It’s all coming up Elon these days for Tesla and its stock. “Positive developments” from the electric carmaker’s battery suppliers helped goose shares even higher, ending the day at $780/share—a nearly 20% gain since Friday....more
2/4/2020
/ #MeToo ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Automotive Industry ,
Bank of America ,
Bias ,
China ,
Citigroup ,
Competition ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Corporate Culture ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Elon Musk ,
EU ,
Fair Housing Act (FHA) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Financial Markets ,
FinTech ,
Ford Motor ,
Fuel Efficiency ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Google ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Interest Rates ,
Merger Controls ,
National Emissions Standards ,
Oil & Gas ,
On-Demand Services ,
OPEC ,
Pay Gap ,
Personal Care Products ,
Popular ,
Public Health ,
Race Discrimination ,
Search Engines ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sharing Economy ,
Stock Prices ,
Supply and Demand ,
Tesla ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
Visa Inc ,
Voluntary Dismissals ,
Wells Fargo
Sunday’s release of a long-awaited Labor Department final rule on joint employment spells trouble for workers hoping to “sue large companies for wrongdoing by contractors or franchisees.” The rule reverses Obama-era policies...more
1/13/2020
/ Aircraft ,
Airplane Accidents ,
Alphabet Company ,
Automotive Industry ,
Bench Trial ,
Boeing ,
CEOs ,
Class Action ,
Climate Change ,
Controlling Employer ,
Corporate Culture ,
Cybersecurity ,
Damages ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Electronic Medical Records ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Executive Compensation ,
Exxon Mobil ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) ,
FinTech ,
Franchisee ,
Franchises ,
Franchisors ,
General Motors ,
Google ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Innovative Technology ,
Internal Communications ,
Investment Fraud ,
Joint Employers ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Nissan ,
Oil & Gas ,
Online Banking ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Resignation ,
Risk Management ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Socially Responsible Investments ,
Software ,
Startups ,
UK ,
USAA ,
Vulnerability Assessments ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wells Fargo ,
Workplace Romances
Fintech firm Stripe Inc., which “allows internet companies and online marketplaces to accept credit cards for their goods and services and pay out money to the people and firms that sell on their platforms,” just wrapped a...more
9/20/2019
/ AirBnB ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Bribery ,
Capital Raising ,
Carbon Emissions ,
CFTC ,
China ,
Corporate Branding ,
Drug & Alcohol Abuse ,
Enforcement Programs ,
Exports ,
FinTech ,
General Motors ,
Imports ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Insider Trading ,
Jeff Bezos ,
Money Laundering ,
Money Services Business ,
Opioid ,
OxyContin ,
Pain Management ,
Paris Agreement ,
Payment Systems ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Purdue Pharma ,
RBS ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Negotiations ,
Trade Relations ,
Trump Administration ,
US Trade Policies ,
Virtual Currency ,
Whistleblowers
OPEC nations met yesterday and agreed to continue their production cutting goals into 2020 in an effort to, according to the experts, “prop[] up prices while demand for oil is weakening”....more
7/2/2019
/ Apple ,
Beer ,
Beverage Manufacturers ,
Capital Requirements ,
Chapter 11 ,
China ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Deutsche Bank ,
ETFs ,
EURIBOR ,
Exploration and Production Assets ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
FinTech ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Mark Zuckerberg ,
Nasdaq ,
Oil & Gas ,
OPEC ,
Regulation A ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) ,
Startups ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Wars ,
UK ,
US Trade Policies
Much more on the suddenly hot topic of Big Tech antitrust oversight, including a negotiated agreement among regulators that will see the DOJ handling Apple and Google while the Federal Trade Commission will take on Facebook...more
6/4/2019
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Apple ,
China ,
Chrysler ,
Denial of Certiorari ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Economic Development ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Fiat ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
France ,
General Motors ,
Google ,
Government Investigations ,
Insider Trading ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Mexico ,
NYDFS ,
OCC ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Renault-Nissan ,
SAC Capital ,
SCOTUS ,
Tariffs ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tesla ,
Trump Administration
Zuck and Co. are launching a major platform redesign as Facebook attempts to move beyond years of privacy-related scandals and promote group-based communications rather than the public-square newsfeed....more
5/1/2019
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Alphabet Company ,
Apple ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
E-Commerce ,
Facebook ,
Federal Pilot Programs ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Instagram ,
Internet Streaming ,
Lost Profits ,
Music Streaming ,
OCC ,
Oil & Gas ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Renewable Energy ,
Sandbox ,
Share Buybacks ,
Social Media ,
Solar Energy ,
Solar Panels ,
Stock Prices ,
Tesla ,
Warren Buffett
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
Warner Bros. studio division chief—part of AT&T’s recently acquired media empire—has “stepped down after accusations surfaced that he had pushed for a woman with whom he had a sexual relationship to be considered for roles in...more
3/19/2019
/ Commerzbank ,
Consumer Lenders ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Diversity and Inclusion Standards (D&I) ,
E-Commerce ,
Elon Musk ,
Embedded Tweets ,
FinTech ,
First Amendment ,
Germany ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Interest Rate Swaps ,
Investment Banks ,
Levi Strauss ,
Market Manipulation ,
Payment Processors ,
RBS ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Social Media ,
Startups ,
Trading Platforms ,
UK Brexit ,
Waiver of Rights ,
Warner Brothers Entertainment ,
Workplace Romances
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
Even while we’ve spent that past few weeks looking back at the origins of the 2008 financial crisis a decade later, market watchers are keeping an eye on the roots of the next one that “might already be taking hold.”...more
9/17/2018
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Bribery ,
China ,
Citigroup ,
Corporate Governance ,
Debt ,
Financial Crisis ,
FinTech ,
High Frequency Trading ,
Imports ,
Investment Fraud ,
Loans ,
OCC ,
Salesforce ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Violations ,
Special Purpose National Bank Charter ,
Student Loans ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
US Trade Policies ,
Wells Fargo
Elon Musk had some explaining to do in light of his “funding secured” tweet on August 7 in the context of taking Tesla private, and he’s gone to the corporate blog to do so, arguing that his meetings with representatives of...more
8/14/2018
/ Automotive Industry ,
Class Action ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Digital Currency ,
Discovery ,
Elon Musk ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Ether ,
Financial Crisis ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
LIHTC ,
Netflix ,
Real Estate Development ,
RMBS ,
Student Loans ,
Subprime Loans ,
Tesla ,
Turkey ,
Virtual Currency ,
Wells Fargo
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
8/1/2018
/ China ,
Coal Industry ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
EU ,
Extradition ,
Financial Crisis ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Forex ,
Greece ,
High Frequency Trading ,
HSBC ,
IMF ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Kickbacks ,
Market Manipulation ,
NYSE ,
Securities Traders ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
UK Supreme Court ,
US Trade Policies
Meet ZTE (well, meet them again. We’ve discussed them before), the massive Chinese electronics maker banned last month by the White House from using US-made components that could well be the “first casualty of the high-tech...more
5/10/2018
/ Argentina ,
Aviation Industry ,
BlackRock ,
Boeing ,
China ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) ,
FinTech ,
Hedge Funds ,
IMF ,
Investment Products ,
Iran Sanctions ,
Nike ,
RBS ,
RMBS ,
Securities Fraud ,
SoftBank ,
Startups ,
Technology Sector ,
Tesla ,
Variable Annuities ,
Wire Fraud ,
ZTE
Some analysis of Friday’s less-than-booming jobs report – NYTimes and Bloomberg And a look at Fed Chair Powell’s first major remarks on the state of the economy and the potential effects a trade war would have on the Fed’s...more
4/9/2018
/ Asset Freeze ,
China ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Data Collection ,
Deutsche Bank ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Facebook ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
HSBC ,
India ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Job Creation ,
Libor ,
Mark Zuckerberg ,
Market Manipulation ,
Personal Data ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Tariffs ,
Trade Relations ,
Unemployment ,
Unregistered Securities ,
US Trade Policies ,
Wells Fargo
Spotify’s unconventional (non-IPO) public listing is off and running, and though it’s early, it sure feels as if the risk was a good one, with the market valuing the company north of $30 billion....more
4/4/2018
/ Blockchain ,
Capital Raising ,
China ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Digital Currency ,
Financial Markets ,
FinTech ,
Fraud ,
Initial Coin Offering (ICOs) ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Regulation A ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Spotify ,
Startups ,
Stock Prices ,
Token Sales ,
Virtual Currency
US regulators have given passing grades to the living wills for all 8 major US banks, a reversal from the April 2016 determination that 5 of the 8 had deficiencies in their bailout-prevention plans....more
12/20/2017
/ Banking Sector ,
Banks ,
Barclays ,
Bitcoin ,
C-Suite Executives ,
Digital Currency ,
EU ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Gig Economy ,
Health Care Providers ,
Hospital Mergers ,
Libor ,
Living Will ,
Money Transfer ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Ridesharing ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Sharing Economy ,
Transportation Industry ,
Uber ,
Virtual Currency ,
Woman Board Members
Representatives of the US’s biggest stock exchanges have questioned the SEC’s plan to change how markets work by altering the current “maker-taker” system and imposing new transparency and conflict-of-interest rules on...more
10/18/2017
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Administrative Proceedings ,
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) ,
China ,
Coal ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Crowdfunding ,
E-Commerce ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Global Market ,
Goldman Sachs ,
Internet Retailers ,
Investment Fraud ,
Ireland ,
Japan ,
Morgan Stanley ,
News Stories ,
Payment Processors ,
PayPal ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Steel Industry ,
Trading Platforms ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Venmo
Despite a stronger global economic outlook than we’ve seen in years, the world’s central bankers appear loath to let go of stimulus measures while lower-than-expected inflation bedevils them....more
10/16/2017
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Bank of New York (BNY) Mellon ,
Banking Sector ,
China ,
Commerzbank ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Energy Sector ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Financial Institutions ,
Financial Markets ,
Financial Services Industry ,
FinTech ,
Global Economy ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Native American Issues ,
Oil & Gas ,
Online Marketplace Lending ,
Payday Loans ,
Private Investment Funds ,
Quarterly Report ,
RMBS ,
Saudi Arabia ,
Sovereign Wealth Funds ,
Technology ,
Tribal Governments ,
Tribal Loans
The White House announced its intention yesterday to blocked a China-backed investor from buying American semiconductor maker Lattice over national security concerns. The “rare move” could “signal more aggressive scrutiny of...more
9/15/2017
/ Banking Sector ,
Barclays ,
Bitcoin ,
Bonds ,
China ,
Class Action ,
Data Breach ,
Digital Currency ,
Equifax ,
FinTech ,
Initial Public Offering (IPO) ,
Martin Shkreli ,
Saudi Arabia ,
Securities Fraud
The Times’ tech guru—Farhad Manjoo—gets all indignant regarding the Equifax breach. Namely, if Equifax can’t handle its one job of safeguarding personal info, should it really be allowed to keep going at all now?...more
9/11/2017
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Blockchain ,
China ,
Costco ,
Credit Reporting Agencies ,
Cryptocurrency ,
Data Breach ,
Digital Currency ,
Equifax ,
FinTech ,
Foreign Currency ,
Foreign Investment ,
Hurricane Irma ,
Personally Identifiable Information
Lots of Fed news this morning, and all of it on the administrative side. First, it now appears that a likely choice to replace Chair Yellen could be out before he was even in. And we’ve learned that Fed No. 2 Stanley Fischer...more
9/7/2017
/ Administrative Appointments ,
Amazon Marketplace ,
Banking Sector ,
Bernie Madoff ,
Facebook ,
Federal Reserve ,
Financial Crisis ,
FinTech ,
Hurricane Irma ,
Insider Trading ,
Janet Yellen ,
Online Advertisements ,
Procter & Gamble ,
Puerto Rico ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Small Business ,
Square
Along with this week’s news that Amazon and Whole Foods are putting the finishing touches on their deal and have the government’s stamp of approval came word that as of Monday, the first official day of Amazon control, the...more
8/25/2017
/ Amazon Marketplace ,
Banking Sector ,
Brick-and-Mortar Stores ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
FinTech ,
Grocery Stores ,
Inflation Adjustments ,
Internet Retailers ,
Janet Yellen ,
Libor ,
Market Manipulation ,
Mortgages ,
Oil & Gas ,
Online Marketplace Lending ,
Retail Market ,
SoftBank ,
US Bank ,
Wells Fargo ,
Whole Foods
The DOJ is dismissing charges against former JPMorgan employees allegedly mixed up in the London Whale trading scandal that cost JPM more than $6 billion....more
7/24/2017
/ Automotive Industry ,
Banking Sector ,
Benchmarks ,
BMW ,
China ,
DaimlerChrysler ,
Deutsche Bank ,
FinTech ,
JPMorgan Chase ,
Libor ,
National Emissions Standards ,
Private Equity ,
UK ,
UK Brexit ,
Volkswagen ,
WebMD
With politics swirling around in the background, the AT&T/Time Warner mega-merger is still up in the air, with DOJ antitrust officials still working away (8 months after the deal was announced) to determine whether...more
7/10/2017
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
AT&T ,
Banks ,
Berkshire Hathaway ,
Biometric Information ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Institutions ,
FinTech ,
Investment Adviser ,
Martin Shkreli ,
Retirement Plan ,
Smartphones ,
Time Warner Cable ,
UK ,
UK Brexit
Qatar’s response to its recent feud with its Persian Gulf neighbors is to “dramatically increase” its natural gas production—an “awkward time” to do so by most measures....more
7/5/2017
/ Bailout ,
Banking Sector ,
Barclays ,
Energy Sector ,
Financial Fraud ,
FinTech ,
Interest Rate Adjustments ,
Italy ,
Libor ,
Natural Gas ,
Oil & Gas ,
Qatar ,
Takeover Bids