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☆ Online trading platform Webull is set to go public via a $7.3 billion SPAC deal
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-28 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The New York-based online brokerage will combine with SK Growth Opportunities Corporation in the second half of the year, pending regulatory and shareholder approvals. Webull is planning to go public through merging with a special purpose acquisition company in a deal that values the digital investing platform at $7.3 billion. Special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, raise capital in an initial public offering and use the cash to merge with a private company and take it public, usually within two years. Webull launched its trading platform in the U.S. in 2018 and enjoyed a huge boost during the Covid-19 pandemic as many Americans became first-time traders during lockdowns. The firm had $370 billion in equity notional volumes and 430 million options contracts traded through its platform in 2023.

Persons: Robinhood, Anthony Organizations: SK Growth, Corporation, Nasdaq, Webull, CNBC, CNBC PRO Locations: York, U.S

☆ Premarket stocks: Joe Biden’s top economic adviser isn’t worried about the latest inflation data
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-20 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

New York CNN —US markets broke a five-week winning streak last Friday after disappointing inflation data reignited economic and interest rate-related fears on Wall Street. Then last week, two key inflation indicators for January — the Consumer Price Index and Producer Price Index — rose above Wall Street expectations. Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin said the new data showed that the Fed needs more confidence before cutting rates. I think in this case, the market isn’t necessarily telling you much about the economy’s fundamentals, the market is telling you what other market participants think. And I think that those economic fundamentals get you to the part that says, you know, it’s not not the economy.

Persons: Price, Thomas Barkin, Raphael Bostic, isn’t, Bell, Jared Bernstein, Joe Biden, I’m, they’re, It’s, it’s, Joe Weisenthal, Elisabeth Buchwald, Hanna Ziady, Liam Peach, ” Peach Organizations: CNN Business, Bell, New York CNN, Federal Reserve, Richmond Fed, White House Council, Economic Advisers, CPI, Apple, Google, Nvidia, Microsoft, Capital, Discover Financial Services, Discover, Hamas, Gross, Israel’s, Bureau, Statistics, Capital Economics Locations: New York

☆ US consumer spending slows; labor market steadily easing
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Lucia Mutikani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

Those hopes were reinforced by other data on Thursday showing the labor market gradually easing. Though wages remain elevated, the pace of increase has slowed from earlier in the year as the labor market eases. Personal consumptionINFLATION COOLINGInflation as measured by the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index was unchanged in October after rising 0.4% in September. Stripping out housing, the core PCE price index edged up 0.1% after gaining 0.3% in September. Still, the labor market is cooling in tandem with overall demand in the economy.

Persons: Sarah Silbiger, Jerome, Powell, Conrad DeQuadros, Nancy Vanden Houten, Lucia Mutikani, Chizu Nomiyama, Andrea Ricci Organizations: El Progreso Market, Washington , D.C, REUTERS, Brean, Commerce Department's, United Auto Workers, Treasury, Fed, Labor Department, Oxford Economics, Thomson Locations: Mount Pleasant, Washington ,, New York, outlays, U.S

☆ Fed Takes Heart in a Supply-Side Boom
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Greg Ip | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Fed Chair Jerome Powell says wage increases are coming down as supply and demand are rebalanced in the labor market. Photo: jim lo scalzo/ShutterstockWhen spending and employment grow as quickly as they have lately, it normally means inflation pressure is building and the Federal Reserve might have to raise interest rates. But on Wednesday Fed Chair Jerome Powell suggested otherwise. Demand, he said, has indeed grown rapidly, but so has supply. A supply-side boom generates the best of all worlds: brisk growth and falling inflation.

Persons: Jerome Powell, jim lo Organizations: Federal Reserve

☆ Morning Bid: Megacaps scatter in the cloud
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., September 28, 2023. But after the S&P500 staged an impressive 0.7% bounce on Tuesday, futures were back in the red again ahead of the open. The negativity cut across what was otherwise a more upbeat macro picture and a calmer bond market following recent ructions. Chinese developer Country Garden (2007.HK) is deemed in default on a dollar bond for the first time, Bloomberg News reported. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

Persons: Brendan McDermid, Mike Dolan, Alphabet's, Microsoft's, Baker Hughes, Teradyne, Hess, Jerome Powell, Barbara Lewis Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Big Tech, Google, Microsoft, Meta, IBM, Boeing, Bloomberg News, Treasury, Bank of Canada, Deutsche Bank, United Health, General Dynamics, Whirlpool, Otis, Hilton, U.S, Reuters, PMI, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, HK, United States, Europe, Worldline, Germany, Ameriprise, EQT, Washington

☆ Consumer credit card debt tops $1 trillion for the first time ever
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( Matthew Fox | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Consumer credit card debt just topped $1 trillion for the first time ever, according to the Federal Reserve. A recent survey from BankRate found 47% of consumers are carrying credit card debt from month to month. Consumer credit card debt increased 4.6% in the second-quarter to a record $1.03 trillion, compared to $986 billion in the first quarter. Lower-income households were more likely to carry credit card debt from month to month, according to the survey, with 53% of cardholders with annual incomes below $50,000 carrying debt. "Yes, that's a lot of credit card debt, but most people are worth a lot more."

Persons: Joelle Scally, BankRate, Bankrate, they're, Scally, Carson, Ryan Detrick Organizations: Federal Reserve, Federal Reserve Bank of New, New York Fed, Fed Locations: York, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, CreditCards.com

☆ Credit card balances jumped in the second quarter and are above $1 trillion for the first time
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( Jeff Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Total credit card indebtedness increased by $45 billion in the April-through-June period, an increase of more than 4%. The Fed's measure of credit card debt 30 or more days late rose to 7.2% in the second quarter, up from 6.5% in Q1 and the highest rate since the first quarter of 2012 though close to the long-run normal, central bank officials said. Total debt delinquency edged higher to 3.18% from 3%. "Credit card balances saw brisk growth in the second quarter," said Joelle Scally, regional economic principal within the Household and Public Policy Research Division at the New York Fed. Newly originated mortgages rose by $393 billion though total mortgage debt nudged lower to just over $12 trillion.

Persons: Joelle Organizations: New York Federal Reserve, Public Policy Research, New York Fed, Auto

☆ As credit card debt tops $1 trillion for the first time, 'a huge test' for cardholders is coming
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-08 | by ( Jessica Dickler | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

watch nowCollectively, Americans now owe more than $1 trillion on credit cards. Total credit card debt rose nearly 5%, or roughly $45 billion, in the second quarter to a new high of $1.03 trillion, according to a new report on household debt from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. "One trillion dollars in credit card debt is staggering," Schulz added. "Credit card balances saw brisk growth in the second quarter," Joelle Scally, regional economic principal in the New York Fed's research and statistics group, said in a statement. On the heels of another rate hike last month by the Federal Reserve, the average credit card rate is also more than 20% on average, another all-time high.

Persons: Matt Schulz, LendingTree's, Schulz Organizations: Federal Reserve Bank of New, New York Fed, Federal Reserve Locations: Federal Reserve Bank of New York, York

SummaryCompanies Top private banks report attrition rates of 35-50%Highest turnover seen in sales staffBrisk growth in retail lending leading to attritionMUMBAI, July 27 (Reuters) - India's private lenders are contending with soaring attrition amid strong demand for loans and the rush to capture a larger share of the crowded market. HDFC Bank, India's largest private lender, saw its employee turnover rate over the last year rise to 34%, while Axis Bank was at nearly 35%. Kotak Mahindra Bank's attrition surged to about 50%, with smaller peer Yes Bank in toe at 43%. The bank is working towards controlling it and would "not like to see an overall attrition of more than 25-30%," he said. Kotak Mahindra Bank, which has seen the sharpest jump in attrition, saw the worst churn at junior levels, it said.

Persons: Kotak, Amitabh Chaudhry, Chaudhry, Rituparna Chakraborty, Prashant Kumar, Teamlease's Chakraborty, Shanti Ekambaram, Ekambaram, Jain, Ira Dugal, Siddhi Nayak, Dhanya Ann Thoppil Organizations: HDFC Bank, Axis, Kotak Mahindra, Teamlease Services, Reuters, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Thomson Locations: MUMBAI, India's, Siddhi

☆ A.I. could ‘remove all human touchpoints’ in supply chains. Here’s what that means
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( Lucy Handley | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Ryan Collerd | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesArtificial intelligence is likely to shake up the transportation industry — transforming how supply chains are managed and reducing the number of jobs carried out by people, according to analysts and industry insiders. Sidewalk robots, self-driving trucks and customer service bots are on their way, along with generative AI that can predict disruptions or explain why sales forecasts may have been missed, according to industry executives. "AI may be able to totally (or nearly) remove all human touchpoints in the supply chain including 'back office' tasks," Morgan Stanley 's analysts led by Ravi Shanker stated in a research note last month. AI is the latest one of these potentially transformative technologies to emerge – and perhaps the most powerful to-date," the analysts added. This is a theme picked up by analysts at investment firm Jefferies, who made multiple predictions about the effect that generative AI will have on transportation and logistics.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, Ryan Collerd, Ravi Shanker, Morgan, Jefferies, Stephanie Moore, Navneet Kapoor, Kapoor, Maersk, Igor Rikalo Organizations: Hershey Co, Bloomberg, Getty, EV, Trucking, Logistics, CNBC, Maersk, o9 Solutions Maersk Locations: U.S, Russia, Ukraine

At its latest meeting, the Fed laced its statement and minutes with a rider about cumulative tightening and uncertain lags. The gist of the argument is that the Fed doesn't deliver credit directly to the wider economy - banks and financial markets do. But few seem to doubt that these policy lags have shortened considerably over the decades. Showcasing the study in December, San Francisco Fed chief Mary Daly adopted a more dovish slant on the gap between the funds rate and tightening financial markets. "But investors should remain attentive to the occasional episodic disconnects observed between Fed guidance and some prominent indices of financial conditions," Clarida told clients.

☆ Europe's venture capital firms are facing a painful 2023 as some struggle to prove returns to LPs in bid to raise fresh capital
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Callum Burroughs | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Some of Europe's venture capital firms are struggling to show returns on their investments. Europe's venture capital sector has enjoyed a booming run in recent years. Now, the dramatically changed economic landscape has left not only the startups facing a scarcity of available capital, but also the venture capital firms that fund them too. There are likely to be countless more who are also struggling to raise capital. For some smaller firms, the frothy days of 2021 are looking increasingly like a distant memory.

☆ Analysis: India's EV dawn fans expectations fuel demand may peak early
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Mohi Narayan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Currently, around 90% of Indian petrochemical demand is met by China, he said, so a shift by Indian refiners towards domestic chemical needs could dramatically change supply dynamics. Indian refiners are investing billions of dollars to raise petrochemical capacity. Indian Oil Corp (IOC.NS), the country's top refiner, is raising petrochemical capacity at its Panipat refinery by 13% and building new plants linked to its Paradip and Gujarat refineries. India's state refiners, which dominate fuel retailers, plan to set up EV charging facilities at more than 22,000 fuel stations and highways by 2024. About 40% of India's fuel demand is for diesel, which is mostly used by trucks.

☆ Peter Thiel's VC firm just led a $40 million investment into the self-driving startup ISEE. Here's why it's betting on the little-known player as top firms struggle.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Alexa St. John | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Peter Thiel's venture-capital firm, Founders Fund, just led a $40 million raise for ISEE. CEO Yibiao Zhao told Insider the startup's first focus was software for trucks in logistics yards. Peter Thiel's venture-capital firm just led a $40 million investment into a little-known self-driving-tech startup whose founders plan to help solve the supply-chain crisis. The raise is sizable considering today's economic environment has seen less funding going toward mobility, including autonomous tech. "We don't build trucks," Zhao said.

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