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☆ Look for stock market pain next week after Friday's 'triple witching' options expiration
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-20 | by ( Bob Pisani | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Today is triple witching expiration , the quarterly expiration of single stock and index options, and index futures. It's occurring at an unusual moment: the S & P 500 is at an historic high. Week after triple witch: poor Unfortunately, the week after the September triple witch is historically among the weakest of the year. S & P 500 rebalancing today The S & P 500 will see three new entrants at the close today, each of which will begin trading as part of the S & P on Monday: Dell Technologies , Erie Indemnity and Palantir Technologies . Finally, while the S & P 500 is at a new high, the Russell 2000 smallcap index is not far behind.

Persons: Chris Murphy, Jeff Hirsch, Dow Industrials, Hirsch, Dell, Russell Organizations: Stock, Nasdaq, Dell Technologies, Erie, Palantir Technologies, Etsy, Rad Laboratories, American Airlines Group Locations: Susquehanna

☆ Sinwar: Israeli official floats safe passage offer for October 7 architect Yahya Sinwar in return for hostages
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-10 | by ( Hira Humayun | Tara John | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —An Israeli official has floated the possibility of offering Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar safe passage out of Gaza, once all remaining hostages held in the Palestinian territory are released. On Tuesday, Hirsch elaborated on the idea in an interview with Bloomberg, saying Israel has already proposed safe passage to Sinwar. “I’m ready to provide safe passage to Sinwar, his family, whoever wants to join him,” he told Bloomberg. We want demilitarization, de-radicalization of course — a new system that will manage Gaza.”He told Bloomberg that the offer of safe passage was put on the table a day and a half ago, but did not say what the response was. Israel would be open to releasing prisoners it holds as part of any deal, he told Bloomberg.

Persons: Yahya Sinwar, Gal Hirsch, CNN’s Jessica Dean, “, Hitler, Sinwar, ” Hirsch, ”, Hirsch, Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu’s, CNN Sinwar, Ismail Haniyeh Organizations: CNN, Bloomberg, Israeli, Sunday Locations: Gaza, Israel, Tehran

☆ The N.F.L. May Soon Welcome a New Kind of Minority Owner
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-24 | by ( Lauren Hirsch | Ken Belson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For more than a century, National Football League owners have been an exclusive club. owners are expected to approve rules that would allow certain private equity firms to buy as much as 10 percent of a team. Allowing investments from private equity could make it easier to put together a deal. would be the last major sports league to allow private equity firms to become minority owners, and its approach is more conservative than leagues like the National Basketball Association, which allows private equity firms to own up to 30 percent of a team. If the new rules pass, only a handful of anointed private equity firms will be able to invest in teams.

Organizations: National Football League, Washington, National Basketball Association Locations: Eagan, Minn

When the media executive Edgar Bronfman Jr. submitted his last-ditch bid on Monday to take control of Paramount, his approach was greeted with surprise and skepticism. Who would take his unconventional coalition of investors seriously, especially when an $8 billion deal with Skydance was on the table? The bid has transformed Paramount’s sale into a battle of family dynasties. But the deal is now threatened by the bid from Bronfman — a grandson of the Seagram mogul Samuel Bronfman — whose early foray steering the family business into media several decades ago has left a cloud over his career. The son of one billionaire is now pitted against the son of another.

Persons: Edgar Bronfman Jr, Skydance, David Ellison, Larry Ellison, Shari Redstone, Bronfman, Samuel Bronfman —, “, ” Terry Kawaja Organizations: Paramount, Oracle, Seagram, Luma Partners

Donors weigh in on the D.N.C. “I will bring together labor and workers and small-business owners and entrepreneurs and American companies to create jobs,” she told the Democratic National Convention last night. The nod to corporate America comes as Democrats try to firm up relations with big business. DealBook has been hitting the phones all week to hear what donors thought of the four-day convention. A flood of donors decided to go only after Harris became the presumptive nominee.

Persons: Kamala Harris’s, ”, DealBook, Harris, Brad Karp, Paul, Weiss, Raymond McGuire, Lazard, Blair Effron, John Rogers Jr Organizations: Democratic, Convention, Chicago, Centerview Partners, Ariel Investments Locations: America

Google faces a reckoningShares in Alphabet, Google’s parent company, were down in premarket trading on Wednesday on news that the Justice Department is said to be considering breaking up the technology giant for maintaining an illegal search monopoly. That would be a devastating blow for the company, but it could also have huge ramifications for the broader tech sector, with Apple, Amazon and Meta all facing their own antitrust battles with the government. A recap: In a ruling last week, Judge Amit Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia agreed with the government and multiple states that Google’s dominance in search was constraining competition. Google said it would appeal. Mehta has asked both parties to submit suggested remedies by Sept. 4, with a hearing set to take place two days later.

Persons: Amit Mehta, Mehta Organizations: Google, Justice, Apple, U.S, District of Columbia

Starbucks makes a change at the topThis just in: Laxman Narasimhan is out as the C.E.O. of Starbucks, the company announced on Tuesday, a year and a half since he succeeded Howard Schultz at the coffee chain. Narasimhan will be replaced by Brian Niccol, a fast-food industry veteran who executed a turnaround as C.E.O. Narasimhan has also been rocked by dueling activist investor campaigns and has had to fend off criticism from Schultz. Rachel Ruggeri, the Starbucks chief financial officer, will serve as interim C.E.O.

Persons: Laxman Narasimhan, Howard Schultz, Brian Niccol, Narasimhan, Schultz, It’s, Chipotle, Mellody Hobson, Rachel Ruggeri, Niccol Organizations: Starbucks, Narasimhan Locations: U.S, China

Here’s the latest:S&P 500 futures were up slightly after fears of a slowdown in growth and hiring rocked the benchmark index last week. Investors endured both a stomach-churning rout on Monday and a bounce-back rally on Thursday. Despite that, the S&P 500 ended the week down just 0.04 percent. The big event this week is Wednesday’s inflation data. Investors are anxious after tepid jobs and manufacturing data suggested a slowdown was on the horizon.

Persons: Michelle Bowman, ” Brian Moynihan, Wall Organizations: Investors, Nvidia, Fed, Bank of America, CBS Locations: Europe, Asia

☆ The Social Media Olympics
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-10 | by ( Lauren Hirsch | Sarah Kessler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Just moments after the American wrestler Sarah Hildebrandt won a gold medal at the Paris Games, she let the whole world know what she was thinking:“Oh my gosh I just won the FREAKING OLYMPICS hahahahah DUUUUDE,” she wrote on social media from the event venue. But at the Olympics, it’s part of a new twist — and one of the keys to returning to the sense of a shared national experience that defined the Games of yesteryear. For the last decade or more, it has seemed like the Olympics have struggled to capture relevance the way they did a generation ago. Blame was assigned to a fracturing media landscape and a long string of asterisks (pandemic restrictions in Tokyo, time zone issues in Beijing, a Zika outbreak in Rio de Janeiro, geopolitical tensions in Sochi). But the reason may have been simpler: The Olympics has largely been missing from social media.

Persons: Sarah Hildebrandt, DUUUUDE, ” Organizations: Paris Games Locations: American, Tokyo, Beijing, Rio de Janeiro, Sochi

Aiming to unseat three-term Democratic incumbent Jon Tester, Sheehy is founder of Montana-based Bridger Aerospace, an aerial firefighting company. On July 1, Sheehy resigned as chief executive of Bridger to focus on his Senate campaign; the company is seeking a replacement. In mid-June, an editorial in The Wall Street Journal echoed Griffin’s view, branding Sheehy’s company Bridger a success. The PAC spent $5.3 million for Sheehy and $5.7 million against his opponent, Tester, records show. In 2022, Sheehy’s cash and stock compensation neared $5 million, and last year, he received $2.5 million, Bridger’s proxy says.

Persons: Donald Trump, Tim Sheehy, Jon Tester, Sheehy, “, Bridger, Tim, ” Katie Martin, Louise Johns, Ken Griffin, Griffin, Stephen Schwarzman, “ Tim Sheehy, ” Griffin, Marc Cohodes, Cohodes, Sheehy’s, ”, Scott Olson, Blackstone, Matthew Sheehy, Bridger’s, Blackstone Tim Sheehy, Blackstone’s, ” Jon Tester, Andrew Harnik, Schwarzman, haven’t, Farrah Saint, Surin, Matthew, Martin, Bridger ”, Montana . Don, Melinda Crawford, Todd Hirsch, Thomas A, Waldman, Yocca Carlson, I’ve Organizations: Navy, Republican, Montana, Bridger Aerospace, International, Interior Department, U.S . Forest Service, Agriculture Department, Bloomberg, Getty, Wall, Citadel LLC, PAC, Commission, The Blackstone, “ Bridger Aerospace, Blackstone, Small Business Administration, Republican National Convention, Trump, ”, Cattle Company, Tallgrass Energy, Blackstone Group, Bridger, Forest Service, Bridger Air Tanker LLC, Bridger Air Tanker, SBA, ” Companies, Federal, NBC News, Mountain Air LLC, Mountain Air, Air, Service, U.S ., “, Montana ., Rauth Locations: Bozeman , Montana, Bozeman, Mont, New York City, Bridger, America, Montana, Gallatin County, Milwaukee, Riding, disbursements, Surin, ” Saint, U.S, Los Angeles

The federal court ruling that Google had abused its monopoly in online search threatens to disrupt one of the most valuable businesses in modern history, and Big Tech more broadly. Expect Google to fight back, which could drag this out for some time. What happened: Judge Amit Mehta of U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia sided with the Justice Department and several states that had accused Google of illegally cementing its search dominance. In large part that was by paying billions each year to companies including Apple and Samsung to make Google the default search engine on their devices. Those agreements hurt competition, Mehta found, allowing Google to trample competitors.

Persons: Amit Mehta, Mehta Organizations: Google, Big Tech, U.S, District, Columbia, Justice Department, Apple, Samsung

Stocks, cryptocurrencies, the dollar, oil — they’re all down sharply again on Monday on concerns that the U.S. economy is slowing faster than expected. It comes after a rough week for global markets. That has reignited criticisms that the Fed is moving too slowly to cut rates as economic conditions look shakier. Mega-cap tech stocks, which have driven much of the market’s gains this past year, were especially bruised: Nvidia was down 11 percent premarket, while Apple was off 7.5 percent. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell to a one-year low.

Persons: Berkshire Hathaway, Bitcoin, Brent, Goldman Sachs, Goldman Organizations: Nvidia, Apple, Berkshire, Nikkei, Bank of Japan, . Investors Locations: U.S, Japan

☆ CrowdStrike Hits Back in Heated Spat With Delta Over Global Tech Outage
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-05 | by ( Lauren Hirsch | More About Lauren Hirsch | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The legal saber rattling between the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike and Delta Air Lines over the global I.T. outage last month just ratcheted up a notch. The blame for Delta’s woes lies with the airline alone, the lawyers wrote. The letter was in response to Delta’s hiring of David Boies, a prominent litigator, and saying that it would seek damages over the outage, which it said cost it $500 million. Shares in both companies have plunged since the July 19 outage, with CrowdStrike down more than 35 percent.

Persons: Quinn Emanuel Urquhart, Sullivan, David Boies, Pete Buttigieg —, ”, we’re Organizations: Delta Air Lines, The New York Times, NPR, Transportation Locations: Delta

☆ Saying the Quiet Part Out Loud
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-03 | by ( Lauren Hirsch | Sarah Kessler | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Wall Street Democrats have spent the last eight years complaining about their relationship with Washington. But now that Vice President Kamala Harris is the party’s presumptive presidential nominee, they see a chance to regain influence. “Waging war is not.” (He later clarified that he would support Harris regardless of whether she replaced Khan.) Few on Wall Street would disagree with that stance — Khan has moved to block deals with seemingly little concern over losing in court. But behind the scenes, many are irked by this kind of public lobbying, arguing that it exposes a misunderstanding of the way the Washington game is played, and that it could backfire.

Persons: Donald Trump’s, Biden, Kamala Harris, Elon Musk, Bill Ackman, Harris, Lina Khan, ” Barry Diller, Reid Hoffman, ” Hoffman, “, Khan, — Khan Organizations: Democrats, Democratic Party, Trump, Federal Trade Commission, IAC, CNBC, LinkedIn, CNN Locations: Washington

Slowdown fearsGlobal markets are a blur of red on Friday as investors fret that the U.S. economy is heading for a slowdown. Lackluster tech earnings are weighing on sentiment (more on that below), but the bigger worry is a softening jobs market and a spending pullback by consumers that threatens to crimp corporate profit. That shines a spotlight on Friday’s jobs report, scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. Eastern, and bolsters calls on the Fed to lower interest rates at its next meeting, in September. There’s even talk that the central bank could consider a jumbo half-percentage-point rate cut to pull off its hope for a soft landing in which inflation is cooled without tipping the economy into recession.

Persons: There’s Organizations: Fed Locations: U.S

Meta’s earnings calm A.I. Shares in Meta are up more than 5 percent in premarket trading, even after the parent of Facebook and Instagram said it had increased spending on A.I. The numbers: Meta’s second-quarter profit was up 73 percent year-on-year, to $13.5 billion, while revenue jumped 22 percent, to $39.1 billion. The figure in focus was capital expenditures, with Meta spending $8.5 billion in the second quarter. (That also includes the company’s long-running, unprofitable investments in the so-called metaverse and other endeavors.)

Persons: Instagram Organizations: Meta, Facebook

Big Tech’s big spendingThe technology sector is facing another rough patch, after Microsoft reported mixed quarterly earnings and its shares tumbled. The company’s results are fueling more concern among investors about whether hefty spending on artificial intelligence will pay off, and how long that might take. But analysts say that Microsoft is on better footing than its rivals, and that investor enthusiasm for all things A.I. Microsoft missed earnings expectations for its cloud business by a hair. Shares in the tech giant were down 3 percent in premarket trading on the results, echoing a similar market reaction to Alphabet last week, when Google’s parent company disclosed the scale of its ever-growing A.I.

Organizations: Microsoft

How the election is dividing techThe tech world has long been divided by rivalries: Macs versus PCs, open source versus closed source. It’s a reminder, as DealBook has noted, that Silicon Valley’s libertarian wing is feeling more emboldened to flex its money and influence to buck what has become a traditionally Democratic consensus. Who’s who: Some of the most vocal Democratic donors among the tech elite are Hoffman; Vinod Khosla, the venture capitalist; Aaron Levie, the C.E.O. On the Republican side are a camp of libertarians that includes Musk and the investors Peter Thiel, David Sacks, Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz. Then there are those staying neutral, including Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, who are ostensibly trying to avoid antagonizing whoever wins in November.

Persons: Elon Musk, Reid Hoffman, Ryan Mac, Erin Griffith, Mike Isaac, DealBook, Who’s, Hoffman, Vinod Khosla, Aaron Levie, Roger McNamee, Peter Thiel, David Sacks, Marc Andreessen, Ben Horowitz, Mark Zuckerberg, Meta Organizations: Republican

Ackman delays his big betMonday isn’t going to be the day that Bill Ackman prices the I.P.O. of his Pershing Square USA investment vehicle, as had been planned. But the long-awaited fund, whose investors will probably include many who follow Ackman’s provocations on social media, is still coming, it says. The context: Pershing Square USA is a so-called closed-end fund that’s raising money to make the sort of concentrated investments that Ackman is now known for. The fund had faced big expectations after Ackman set an initial I.P.O.

Persons: Bill Ackman, Ackman Organizations: Pershing Square USA, Pershing

☆ Monetary policy outlook is leading to acceleration in deal making, says Hamilton Lane Co-CEO
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-29 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailMonetary policy outlook is leading to acceleration in deal making, says Hamilton Lane Co-CEOErik Hirsch, Hamilton Lane co-CEO, joins 'Fast Money' to talk Treasurys slumping ahead of Fed meeting, investing opportunities in private markets, and more.

Persons: Hamilton Lane, Erik Hirsch Organizations: Fed

A question about the future of antitrustNews that Reid Hoffman, the billionaire LinkedIn co-founder and major Democratic donor, wants Vice President Kamala Harris, if she wins in November, to replace Lina Khan as chair of the F.T.C. Senator Bernie Sanders, independent of Vermont, called it “unacceptable,” and Tim Wu, the Columbia Law School professor and former Biden antitrust official, demanded that the Harris campaign return Hoffman’s donations. Khan is perhaps the most consequential regulator for business in the Biden administration, and her fate as F.T.C. chair underscores anxiety among Democrats about how Harris would approach antitrust policy should she become president. So Khan could be stripped of that role and replaced with a colleague, though that could be awkward.

Persons: Reid Hoffman, Kamala Harris, Lina Khan, Bernie Sanders, Tim Wu, Biden, Harris, Khan Organizations: LinkedIn, Democratic, Columbia Law School Locations: Vermont, United States

An “irrevocable” trust? Rupert Murdoch is showing yet again that real life can be more fascinating than fiction. It’s about control of a global media business with extraordinary political power, one that’s still trying to preserve its influence in America and elsewhere. The context: When Murdoch dies, control of the family’s companies, including the broadcaster Fox and the newspaper publisher News Corp, will be shared among his four eldest children via the trust. Under the arrangement, Prudence, Lachlan, James and Elisabeth will each get an equal say in how the businesses are run.

Persons: Rupert Murdoch, —, Jim Rutenberg, Jonathan Mahler, isn’t, Murdoch, Prudence, Lachlan, James, Elisabeth Organizations: Fox, News Corp Locations: Nevada, America

But all that attention isn’t translating into success at Musk’s core business, as Tesla reported another sharp drop in quarterly profit that has spooked investors. Shares in Tesla are down sharply premarket on the company’s results. That’s despite Tesla cutting costs and laying off more than 10 percent of its global work force. Among the troubles bedeviling the company are sluggish consumer demand and a price war with competitors that has dented profits. Tesla sold $890 million worth in the quarter, three times the figure in 2023.)

Persons: Tesla’s doldrums Elon Musk, Donald Trump —, Tesla

Why some big money is holding out for nowAfter just one full day of campaigning, Vice President Kamala Harris has a glide path to the Democratic presidential nomination. The Harris campaign also said it had raised more than $100 million between Sunday afternoon and Monday evening. But some major Democratic donors, including Mike Bloomberg and the venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, have yet to endorse her. The concern is that if they support Harris too soon, they would appear to be anointing their party’s presidential candidate, rather than her earning it through a full democratic process. And Khosla posted on X, “An open process will allow everyone a chance to make their case and express their views.

Persons: Kamala Harris, Nancy Pelosi, Harris, Mike Bloomberg, Vinod Khosla, DealBook, don’t, Khosla, ” Organizations: Democratic, Bloomberg Locations: Chicago

Follow the moneyThe shock waves from President Biden ending his re-election bid, after weeks of pressure to step aside, are still reverberating around the world. Many Democratic officials and financial backers have followed his lead and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as his successor in the race. But the conspicuous silence of some senior party leaders and warnings from prominent donors suggest that the party’s ticket isn’t a done deal. The latest: Biden’s withdrawal opened a flood of Democratic donations, with more than $50 million pouring in on Sunday, in what one strategist said might be “the greatest fund-raising moment in Democratic Party history.”Wall Street and Hollywood donors came back in force, while stalwart Biden backers, including the tech billionaire Reid Hoffman and the hedge fund scion Alex Soros, pledged their support to Harris.

Persons: Biden, Kamala Harris, Reid Hoffman, Alex Soros, Harris Organizations: Democratic, Democratic Party

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