers ,
Tesla ,
Trump Administration ,
Visa Inc
The G-20 held a virtual summit this weekend, and discussions about taming the pandemic and addressing “the global economic damage it has wrought dominated” the meeting....more
11/23/2020
/ AirBnB ,
Airlines ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Biden Administration ,
Bitcoin ,
Black Friday ,
Chapter 11 ,
China ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
France ,
G20 ,
Guitar Center ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Infrastructure ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Oil & Gas ,
Refineries ,
Retailers ,
Student Loans
As we thought, stocks rallied on Monday thanks to Moderna’s news of promising results for its Covid-19 vaccine, with the Dow and S&P 500 hitting new record highs....more
11/18/2020
/ AirBnB ,
Bank of America ,
Biden Administration ,
CARES Act ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Dow Jones ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Foreign Policy ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Home Depot ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Moderna Inc. ,
News Corp ,
Putative Class Actions ,
S&P ,
Southwest Airlines ,
Stock Prices ,
Tesla ,
Vaccinations ,
Viacom ,
Wells Fargo
Thursday’s unemployment figures showed technically falling claims (down to 723,000 new claims for state benefits) but “remained above records set in previous recessions,” as the number of “laid-off and furloughed workers...more
11/13/2020
/ Alibaba ,
China ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Credit Reporting Agencies ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Ford Motor ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Race Relations ,
Relief Measures ,
TikTok ,
Twitter ,
U.S. Commerce Department ,
Unemployment ,
Vaccinations
So . . . . Nice, quiet week while we were gone, right?
Wall Street forecasts are always dicey, but it sure looks like Pfizer’s solid vaccine news (along with this weekend’s newfound presidential certainty) could make for...more
11/9/2020
/ Biden Administration ,
CARES Act ,
China ,
Consumer Bankruptcy ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
CVS ,
Deregulation ,
Economic Downturn ,
Financial Fraud ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Regulatory Reform ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Lame Duck Session ,
Libor ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Pfizer ,
Stock Prices ,
Student Loans ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment ,
Vaccinations ,
Warren Buffett
Intel Corp. has reached a nearly $9 billion deal to sell its NAND flash memory unit to South Korea’s SKY Hynix, a “move that reorient[s] the semiconductor giant away from an area of historical importance that has become...more
10/20/2020
/ Alibaba ,
China ,
ConocoPhillips ,
Corruption ,
Digital Currency ,
Economic Growth ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Intel ,
IRS ,
Money Laundering ,
Oil & Gas ,
Popular ,
Real Estate Investments ,
Semiconductors ,
SoftBank ,
Stock Prices ,
Tax Evasion ,
Warner Brothers Entertainment ,
White Collar Crimes
ConocoPhillips is doubling down on its commitment to the Midland basin by buying Concho Resources Inc. in “an all-stock transaction valued at $9.7 billion,” even “as the American shale-drilling industry is facing a downturn...more
10/19/2020
/ 5G Network ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Apple ,
British Airways ,
China ,
ConocoPhillips ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Data Breach ,
Deficit Reduction ,
E-Commerce ,
Export Controls ,
Financial Markets ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
iPhone ,
National Security ,
Oil & Gas ,
Oracle ,
PACs ,
Political Campaigns ,
Popular ,
Recovery Plans ,
Social Networks ,
SoftBank ,
Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) ,
Stock Prices ,
TikTok ,
Trump Administration ,
UK
Yesterday’s jobless numbers were down a bit from a week earlier but still topped 800,000 for the 4th week in a row. “Claims remain above the pre-pandemic peak of 695,000 and are higher than in any previous recession for...more
10/9/2020
/ 1MDB ,
AT&T ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Corruption ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Downturn ,
Federal Bans ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Google ,
Infectious Diseases ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Layoffs ,
Lobbying ,
Malaysia ,
National Security ,
NLRB ,
Political Campaigns ,
Recovery Plans ,
Relief Measures ,
Restructuring ,
Sovereign Wealth Funds ,
TikTok ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment ,
Unemployment Benefits ,
Unions ,
Warner Brothers Entertainment ,
White Collar Crimes
The SEC has sued “cybersecurity pioneer John McAfee” for “promoting the sale of cryptocurrencies without disclosing that he was being paid to do so.” McAfee allegedly recommended “at least seven initial coin offerings to his...more
10/6/2020
/ Breach of Contract ,
Celebrity Endorsements ,
China ,
Cisco ,
Coal Industry ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Economic Downturn ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Markets ,
FinTech ,
Foreign Policy ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
NBC ,
Patent Infringement ,
Recovery Plans ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Stock Prices ,
Tax Evasion ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment ,
US Trade Policies ,
Warner Brothers Entertainment ,
Wildfires
Along with the topline numbers (661,000 jobs added in September and unemployment rate declined to 7.9%), Friday’s U.S Jobs Report delivered the rough news that 2.4 million Americans have now been out of work for 27 weeks or...more
10/5/2020
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Credit Suisse ,
Facebook ,
Federal Bans ,
Financial Markets ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Mobile Apps ,
Recessions ,
Tesla ,
TikTok ,
Trade Policy ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment ,
USTR ,
Vietnam
House leaders are out with a new Covid stimulus effort—slimmed down from earlier packages but, at $2.2 trillion, a sizeable proposal that they say “is needed to support American households and businesses still experiencing...more
9/29/2020
/ Airlines ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Android ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
App Store ,
Apple ,
Audi ,
CEOs ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Diversity ,
EPIC ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Furloughs ,
Germany ,
Google ,
Google Play Store ,
Insider Trading ,
Mobile Apps ,
National Emissions Standards ,
Relief Measures ,
Search Engines ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
United Airlines ,
US Trade Policies
A federal judge has delivered another win for TikTok over the weekend, temporarily blocking a White House ban “on new downloads of the video-sharing network, which would have gone into effect at 11:59 p.m. in Washington.” The...more
9/29/2020
/ Airplane Accidents ,
Alphabet Company ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Boeing ,
Business Licenses ,
China ,
Commerzbank ,
Data Collection ,
Deutsche Bank ,
E-Commerce ,
eBay ,
Export Controls ,
Federal Reserve ,
Infrastructure ,
Interest Rates ,
Mobile Apps ,
National Security ,
Rare Earth Metals ,
Semiconductors ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Shareholder Litigation ,
Social Media ,
Spoofing ,
Tax Planning ,
TikTok ,
Trump Administration ,
Uber ,
UK ,
Wire Fraud
JPMorgan is preparing to finalize a deal with federal prosecutors and regulators in which the bank would pay nearly $1 billion to “settle civil and criminal charges that its traders rigged futures and securities markets”...more
9/24/2020
/ App Store ,
Apple ,
Big Data ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
E-Commerce ,
Electric Vehicles ,
EPIC ,
Facebook ,
Financial Markets ,
Food Supply ,
Futures ,
Global Warming ,
Google ,
Infectious Diseases ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Mars ,
Mobile Apps ,
Oracle ,
Race Discrimination ,
Race Relations ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Securities Violations ,
Spoofing ,
Spotify ,
Stock Prices ,
TikTok ,
Tinder ,
Trump Administration ,
Twitter ,
Wal-Mart ,
Wall Street ,
Wells Fargo
The latest from Fed Chair Powell and Treasury Secretary Mnuchin’s first of several days on the Hill, including their take that the economy is improving but that continued fiscal support—from the Fed and from Congress—was...more
9/23/2020
/ Accounting Fraud ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
China ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Competition ,
Congressional Investigations & Hearings ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
E-Commerce ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Employee Definition ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Financial Stimulus ,
Gig Economy ,
Google ,
Independent Contractors ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Layoffs ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Mobile Devices ,
Ralph Lauren ,
Retailers ,
Supply and Demand ,
Tesla ,
Trump Administration
The White House has given its crucial imprimatur to a deal for Oracle (and Walmart) to take a stake in Chinese video app TikTok, “an agreement that will delay the U.S. government’s threat to block the popular app in the...more
9/21/2020
/ BSA/AML ,
Business Continuity Plans ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Data Collection ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Electric Vehicles ,
EU ,
Financial Crimes ,
Financial Markets ,
Fraud ,
Infectious Diseases ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Mobile Apps ,
Money Laundering ,
Mortgages ,
National Security ,
Oracle ,
Remote Learning ,
Social Media ,
TikTok ,
Trump Administration ,
Wal-Mart
The latest on the potential Oracle/TikTok deal includes news that the Treasury Department has added requirements addressing “how TikTok’s data and source code would be handled and secured” to any potential deal that the...more
9/18/2020
/ Anti-Money Laundering ,
Big Data ,
Blue Bell Creameries ,
BSA/AML ,
China ,
Data Collection ,
Data Management ,
E-Commerce ,
EU ,
European Commission ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Food Contamination ,
Google ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Listeria ,
MetLife ,
Mobile Apps ,
National Security ,
Social Media ,
Stock Prices ,
Telecommuting ,
TikTok ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment ,
Wal-Mart
A World Trade Organization panel on Tuesday declared that the U.S.’s 2018 tariffs on China “violated international trade rules,” siding with China and its allegations that the White House’s trade war broke, among other...more
9/16/2020
/ Aluminum Sales ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Apple ,
Canada ,
China ,
CMBS ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
FOMC ,
Heinz ,
Hotels ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Itt Educational Services ,
Kraft ,
Main Street Lending Programs ,
Mark Zuckerberg ,
Movie Theaters ,
Movies ,
Ponzi Scheme ,
Private Student Loans ,
Retaliatory Tariffs ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
US Trade Policies ,
WTO
Last Friday’s US Jobs Report saw unemployment fall to 8.4%, but the end of federal aid programs and a solid-but-not-gangbusters 1.4 million jobs gained in August leads many to fear a much worse employment picture ahead....more
9/9/2020
/ App Store ,
Apple ,
Big Tech ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
Dominos ,
Employee Benefits ,
EPIC ,
Financial Markets ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Job Creation ,
Mobile Apps ,
Robotics ,
SoftBank ,
Stock Prices ,
TikTok ,
Trump Administration ,
UK Brexit ,
Unemployment
In a House Select Subcommittee meeting on Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin called for more Congressional action to provide coronavirus relief and promised a White House initiative to protect renters from eviction....more
9/2/2020
/ Algorithms ,
Arrest Warrants ,
Bonds ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Dating Services ,
Diversity ,
EU ,
Eviction ,
Export Controls ,
Furloughs ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Market Manipulation ,
McDonalds ,
Mobile Apps ,
Mortgages ,
Offerings ,
Oil Prices ,
Race Discrimination ,
Refinancing ,
Relief Measures ,
Samsung ,
Secretary of the Treasury ,
South Korea ,
Tesla ,
TikTok ,
Unemployment
Walmart is again preparing to roll out its answer to Amazon Prime: Walmart+, a sub-$100/year membership service that features gas discounts and some free shipping (at qualifying thresholds)....more
9/1/2020
/ American Airlines ,
Anthem Insurance ,
China ,
CIGNA ,
Delta Airlines ,
E-Commerce ,
Exports ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Distress ,
Financial Markets ,
Foreign Policy ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Low-Income Issues ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Small Business ,
Subscription Services ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment ,
Volvo ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wal-Mart ,
Whistleblowers ,
Zoom®
Whoever emerges as the victor in the competition for TikTok will have to contend with another complication—this time from China, where on Friday the country “updated its export control rules to cover a variety of technologies...more
9/1/2020
/ BlackRock ,
CARES Act ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Export Controls ,
Financial Adviser ,
Fraud ,
Furloughs ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Investment ,
McDonalds ,
Microsoft ,
Mutual Funds ,
National Security ,
Oracle ,
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
TikTok ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment
Still-new TIkTok CEO Kevin Mayer has stepped down, “just months after taking the helm of the viral short video app.” ByteDance had appointed Mayer in May in an effort “to make the case that TikTok operates as a separate...more
8/28/2020
/ Accredited Investors ,
Apple ,
Banks ,
Bitcoin ,
China ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Data Collection ,
Data Mining ,
Disney ,
Economic Sanctions ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Ford Motor ,
Goods or Services ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Infectious Diseases ,
iPhone ,
Layoffs ,
Mark Zuckerberg ,
Mobile Apps ,
National Security ,
Online Advertisements ,
Remote Working ,
Salesforce ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Regulation ,
Social Media ,
Telecommuting ,
TikTok ,
Trump Administration
Despite an earlier White House promise to postpone, American and Chinese trade negotiators met via videoconference on Monday to discuss “the status of the trade deal both nations signed in January, a pact that continues to...more
8/26/2020
/ Amgen ,
Apple ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Dow Jones ,
E-Commerce ,
EPIC ,
EU ,
Exxon Mobil ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Markets ,
Government Lockdown ,
Home Depot ,
Honeywell International ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Layoffs ,
Life Sciences ,
Pfizer ,
Raytheon ,
Remote Learning ,
Retail Market ,
Salesforce ,
Stock Prices ,
Stock Splits ,
Supply and Demand ,
Supply Chain ,
Takeda Pharmaceuticals ,
Target ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies ,
Video Games ,
Wal-Mart ,
Zoom®
More on TikTok’s plans to sue the U.S. over the White House’s recent executive orders seeking to block the app on American soil and force its owner, ByteDance, to sell its American assets. The company intends to argue that...more
8/24/2020
/ Agribusiness ,
Alphabet Company ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Apple ,
China ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Credit Suisse ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Data Collection ,
Executive Orders ,
Facebook ,
Farms ,
Federal Bans ,
Financial Crimes ,
Food Supply ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Instant Messaging Apps ,
Layoffs ,
Mark Zuckerberg ,
Microsoft ,
Mobile Apps ,
Movie Theaters ,
National Security ,
Oil Prices ,
Personal Data ,
Private Equity Firms ,
Re-Opening Guidelines ,
Social Media ,
Supply and Demand ,
TikTok ,
Trump Administration ,
Unemployment ,
Wells Notice
Unlike much of the world, the U.S. has not turned the corner on the coronavirus outbreak. But you wouldn’t know it by looking at the markets. On Tuesday, the S&P 500 topped out at its highest level ever, “capping a remarkable...more
8/20/2020
/ Boeing ,
CalPERS ,
Carnival Cruise Lines ,
China ,
Citigroup ,
Co-payments ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Data Breach ,
Drug Pricing ,
E-Commerce ,
Economic Downturn ,
Economic Growth ,
Financial Markets ,
Illegal-Subsidies ,
Kickbacks ,
Medicare ,
NBC ,
Pension Funds ,
Popular ,
Ransomware ,
Retailers ,
Revlon ,
S&P ,
SoftBank ,
Supply Chain ,
Target ,
Teva Pharmaceuticals ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies ,
Viacom ,
Wal-Mart