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☆ Here are Tuesday's biggest analyst calls: Apple, Tesla, Dollar Tree, Amazon, Alphabet, Toll Brothers and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Here are Tuesday's biggest calls on Wall Street: Wells Fargo upgrades Air Products to overweight from equal weight Wells Fargo said it sees robust earnings growth. JPMorgan reiterates Alphabet as overweight JPMorgan said it's standing by its overweight rating heading into earnings next week. " JPMorgan upgrades Viasat to overweight from neutral JPMorgan said it sees an attractive entry point for the satellite company. " JPMorgan upgrades CyberArk to overweight from neutral JPMorgan said it sees "accelerating demand" for the cyber company. JPMorgan initiates Teck Resources as overweight JPMorgan said the metals and mining company is its preferred play. "

Persons: Wells Fargo, GOOGL, Wells, Horton, Stifel, Raymond James, Lam, Tesla, MBLY, Goldman Sachs, Bernstein, Morgan Stanley, Hannon, JPMorgan Organizations: Air Products, JPMorgan, Homebuilding, MAS, FERG, UW, Lam Research, Materials, Microsoft, Viasat, Citi, Exxon Mobil, Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital, Bank of America, Apple, of America, Pro, Teck Resources Locations: Wells, LEN, China, HASI

☆ A lot of 2023's new unicorns have been generative AI startups. Here's what to expect from the sector next year, according to Accel.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( Riddhi Kanetkar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Generative AI startups have made up a lot of the world's new unicorns this year. High-profile investors have jostled to back, in some cases, weeks-old startups like Mistral as the hype around generative AI intensified. Both regions also tout a batch of promising unicorns across the generative AI stack. Generative AI will become a run-of-the-mill tool"Generative AI will unlock new verticalised applications built with smaller and dedicated models and industry-specific workflows," the Accel report said. Enterprises will also jump to incorporate generative AI more seamlessly into their automation tools, per the report.

Persons: —, Phillipe Botteri, Harvey Organizations: Venture, Mistral, US, Accel Partners, Runway, Accel, EU, Stanford University, Enterprises, Big Tech, Microsoft Locations: Europe, Israel, Jasper, France, EU

☆ The analysts who study price charts for a living don’t like this stock market
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( Jesse Pound | In Jesse-Pound | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The stock market is showing signs of shaking off its late summer slump, paving the way for a potential year-end rally. The S & P 500 is up more than 3% since Oct. 3 and has risen comfortably above its 200-day moving average near 4,200. And other indexes that try to better represent the entire market than the S & P 500 are showing weakness, according to a Monday note from Strategas strategist Chris Verrone. "These have been very messy charts, but both the equal-weight S & P and the Russell 2000 are again back to negative standing in our proprietary trend model," Verrone said. "The S & P 500 continues to track its seasonal tendency as well.

Persons: JC O'Hara, Roth MKM, Jonathan Krinsky, Chris Verrone, Russell, Verrone, Verrone's, Jason Trennert, Frank Gretz, Wellington Shields, Gretz, Oppenheimer, Ari Wald, " Wald, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Wall, Nasdaq, Wellington, CNBC Locations: U.S, uptrends

☆ BlackRock Investment Institute raises rating of long-dated US Treasuries
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

A bronze seal for the Department of the Treasury is shown at the U.S. Treasury building in Washington, U.S., January 20, 2023. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsOct 16 (Reuters) - BlackRock Investment Institute on Monday raised the rating of long-dated U.S. Treasuries to "neutral" from "underweight" as it sees yields approaching a peak. "We now see about equal odds that long-term yields swing in either direction," said Jean Boivin, head of BlackRock Investment Institute. BlackRock Investment Institute, an arm of U.S.-based investment firm BlackRock that provides proprietary investment research, is "overweight" on euro area and UK bonds as it sees more rate cuts than the market in these regions. Reporting by Susan Mathew in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak DasguptaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Kevin Lamarque, Jean Boivin, Susan Mathew, Shounak Dasgupta Organizations: Department of, U.S . Treasury, REUTERS, BlackRock Investment, BlackRock Investment Institute, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, U.S, BlackRock, Bengaluru

☆ Insider Today: Big banks' cloudy forecast
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-16 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

AdvertisementAdvertisementIn today's big story, we're looking at why strong earnings results from some big banks weren't necessarily the big win markets were hoping for. The big storyTrouble brewingAdvertisementAdvertisementOn the surface, earnings season got off to a great start. And that could spell trouble for the broader market hoping for a banner earnings season to help it finish the year on a positive. AdvertisementAdvertisement"This may be the most dangerous time the world has seen in decades," he said in a press release announcing the bank's earnings. One market veteran predicts stocks will rally for the final stretch of the year due to a strong earnings season.

Persons: Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Wells, Jamie Dimon, Dimon, Julian Restrepo, Emmalyse Brownstein, Mark Mason, JPMorgan's, Teresa Heitsenrether, Goldman Sachs, Jane Fraser, Fraser, Michael Siluk, there's, Walter Isaacson, Justin Sullivan, Tim Mosenfelder, Elon, Tyler Le, Noah Webster, He's, Naomi Osaka, Angela Lansbury, Sue Bird, Oscar Wilde, Bryce Harper, Dan DeFrancesco, Naga Siu, Hallam Bullock, Lisa Ryan Organizations: Tech, JPMorgan, Citigroup, AP, Citi, Barclays, Suisse, New York Department of Labor, Getty, Wedbush Securities, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft, Consumers, PETA, Dairy Summit Locations: Ukraine, Israel, Chicago, New York City, San Diego, London, New York

☆ iPhone 15 demand dips in China, analysts say
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-16 | by ( Samantha Murphy Kelly | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Demand for Apple’s new iPhone 15 lineup is weaker in China than for last year’s models, according to analysts. Sales for the iPhone 15 are down 4.5% in China compared to iPhone 14 sales in the first two weeks after its launch, according to Counterpoint Research. Separately, Bloomberg reported on Monday financial firm Jefferies said iPhone 15 sales dropped by a double-digit percentage following strong customer demand for Huawei’s new Mate 60 smartphone line. That’s strong growth for Apple considering sales fell for the third consecutive quarter in August, ahead of the iPhone 15 launch. In September, the US government sought more information about the Mate 60 Pro’s 5G Kirin 9000s processor reportedly developed specifically for the manufacturer.

Persons: Jefferies, they’ve, ” Jeff Fieldhack, Fieldhack, Apple, ” Organizations: CNN, Research, Bloomberg, Huawei, Apple, Kirin Locations: China, United States

☆ Meta's unique approach to developing AI puzzles Wall Street, but techies love it
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-16 | by ( Jonathan Vanian | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +18 min

If the world's leading AI researchers use Llama, Meta could have an easier time hiring skilled technologists who understand the company's approach to development. Spisak helped oversee PyTorch and other open source AI projects when he worked at Meta from 2018 until January 2023. Although a number of open source LLMs are available, Lambert said Llama 2 is by far the most popular. "Facebook was not and that's sort of how they move forward and democratizing this, giving sort of broad access to open source. However, open source doesn't always win, and Padval acknowledged that "in this case, I don't know how it's going to evolve."

Persons: Mark Zuckerberg, Josh Edelson, Mark Zuckerberg's multibillion, Joseph Spisak, that's, Zuckerberg, Meta, Andrew Bosworth, Yann LeCun, isn't, Susan Li, Spisak, Cai GoGwilt, GoGwilt, OpenAI's, Ahmad Al, Dahle, he's, Jim Fan, Arjun Bansal, Jensen Huang, Nathan Lambert, Lambert, Critics, Umesh Padval, " Lambert, Nvidia's, Fan, Meta's, Taka Ariga, Ariga, Claude, Elon Musk, Tesla, Nur Hamdan, OpenAI's GPT, Sam Altman, Guido Appenzeller, Thomvest's Padval, Padval Organizations: Meta, AFP, Getty, Microsoft, Industry, Linux, Microsoft Windows, Facebook, Twitter, Finance, Google, AI Research, FAIR, Apple, Nvidia, Web Services, Thomvest Ventures, TC Cowen, United, United Arab Emirates, U.S, Government, AWS, Bloomberg, Amazon, VMware, Intel, Red Hat Locations: Menlo Park , California, Taiwan, United Arab, Washington, Elon, Hamadan, Seoul, South Korea

☆ It’s official: The era of China’s global dominance is over
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-15 | by ( Linette Lopez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +19 min

We've reached the end of an era for the Chinese economy. Unless dramatic action is taken, the future of China's economy is looking less like a young dynamo and more like an old, slow-moving blob. A faltering Chinese economy will suppress demand for commodities like oil seeds and grain, hitting US farmers especially hard. For the US economy, China as a workshop is much more important than China as a consumer. Now that China's economic supercycle is over, that may be the cycle we're about to witness.

Persons: We've, Xi Jinping, Lee Miller, it's, Xi's, —, Xu Jiayin, Charlene Chu, Chu, Chu —, Victor Shih, Shih, that's, they're, Jinping, Zhang, Miller, It's, they'll, Chinese Communist Party that's, Anne Stevenson, Yang, isn't, Stevenson, Linette Lopez Organizations: Chinese Communist Party, CCP, Trust, Autonomous Research, Bloomberg, Autonomous, Century China Center, University of California, J Capital Research, Japan, Nike, Starbucks, Companies Locations: China, Beijing, Cities, Shanghai, It's, Shenyang, metropolises, Shenzhen, Europe, Wall, —, University of California San Diego, Middle Kingdom, Mexico, Vietnam, New York City, United States

☆ The Great China Boom is going bust
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-15 | by ( Linette Lopez | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +18 min

Unless dramatic action is taken, the future of China's economy is looking less like a young dynamo and more like an old, slow-moving blob. AdvertisementAdvertisementChinese President Xi Jinping has shifted the country's priorities from economic growth to a "technology and national-security race with the US." A faltering Chinese economy will suppress demand for commodities like oil seeds and grain, hitting US farmers especially hard. For the US economy, China as a workshop is much more important than China as a consumer. Now that China's economic supercycle is over, that may be the cycle we're about to witness.

Persons: We've, Xi Jinping, Lee Miller, it's, Xi's, —, Xu Jiayin, Charlene Chu, Chu, Chu —, Victor Shih, Shih, that's, they're, Zhang, Beijing's largess, Miller, It's, they'll, Chinese Communist Party that's, Anne Stevenson, Yang, isn't, Stevenson, Linette Lopez Organizations: Chinese Communist Party, CCP, Trust, Autonomous Research, Bloomberg, Autonomous, Century China Center, University of California, J Capital Research, Japan, Nike, Starbucks, WSJ, China, Companies Locations: China, Beijing, Cities, Shanghai, It's, Shenyang, metropolises, Shenzhen, Europe, Wall, —, University of California San Diego, Middle Kingdom, Mexico, Vietnam, New York City

☆ Cathie Wood says AI is highly deflationary and her top picks include Twilio and UiPath
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-12 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Ark Invest's Cathie Wood said Thursday that the artificial intelligence boom is an antidote to inflation and a big driver of productivity. "AI is going to lead to one of the biggest improvements in productivity … which is highly anti-inflationary," Wood said at CNBC's Financial Advisor Summit . Another area for AI opportunities is software, Wood said. Wood said she particularly values companies that know how to utilize proprietary data. So it has a lot of proprietary data to help marketers and salespeople understand the best way to target customers," Wood added.

Persons: Cathie Wood, Wood, Twilio Organizations: CNBC's Financial, Ark Invest, Meta

☆ Here are Thursday's biggest analyst calls: Target, First Solar, Ford, Netflix, Amazon, Spotify, Exxon Mobil and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-12 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

Goldman Sachs reiterates Amazon as buy Goldman Sachs said it's standing by its buy rating ahead of earnings later this month. Citi reiterates Netflix as buy Citi said it's standing by its buy rating on the stock heading into earnings next week. Bank of America reiterates Ford as buy Bank of America said its standing by its buy rating on the stock despite the strike at Ford's largest truck plant. Bank of America upgrades Target to buy from neutral Bank of America said it sees an attractive risk/reward for Target shares. " RBC downgrades ResMed to sector perform from outperform RBC said in its downgrade of ResMed that it sees slowing earnings growth.

Persons: Warby Parker, BTIG, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, it's, JPMorgan, Bernstein, underperform Bernstein, CLX, Ford, Wells, Wells Fargo, Truist, it's bullish, D.A, Davidson Organizations: Citi, Netflix, 4Q23, Barclays, Spotify, Taiwan Semiconductor, JPMorgan, RBC, BMO, Bank of America, Ford's, UAW, Detroit, underperform Bank of America, 3Q, Microsoft, " Bank of America, of America, Exxon Mobil, Exxon, Pioneer, Seaport, Mizuho Locations: 2H24

☆ Morgan Stanley says these 3 global stocks will be 'winners' in a world where data is king
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-12 | by ( Amala Balakrishner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The analysts see Relx and Wolters Kluwer benefiting from "clear opportunities" from generative artificial intelligence. Relx and Wolters Kluwer The bank raised its forecasts for Relx and Wolters Kluwer, giving both an overweight rating. Its price target for Wolters Kluwer is 142 euros ($150.59), or around 18% upside. They like Wolters Kluwer for its software business, which generates around 45% of its revenue. Morgan Stanley has a price target of £790 on the company – giving it an 8.5% upside from its Oct. 10 close.

Persons: Morgan Stanley, George Webb, Wolters, Relx, Morgan, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Wolters Kluwer, Relx, Nasdaq, REL, Relx's, LexisNexis Locations: Europe, WKL

☆ Goldman's top trades for earnings season: Firm says buy call options on these stocks into results
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-12 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The firm recommends buying call options into the individual companies' reports in what it calls its top "tactical" trades for earnings. "Option implied earnings day moves are elevated suggesting investors are nervous regarding upcoming earnings reports," Goldman analyst John Marshall wrote Thursday. Investors are contending with several headwinds that are making them uneasy into earnings results. Cenovus stock has ticked up more than 6% from the start of the year. The firm says call options for the December term with a $470 strike are the play ahead of Nvidia's results.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, Goldman, John Marshall Organizations: Goldman, Cenovus Energy, Energy, FedEx, Nvidia Locations: Israel, Cenovus

☆ Why Israel's Iron Dome couldn't stop every rocket strike from Hamas
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-11 | by ( Marianne Guenot | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

The Iron Dome has been a crucial part of Israel's first line of defense for the past decade. The cost of the Iron Dome is under scrutinyAn ongoing controversy about the Iron Dome is its cost — some of which has come out of US pockets. If the Iron Dome were shown to be less effective under heavy fire, that cost-to-benefit ratio might shift. Per reports, the Iron Dome has continued to intercept short-range fire coming from Gaza over the past few days. One of the unique things about Iron Dome to date has been its ability to learn as it goes on and become more effective.

Persons: —, Israel, Tamir, Israel Ilia Yefimovich, John Erath, Erath, MAHMUD HAMS, that's, It's, Joe Biden Organizations: Service, Iron Dome, Raytheon Technologies, Rafael Advance, Center for Arms Control, Israel Defense Forces, CNN, ABC, US Locations: Israel's, Israel, Ashdod, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Ashkelon, North, Gaza, Al Jazeera, Israeli, Netivot, States, Germany, Ukraine

☆ Microsoft, Amazon among the companies shaping AI-enabled hiring policy
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-11 | by ( Rachel Curry | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

As businesses implement AI in hiring, they must earn and maintain the trust that these processes are working as they should. In partnership with companies including Amazon, Unilever, Koch Industries and Microsoft, the principles address transparency, fairness, non-discrimination, technical robustness, safety, governance and accountability with the use of AI in hiring. Meanwhile, the protocols specify the criteria for third-party AI vendor certification to promote accountability beyond the employer. He cited the potential implications of a video interview, where AI technology could collect data about a candidate's voice, inflection and eye movements. Ultimately, he says communication and consent for reasonable use are two best practices for AI in hiring that employers shouldn't skip.

Persons: Josh Millet, Google's Bard, Eric Reicin, Reicin, Millet, China's iTutorGroup, they're Organizations: Center for Industry, Amazon, Unilever, Koch Industries, Microsoft, BBB, Healthworks, California Supreme, National Bureau of Economic Research, U.S, Commission, Reuters Locations: New York, California

☆ Caroline Ellison took almost 30 seconds to recognize ex-boyfriend Sam Bankman-Fried as testimony begins
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-10 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

From a courthouse in downtown Manhattan, Ellison then listed her crimes: "fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering." Ellison, who ran Alameda Research, pleaded guilty in December to two counts of wire fraud, two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Ellison said she was under the impression that it was FTX customer money because the sums exceeded the exchange's profits and the amount of capital it hard raised. That followed an in-person conversation between Ellison, Bankman-Fried and Sam Trabucco, Alameda's co-CEO. WATCH: Caroline Ellison testifies Sam Bankman-Fried directed her to commit crimes

Persons: Caroline Ellison, Sam Bankman, Ellison, Danielle Sassoon, Fried, Sassoon, Bankman, Sam, FTX, Binance, Sam Trabucco, Alameda's Organizations: Alameda Research, Jane, Stanford, Jane Capital, Alameda Locations: Manhattan, Alameda, New York, San Francisco Bay, Brooklyn, FTX

☆ Vodafone to create Open RAN chip sets with Intel
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Oct 9 (Reuters) - Vodafone (VOD.L) underlined its commitment to Open RAN networks on Monday by confirming it would create purpose-built chipset architecture for the nascent technology with Intel (INTC.O). Open RAN allows mobile operators to mix and match equipment from various suppliers, potentially increasing flexibility. Vodafone agreed in 2022 to work with U.S. chipmaker Intel on the potential to design its own chip architecture. Vodafone and Orange said on Monday they had successfully made 4G calls over a cluster of sites in a rural area near Bucharest based on Open RAN technology. In Italy, Vodafone said a pilot with Nokia aimed to prove that Nokia's Open RAN solution could achieve the same functionality and performance as its purpose built RAN.

Persons: Toby Melville, Santiago Tenorio, Tenorio, Paul Sandle, Sharon Singleton Organizations: Vodafone, REUTERS, Intel, RAN, Nokia, Ericsson, Huawei, Orange, Samsung, Thomson Locations: London, Britain, Romania, Italy, Malaga, Spain, Madrid, Bucharest, Dell

☆ RISC-V group says restrictions on open technology would slow innovation
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-09 | by ( Stephen Nellis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The comments come after Reuters last week reported that a growing group of U.S. lawmakers are calling on the Biden administration to impose export control restrictions around RISC-V, the open-source technology overseen by the RISC-V International nonprofit foundation. RISC-V technology can be used as an ingredient to create chips for smartphones or artificial intelligence. In a blog post, Calista Redmond, chief of RISC-V International, which coordinates work among companies on the technology, said RISC-V is no different than other open technology standards like Ethernet, which helps computers on the internet talk with each other. Redmond wrote that RISC-V has drawn contributions in equal measure from North America, Europe and Asia. "Having access to open standards allows companies to innovate faster and spend their time creating differentiated products, rather than trying to reinvent the wheel."

Persons: Florence Lo, Biden, Calista Redmond, Redmond, Stephen Nellis, Matthew Lewis Organizations: REUTERS, V, Reuters, V International, U.S, Qualcomm, Google, Huawei Technologies, Arm Holdings, San, Thomson Locations: U.S, North America, Europe, Asia, San Francisco

☆ JPMorgan says buy this newly public chipmaker with nearly 30% upside
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-09 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

JPMorgan thinks Arm Holdings ' penetration of higher growth segments within the chip market will drive revenue going forward. The firm initiated coverage of the semiconductor stock with an overweight rating and a $70 per share price target. Arm Holdings shares have risen 6% since the company went public in September . ARM YTD mountain Arm Holdings stock. Other firms, including Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs, also initiated coverage of Arm Holdings, both with buy ratings.

Persons: Harlan Sur, Goldman Sachs, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: JPMorgan, Arm Holdings, ARM, Deutsche Bank Locations: Sur

At issue is RISC-V, pronounced "risk five," an open-source technology that competes with costly proprietary technology from British semiconductor and software design company Arm Holdings (O9Ty.F). RISC-V can be used as a key ingredient for anything from a smartphone chip to advanced processors for artificial intelligence. The RISC-V technology came from labs at the University of California, Berkeley, and later benefited from funding by the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Its executives said in August they believe RISC-V will speed up chip innovation and transform the tech industry. Jack Kang, vice president of business development at SiFive, a Santa Clara, California-based startup using RISC-V, said potential U.S. government restrictions on American companies regarding RISC-V would be a "tremendous tragedy."

Persons: Florence Lo, Joe Biden's, Marco Rubio, Mark Warner, Mike Gallagher, Biden, Michael McCaul, McCaul, " Rubio, Warner, Jack Kang, Kang, Kevin Wolf, Akin Gump, Barack Obama, Wolf, Max A, Cherney, Stephen Nellis, Will Dunham, Kenneth Li Organizations: REUTERS, U.S ., Arm Holdings, Republican, Democratic, Reuters, Commerce Department, People's, CCP, Chinese Communist Party, House Foreign Affairs, of Industry, Security, Commerce, University of California, Pentagon's Defense, Research Projects Agency, DARPA, HUAWEI, Huawei Technologies, Qualcomm, Google, Thomson Locations: China, U.S, Beijing, People's Republic of China, Communist China, Swiss, Berkeley, United States, SiFive, Santa Clara , California, San Francisco

☆ Hyundai and Kia are the latest to switch to Tesla EV charging
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( Peter Valdes-Dapena | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

In 2025, Hyundai will begin providing adapters to owners of older Hyundai models with the Combined Charging System ports their EVs are currently built with. The three South Korean automakers are all part of Hyundai Motor Group, although Hyundai and Kia operate as separate companies in the United States. A major stepThis marks an especially significant development for the Tesla charging system. Counted together, Hyundai, Kia and Genesis would be the second-best-selling EV manufacturer in the United States after Tesla, according to figures from Kelley Blue Book. Having more automakers and charging companies using its standard has been seen as a win for Tesla.

Persons: Tesla, Kelley, Elon Musk Organizations: New, New York CNN, South, Kia, Hyundai, Ford, General Motors, Mercedes, Benz, Nissan, Honda, Hyundai Motor Group, Kona, Niro, Genesis, GM, EV, CCS, Tesla Locations: New York, United States

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried case: The FTX criminal fraud trial begins today. Here's everything you need to know.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | Katie Balevic | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +13 min

Sam Bankman-Fried's criminal fraud trial begins in federal court today. According to prosecutors, Bankman-Fried commingled funds between FTX, where he was CEO, and Alameda Research, a hedge fund he also controlled. In the months since, prosecutors have brought several superseding indictments, slapping on more criminal charges. AP Photo/Mary AltafferIn addition to the criminal case against Bankman-Fried, the fallout of FTX's collapse has created a fountain of complicated lawsuits and legal maneuvers. The Securities and Exchange Commission has a civil case against Bankman-Fried alleging he "orchestrated a massive, years-long fraud."

Persons: Sam Bankman, SBF, —, FTX, Fried, Tom Brady, Gisele Bündchen, Stephen Curry, Naomi Osaka, Larry David, Kevin O'Leary, Caroline Ellison, He's, Michael Lewis, guarantors, Lewis Kaplan, Jane Rosenberg, Kaplan, Bankman, Ellison, messaged, Eduardo Munoz, Mark S, Cohen, Christian Everdell, Ghislaine Maxwell, Maxwell, They're, Danielle Sassoon, Nicholas Roos, who's, Joe Lewis, Jean Carroll, Donald Trump, Trump, Bill Clinton, Gambino, Prince Andrew, Mary Altaffer, SBF's, Joseph Bankman, Barbara Fried, Gary Wang —, Nishad Singh, Ryan Salame, Cohen wearily, there's Organizations: Prosecutors, Service, Alameda Research, Miami Heat's, The New York Times, Metropolitan Detention, US, Office, Southern, Bankman, Manhattan Federal Court, REUTERS, Washington , D.C, Supreme, AP, Securities, Exchange Commission, Stanford University Locations: FTX, Manhattan, America, Palo Alto , California, New York, Bahamas, Washington ,, Joaquín, Bankman, Guantanamo, Alameda

☆ How a California hedge fund bulldozed the state's labor laws to impose some of the harshest noncompetes on Wall Street
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-03 | by ( Alex Morrell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +23 min

That's partly why so few quantitative trading firms reside in California, whose labor-friendly laws have long favored employee mobility and competition. Exhibit A: The Voleon Group, a prominent quantitative-trading firm based in Berkeley, California, that manages about $5 billion in assets. The hedge fund has bulldozed past state prohibitions to not just impose noncompetes, but impose some of the harshest noncompetes in the entire industry, according to seven former employees, industry experts, and documents detailing the firm's restrictive covenants. Like so many other quant-trading firms, Voleon took care to protect its edge. Other employees Insider spoke with have a less generous view, with several describing the company as stingy — a third ex-employee bemoaned the company as "notoriously cheap" on compensation.

Persons: Kathy Hochul's, haven't, Michael Kharitonov, Jon McAuliffe, Shaw, — Kharitonov, McAuliffe, Voleon, —, Harry Lipman, Rottenberg Lipman Rich, Lipman, bemoaned, noncompetes, Martin Wainwright, Howard Aiken, Wainwright, hasn't, It's, Jessica Riggin, Rukin Hyland, Riggin, specter, James Hannaway, Sanford Heisler Sharp, Hochul, Rob Bonta, Sen, Anna Caballero, foisting, Caballero, Voleon's Organizations: New, Gov, University of California, Stanford, UC Berkeley, Wall Street, Google, Citadel, Sigma, That's, Big Tech, Darwin, MIT, Berkeley, California, Labor Locations: New York, California, Berkeley , California, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, Voleon, Delaware, Washington ,

In the sports world, betting and gambling startups have started the last two years raising fewer and fewer funding dollars. While funding is harder to come by, startups are also facing changes in the world of sports business and technology. Insider recently released a list of the top VCs investing in sports and asked their founders, CEOs, partners, and directors what they would tell startups trying to break through. Chris GroveKey investments: Acies Investments and EKG Ventures are focused on sports, gambling, and technology. When we invest in a tech company, we have four criteria.

Persons: Tom Loverro, Cole Van Nice, Chris Grove, Chris, you've, There's, Courtside, Tom Brady, Michael Strahan's, Meredith McPherron, Alex Rodriguez, Topgolf Callaway, Brad Farkas, Steve Ahern, Lance Dietz, Craig Thompson, Michael Proman, Proman, Wayne Kimmel, SeventySix, It's, Lloyd Danzig, Sharp Organizations: Elysian Park, Acies Investments, EKG Ventures, Courtside Ventures, of Sports, Elysian Park Ventures, Club, Kinetics, PGA of America, HBSE Ventures, KB Partners, Mindspring, Scrum Ventures, Ventures, Japanese, Boom Entertainment, SeventySix, Vegas Sports Information, Inc, Entrepreneurs, Sharp Alpha Advisors Locations: Chris Grove, Chicago

☆ Inside Project Nile: Amazon's secret AI-powered plan to change the way you shop online.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

"Project Nile is a confidential initiative wherein we're building a conversational shopping agent for Retail customers," one internal document explained. Wearing that "I love AI" t-shirt, Sirosh, VP of Amazon Search and Alexa Shopping, introduced Project Nile as a "super confidential" project. Project Nile isn't the only move Amazon has made in the popular generative AI space. For Amazon's retail side, Project Nile is one of the most important projects. Sirosh has told his team he's "staffing up very rapidly" as Project Nile is the "absolute top priority."

Persons: Joseph Sirosh, Sirosh, Stephen Lam, It's, they're, Andy Jassy, Doug Herrington, Jassy, Rohit Prasad, ChatGPT, Microsoft's Bing, Google's Bard Organizations: Amazon, Microsoft, Retail, Amazon Search, Alexa, Nile, ChatGPT, Google Locations: Anthropic, OpenAI

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