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☆ Bidding wars no more: Regular people have a better shot at scoring a home as investors flee once-hot cities from Phoenix to Atlanta
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Aj Latrace | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

But investors have backed off, especially in formerly hot areas like Phoenix, Redfin found. The significant drop in investor purchases means less competition for regular homebuyers. Investors purchased approximately $31 billion worth of properties — equivalent to 48,445 homes —nationwide in the last three months of 2022. They include Las Vegas, Phoenix, the New York City suburb of Nassau County, Atlanta, and Charlotte, all of which saw investor purchases fall over 60% year-over-year, the report said. But the drop in home prices and investor purchases last year could signal even more dire conditions in 2023, some analysts and experts predict.

☆ Cineworld shares dive on reports of no bidders for UK, U.S. assets
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 22 (Reuters) - Shares of Cineworld (CINE.L) slumped as much as 22% on Wednesday after media reports said the world's second-largest cinema operator had received 40 non-binding bids, but none for its UK and U.S. assets or nearing its $6 billion secured debt load. When requested by Reuters, Cineworld did not immediately confirm details of the update it provided to the court. The reports also said the company was proposing an April 10 deadline for final bids, with an auction, if necessary, to follow on April 17. A vote on restructuring has been set for May 21, with a court confirmation hearing tentatively set for May 30. Last month, Bloomberg News reported that Cineworld has shuttered 23 theatre sites since filing for bankruptcy protection and was planning more closures.

☆ These 2 charts show that investors are more scared of Jerome Powell than they are of Vladimir Putin
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Stocks plummeted Tuesday – as Vladimir Putin promised to escalate Russia's war in Ukraine. Check out these two charts that show what investors are worried about right now. Two ongoing sagas have rattled markets over the past year: the Federal Reserve's aggressive interest-rate hikes and Russia's war in Ukraine. When the cost of borrowing is higher, stocks struggle because their future cash flows take a hit, chipping away at their overall valuations. That suggests that they're more scared of Jerome Powell than they are of Vladimir Putin.

☆ Howard Schultz: Unions ‘a manifestation of a much bigger problem’
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Danielle Wiener-Bronner | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

New York CNN —Fifteen years ago, Howard Schultz reprised his role as Starbucks CEO, returning to the helm to help put the struggling company back on course. Even before he officially rejoined the company, Schultz was already alarmed by the union push. In the months since returning as CEO, Schultz has doubled down on his opposition to the union. “The fact that Starbucks workers are continuing to organize and win shows just how much workers need and desire a union,” Starbucks Workers United said in a statement to CNN. As a CEO, Schultz has been responding “very typically,” Givan said, in how strongly he’s opposed the union.

☆ Britain's post-Brexit asset management revamp eyes liquidity, tokenisation
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Huw Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Until Britain's departure from the European Union in 2020, rules for the UK funds sector were written in Brussels. The sector has fallen short in dealing with stresses in recent years in Britain and elsewhere due to inadequate liquidity, prompting scrutiny globally. "The regulatory framework contains rules around liquidity management. "But the growth of the fund industry means that liquidity management in funds is also relevant to the good functioning of markets," the discussion paper out for public consultation said. The FCA said it wants to see fund managers complying with liquidity stress testing guidelines issued by the EU's securities watchdog ESMA, which will be converted into UK rules.

☆ Kristoffersen wins slalom, historic silver for Greece
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

France's 2022 Olympic slalom champion Clement Noel was fourth, missing a medal by 0.03 seconds. I’ve done both plenty of times, but the finish is worse because you’ve done your run, and you can’t change anything," said the 2019 giant slalom gold medallist. "I won most things in slalom except Olympic gold and world championship gold. He was also second in a World Cup slalom in Chamonix on Feb. 4, a first World Cup podium for his country. "He went to chase his dream for Greece after so many injuries and he never let go.

☆ A 27-year-old real-estate investor who rehabbed 7 Austin properties last year is now targeting San Antonio, where homes can cost less than $100,000. Here are 3 reasons it's the next big investor hot s
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Aj Latrace | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

San Antonio. You can buy homes for relatively cheap"A lot of people have overlooked San Antonio," Crenshaw said. January data from Redfin pegs the median home price in San Antonio at $255,000, which is less than half of Austin's $530,000. San Antonio — the fastest-growing large city in the nation between 2020 and 2021, gaining nearly 14,000 people, per census data — remains attractive to newcomers. Relocators get affordability in San Antonio, Crenshaw said, without sacrificing exciting nightlife and other big-city attractions such as museums and professional sports teams like the NBA's Spurs.

☆ ‘Boring is the new sexy’ as UK's stock index closes above 8,000 for the first time
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

An employee views a FTSE share index board in the atrium of the London Stock Exchange Group Plc's offices in London, U.K., on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2020. LONDON — Britain's FTSE 100 index closed above 8,000 points for the first time on Thursday, with one analyst suggesting the reason behind demand for U.K. stocks is that "boring is the new sexy." Despite the U.K. facing the weakest economic growth outlook among all of the world's major economies, including Russia, the country's blue chip index hit record highs this week and closed at 8,012.53 on Thursday. The U.K.'s annual headline inflation dipped for a third straight month in January to 10.1%, though it remains well above the Bank of England's 2% target while the labor market remains unusually tight. Euro zone headline inflation also fell for a third consecutive month to 8.5% in January, coming back to earth at a slightly faster rate than in the U.K.

☆ Homebuyers have a better shot at scoring a deal on a house in the 14 cities where home prices have plummeted the most
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( Aj Latrace | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

According to Black Knight, 14 of the 50 largest US markets have seen home prices fall by 6% or more. The San Francisco Bay Area leads the nation with the largest drop in home prices. Softening home prices in some of the most expensive cities will benefit buyers. But there's a chance for them to come off the sidelines — in fact, some already have — as prices fall in some key areas. Leading the nation with the largest drop from the 2022 peak is San Francisco, where home prices have fallen nearly 17%.

☆ Bernie Sanders hints at subpoena for Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Amelia Lucas | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Sen. Bernie Sanders hinted that lawmakers could subpoena Howard Schultz to compel the outgoing Starbucks CEO to testify in front of a Senate panel about how the coffee chain is handling its baristas' push to unionize. "One way or another, he will be there," Sanders, a pro-union Vermont independent, told reporters on Capitol Hill. Sanders, who chairs the Senate's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said in a statement Wednesday that he intends to hold Schultz and Starbucks accountable and looks forward to seeing Schultz appear before the committee. Schultz declined an invitation from 11 senators to appear at the March 9 hearing, Reuters first reported Tuesday evening. To date, regional offices of the federal labor board have issued 76 complaints against Starbucks, alleging illegal labor practices.

☆ Howard Schultz declined Bernie Sanders’ request to testify before Congress
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( Dayun Park | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Howard Schultz has declined Bernie Sanders’ request to testify before Congress. While Starbucks Workers United has sought better pay and benefits, the company has apparently put efforts into retaliating against workers who tried to unionize. About 100 Starbucks stores across the U.S staged a three-day strike in December, following a one-day strike in November, to protest unfair labor practices. One of the main reasons Starbucks workers organized is to hold billionaire executives, like Schultz, accountable for their actions,” Starbucks Workers United said in a statement to CNN. A total of 338 Starbucks stores have voted to unionize since 2021, 282 have been certified across 36 states and 56 didn’t get certified.

☆ Futures inch higher ahead of Powell speech
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies Futures: S&P up 0.13%, Nasdaq up 0.27%, Dow flatFeb 7 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures edged higher on Tuesday, ahead of a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell later in the day that will be parsed for further clues on how long the central bank will keep interest rates higher. Nasdaq 100 e-minis rose the most among futures tracking Wall Street's three main indexes. Expectations of high rates for a protracted period dragged Wall Street's main indexes down on Monday. So far, 254 companies on the S&P 500 have reported quarterly earnings, with 69.3% of them beating expectations, according to Refinitiv. ET, Dow e-minis were up 4 points, or 0.01%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 5.25 points, or 0.13%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 34 points, or 0.27%.

☆ 'Phil of the Future' star Raviv Ullman said he wishes he'd been more strategic in his Disney Channel days: 'I was 17. I don't think I knew how to be.'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( Eboni Boykin-Patterson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Raviv (previously known as Ricky) Ullman starred in "Phil of the Future" from 2004 to 2006. Since then he's acted in other series and films, but took some time to reflect on his Disney days. I don't think I knew how to be strategic or what that actually meant in terms of a career." Even though Ullman spent time in the "Disney Circle of Stars" in the early 2000s, he said he was rarely star-struck. "I don't think I was looking at it like, 'now I am a Disney star and will do Disney movies forever,'" but "I never consciously was trying to break out."

[1/2] A man is reflected in an electronic board showing Britain's FTSE 100 outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan, June 27, 2016. REUTERS/Toru HanaiLONDON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Britain's blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE) index hit a record high on Friday, in what could mark a potential turning point for UK assets, which have been dogged by a floundering economy. The FTSE 100 rose to 7,906.58 at 1545 GMT, surpassing a previous record high of 7,903.50 hit on May 22 2018. "Is it realistic that the FTSE being at an all-time high when we consider the state of the UK economy? The FTSE 100 closed Friday up 1.04% higher and has rallied 4.9% so far this year.

☆ Twitter API: Why users are upset about the platform's latest change
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Aj Willingham | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

While the concept of an “API restriction” may not sound dramatic, this latest change has users once again worried about Twitter’s future. Many of Twitter’s users are not happy about the change, as they say it will fundamentally alter the platform’s culture. Some people have used Twitter’s API to provide accessibility options to content, like alt text or image descriptions. How could restricting API access change Twitter? Some users are concerned about what the API access changes will mean for their work.

☆ Meta surges on cost cut, buyback plans; lifts mega-cap stocks
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Feb 2 (Reuters) - Shares of Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) soared nearly 20% in premarket trading on Thursday as the Facebook parent wooed investors with plans to rein on costs and a new $40 billion share buyback. Meta plans to cut costs in 2023 by $5 billion to between $89 billion and $95 billion compared with its earlier outlook of $94 billion to $100 billion, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg calling 2023 the "Year of Efficiency." If premarket gains hold, the company would add nearly $76 billion to its $401.51 billion market value. Meta results also sparked a rally in shares of other mega-cap firms that are set to report quarterly results later in the day. Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) and Google owner Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) rose about 4% each, while Apple Inc (AAPL.O) firmed 1.1%.

☆ On Groundhog Day, Punxsutawney Phil predicts six more weeks of winter
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Brendan O'Brien | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] AJ Dereume holds Punxsutawney Phil during the Groundhog Day Festivities, at Gobblers Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, U.S., February 2, 2023. According to folklore, if the rodent sees his shadow on Groundhog Day, then frigid and blustery weather will persist for six weeks. The first official celebration of Groundhog Day was in 1886, according to the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club. The annual event, famously featured in the classic 1993 film "Groundhog Day" starring Bill Murray, draws visitors from around the world. As Punxsutawney Phil made his prediction, some 450,000 homes and businesses in Texas, Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee were without power after several rounds of sleet and freezing rain downed power lines and trees.

☆ Instant View: India's Adani calls off $2.5 bln share sale
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW DELHI, Feb 1 (Reuters) - India's Adani Enterprises (ADEL.NS) on Wednesday called off its $2.5 billion share sale, citing market conditions, a week after a U.S. short-seller's critical report unleashed a rout in the wider Adani Group's stocks. COMMENTARYDEVEN CHOKSEY, MANAGING DIRECTOR, KR CHOKSEY SHARES AND SECURITIES"In the given situation, when the entire environment has become negative, it is good that the share sale is withdrawn. GURMEET CHADHA, CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER AND MANAGEMENT PARTNER OF COMPLETE CIRCLE WEALTH"It was the right thing to do. It must have been a hard decision but it was the right thing to do. To go through this exercise of a share sale and to call it off raises more questions."

☆ PSG extend Ligue 1 lead with Montpellier win as Mbappe limps off
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

PARIS, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Lionel Messi scored as Paris St Germain stretched their Ligue 1 lead to five points with a 3-1 win at Montpellier after Kylian Mbappe limped off the pitch on Wednesday. Following a lacklustre first half PSG burst into life after the break with Fabian Ruiz, Messi and Warren Zaire-Emery finding the net to put them on 51 points from 21 games. Mbappe had a night to forget at La Mosson, having had his spot-kick parried away by Benjamin Lecomte in the eighth minute. He had to take it again, only for the Montpellier keeper to deny him again. England Under-21 striker Folarin Balogun bagged a hat-trick to help Stade de Reims beat Lorient 4-2 and move top of the scorers' charts.

☆ Costcutter owner Bestway buys Sainsbury's stake
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( James Davey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Sainsbury's shares were up 4.5% on Friday, hitting their highest since April and leading gainers on the FTSE 100 (.FTSE) index. The 3.45% stake makes Bestway Sainsbury's sixth largest investor, Refinitiv Eikon data showed. Asda was purchased by brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa and private equity company TDR Capital for an enterprise value of 6.8 billion pounds, while Morrisons was bought by U.S. private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice for 7 billion pounds. Sainsbury's proposed 7.3 billion pounds takeover of Asda was blocked by Britain's competition regulator in 2019. Shares in Sainsbury's closed on Thursday at 239.4 pence, valuing the business at 5.6 billion pounds.

☆ Netflix stock jumps 6% after co-CEO Reed Hastings steps down and subscriber numbers soar
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( George Glover | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Netflix shares rallied 6% ahead of Friday's opening bell after the company released its fourth-quarter results. Also, Co-CEO Reed Hastings announced he would be quitting his current role. The firm also announced that co-CEO Reed Hastings would be stepping down to become Netflix's executive chairman. Hastings co-founded Netflix in 1997 and oversaw its transition from DVD delivery service to a streaming behemoth and onetime Wall Street darling. Read more: Reed Hastings is stepping down as co-CEO of Netflix

☆ Futures fall as weak data fuel recession worries, Fed comments on tap
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies Futures down: Dow 0.52%, S&P 0.54%, Nasdaq 0.61%Jan 19 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures fell on Thursday after weak economic data fueled recession worries, while investors await comments from more Federal Reserve officials for clues on the central bank's path of monetary tightening. "For once bad news really was bad news because of the implications it might have for interest rates. Weak retail sales suggested consumers' resilience may have been pushed beyond breaking point," said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell. Analysts now expect year-over-year earnings from S&P 500 companies to decline 2.6% for the quarter, according to Refinitiv data, compared with a 1.6% decline in the beginning of the year. ET, Dow e-minis were down 173 points, or 0.52%, S&P 500 e-minis were down 21.25 points, or 0.54%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were down 69.5 points, or 0.61%.

☆ PSG suffer another defeat as Ligue 1 lead cut to three points
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

PARIS, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Paris St Germain suffered their second defeat of the season in a 1-0 loss to Stade Rennais on Sunday as their Ligue 1 lead was slashed to three points. Despite the win, Rennes slipped down to fifth on 37 points, behind Monaco on goal difference after the principality side destroyed AC Ajaccio 7-1 earlier on Sunday with a Wissam Ben Yedder hat-trick. If we find it again it will be fine," said PSG captain Marquinhos. Midfielder Warren Zaire-Emery, 16, became the youngest player to start a Ligue 1 game for PSG and was nowhere near the Italian's level. A homophobic banner was also displayed in the stands, which will likely trigger sanctions from the French league (LFP).

☆ Futures rise on China reopening optimism, easing rate hike worries
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

A key inflation report due on Thursday will provide further cues on the state of price pressures and the outlook for interest rates. The U.S. Labor Department's consumer prices index (CPI) report is expected to show prices increased by 6.5% year-on-year in December, moderating from a 7.1% rise in November. "Sentiment still feels as fragile as a teacup and U.S. inflation numbers on Thursday could provide a key test for investor confidence." ET, Dow e-minis were up 89 points, or 0.26%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 12.5 points, or 0.32%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 30.25 points, or 0.27%. Reporting by Shubham Batra and Amruta Khandekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak DasguptaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Analysis: UK housebuilders may cut dividends as surging rates deter buyers
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Ajose Koilparambil | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The big, listed UK housebuilders have paid dividends worth 2.2 billion pounds ($2.6 billion) for their respective last financial years. Potential cuts in dividends would weigh down on shares of housebuilders, after the sector index (.FTNMX402020) slumped more than 44% in 2022. Among the FTSE 100 builders, analysts are now forecasting dividend cuts from many firms, particularly those whose payouts are linked to earnings growth. High-end housebuilder Berkeley (BKGH.L) stuck to its cash-return plans, but cut its earnings estimates for the 2024 and 2025 fiscal years. Barratt, Persimmon and Berkeley have said they would be more cautious with land purchases, in a bid to reduce outgoings as falling property prices squeeze margins.

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