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☆ Ukraine Recovery Conferece: War-torn economy needs private investors to rebuild
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Hanna Ziady | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Ukraine faces an enormous fundraising challenge, and it’s one that governments and development finance institutions won’t be able to meet without help from private investors. The Ukraine Development Fund is still in the planning stages and is not expected to launch until the conflict ends. But it faces a crucial test Wednesday, when it will canvas support from governments and investors attending the London conference. Attracting private investmentThe Ukraine Development Fund aims to raise so-called concessionary capital from governments and development finance institutions, and then use that to attract private investment. Sunak also unveiled a “war-risk insurance” framework Wednesday, backed by Group of Seven countries, which will help limit potential losses faced by private investors in Ukraine.

Persons: London CNN —, Rishi Sunak’s, Antony Blinken, Sergei Chuzavkov, Volodymyr Zelensky, Stefan Weiler, JPMorgan’s, Weiler, It’s, ”, Brandon Hall, ” Hall, Yan Dobronosov, ” Zelensky, Sunak, ” Sunak, Lenna Koszarny, — Jo Shelley Organizations: London CNN, Conference, Citi, Sanofi, Philips, Bank, World Bank, BlackRock, JPMorgan, Ukraine Development Fund, CNN, Fund, London, BlackRock’s, Group of, Private, Horizon Locations: Russia, Ukraine, London, United States, Russian, Kyiv, Ukrainian, Europe, East, Africa, Kupiansk

☆ What Wheel of Fortune can do, Wall Street can, too
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Lauren Silva Laughlin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NEW YORK, June 13 (Reuters Breakingviews) - “Wheel of Fortune” is finally going to get a new host. The charade that unfolds nightly on traditional American television has similarities to Wall Street. And earlier this year Sajak’s daughter replaced White as the letter-turner for one game where White became a contestant. And while “Wheel of Fortune” fans and behind-the-scenes crew may feel as if the wheels won’t turn in quite the same way without their leading man around, it’s likely that Sajak – and his Wall Street counterparts – can step aside knowing the game will still go on. Follow @thereallsl on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSPat Sajak, host of gameshow "Wheel of Fortune," plans to retire at the end of his upcoming record 41st year, he said on June 12.

Persons: ”, Pat Sajak, He’s, Sajak, Vanna White, Jamie Dimon, Larry Fink, White, –, I've, It's, John Foley, Streisand Neto Organizations: YORK, Reuters, Entertainment, Twitter, Thomson Locations: U.S, gameshow’s

☆ Was Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ Originally ‘Mongolian Rhapsody’?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Alex Marshall | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Lauren Fleishman for The New York TimesAn early draft of the lyrics to one of rock’s most famous songs contains a secret. When Freddie Mercury wrote Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” he originally seemed to have toyed with another title, which he then scratched out. What if we all found ourselves singing along to “Mongolian Rhapsody”?

Persons: Lauren Fleishman, Freddie Mercury, ” Organizations: The New York Times

☆ BlackRock’s bond guru has a new ETF aiming for a 7% yield
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-23 | by ( Jesse Pound | In Jesse-Pound | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

BlackRock's Flexible Income ETF (BINC) began trading Tuesday and is managed by Rick Rieder, the firm's chief investment officer of global fixed income. The actively managed fund has a net expense ratio of 0.40%. "For the average investor, it's pretty hard to differentiate in fixed income. The fund holds fixed income from multiple sectors, including high-yield bonds, European investment-grade debt and emerging market debt. The BlackRock Large Cap Value ETF (BLCV) is managed by Tony DeSpirito, the firm's global chief investment officer of fundamental equities.

Persons: Rick Rieder, Rieder, Rachel Aguirre, Tony DeSpirito Organizations: BlackRock, Federal Reserve Locations: U.S

☆ Fed increases rates a quarter point and signals a potential end to hikes
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Jeff Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

In a unanimous decision widely expected by markets, the central bank's Federal Open Market Committee raised its benchmark borrowing rate by 0.25 percentage point. related investing news BlackRock’s Rieder highlights a fresh worry for investors beyond the Fed’s expected rate hike The increase takes the fed funds rate to a target range of 5%-5.25%, the highest since August 2007. The post-meeting statement had only offered some clarity on the future pace of rate hikes — and not by what it said but what it didn't say. Multiple officials have said rates probably will need to stay elevated even if the hikes are put on hold. Along with inflation, the Fed has had to deal with tumult in the banking industry that has seen three mid-size banks shuttered.

☆ After First Republic's rescue, economists predict further pain with a 'new era' of higher inflation
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( Elliot Smith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Leah Millis | ReutersAfter the rescue of First Republic Bank by JPMorgan Chase over the weekend, leading economists predict a prolonged period of higher interest rates will expose further frailties in the banking sector, potentially compromising the capacity of central banks to rein in inflation. Almost 80% of chief economists surveyed said central banks face "a trade-off between managing inflation and maintaining financial sector stability," while a similar proportion expects central banks to struggle to reach their inflation targets. Yet several leading economists told a panel at the World Economic Forum Growth Summit in Geneva on Tuesday that higher inflation and greater financial instability are here to stay. That means inflation, the impulse of inflation will be higher." She added that it "defies logic" that as the industry tries to pivot rapidly to a higher interest rate environment, there won't be further casualties beyond SVB, Signature, Credit Suisse and First Republic.

☆ BlackRock’s Rieder highlights a fresh worry for investors beyond the Fed’s expected rate hike
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( Jason Gewirtz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

BlackRock's Rick Rieder predicts the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates by a quarter point on Wednesday and then stop. Tuesday kicks off the Fed's two-day meeting, which will culminate in a rate decision announced at 2 p.m. The policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee has been hiking rates since March 2022 in a bid to cool higher prices. "I don't think there's tangible pressure on the U.S. economy," Rieder said. Rieder is confident in the overall market, but he is in the camp that "the economy can move into a technical recession."

☆ Premarket stocks: Is Big Oil running out of gas?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

New York CNN —Oil and gas stocks have been on a two-year tear, ripping ahead as natural gas prices surged due to supply chain kinks, a strong economy, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. What’s happening: Brutally high oil and gas prices were the talk of the town last year and one of the largest contributing factors to sky-high inflation. That’s bad news for automobile drivers, but ended up being great for the energy industry as oil prices and energy stocks are closely interlinked. Blackstone is feeling the commercial real estate slumpThe ongoing commercial real estate slowdown has a new victim: Blackstone. Profits from the sale of commercial real estate assets fell 54% to $4.4 billion, down from $9.5 billion last year.

☆ Premarket stocks: JPMorgan steals the show as banks lift curtain on earnings
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

All beat estimates: PNC (PNC) and Wells Fargo (WFM) by about 9%, Citi by around 13% and JPMorgan (JPM) by nearly 21%. PNC stock also felt the pressure. Before the Bell spoke with Steve Sosnick, chief strategist at Interactive Brokers, to discuss Friday’s big bank earnings and explain that stock discrepancy. I’ve always complained about banks reporting their quarterly earnings first because they’re extraordinarily idiosyncratic. Why did JPMorgan stock outperform its competitors?

Paris/London CNN —Demonstrators forced their way into the building that houses BlackRock’s office in Paris Thursday, taking their protest against the government’s pension reforms to the world’s biggest money manager. Videos shared on social media showed protesters entering the Centorial office block, located near the Opéra Garnier opera house, holding red flares and firing smoke bombs. BlackRock’s office is located on the third floor. Workers invade the Centorial building that houses BlackRock's office in Paris on April 6, 2023. BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, has played no part in the pension reforms.

☆ Real estate warning: beware the backward cap
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Lauren Silva Laughlin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

The commercial real estate industry has a different kind of backward cap – one that’s also a sign of a losing streak. The cap rate comes from dividing a property’s net operating income in any given year – money from rent minus associated costs – by the asset’s value. For more than 10 years, that gap remained positive even though cap rates were falling in virtually all real estate subsectors, from shopping malls to apartments. Reuters GraphicsAsk a large-scale real estate owner – or several – about this and they are characteristically optimistic. Reuters GraphicsWhen Lehman Brothers went bankrupt, the narrowed spread between cap rates and interest costs didn’t last for long.

☆ Larry Fink finds way to dodge ESG crosshairs
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, March 15 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Seismic events elsewhere are making it easier for BlackRock (BLK.N) to inch away from the environmental, social and governance crosshairs. The $8 trillion asset manager’s chair Larry Fink used his annual investor letter to theorise that inflation might stay around 4%, predict stricter bank capital requirements, and namecheck his favourite 80’s band, Talk Talk. BlackRock still backs these objectives, but Fink’s 2023 letter doesn’t even mention ESG. The good news for Fink is that U.S. banking collapses and spiralling inflation mean his detractors’ attention is, at least for now, elsewhere. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Premarket stocks: From Wile E. Coyote to edibles: Recession forecasts are getting weird
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

And for the US economy, it could likely mean a “Wile E. Coyote moment,” Summers said — if we run off the cliff, gravity will eventually win out. AntibioticsWhen describing the state of the economy, Summers doesn’t just rely on Looney Tunes. “Will working people be better off if we just walk away from our jobs and inflation remains 5% or 6%?” Powell replied. Before the Bell: Is it necessary to increase the unemployment rate to successfully fight inflation? In a related action, the government shut down Signature Bank, a regional bank that was teetering on the brink of collapse in recent days.

☆ Shamrock Recharges Its Content Strategy With $600 Million Fund
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Maria Armental | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Shamrock Capital Advisors, a Los Angeles-based investment firm that grew out of the family office of the late Roy Disney, a longtime Walt Disney Co. executive, has raised more than $600 million to spend on entertainment content and media rights. The firm, which long ago severed ties with the Disney family, said its latest fund, called Shamrock Capital Content Fund III LP, is more than double the size of its first such vehicle, which closed on about $250 million in 2016. Shamrock’s content strategy, which includes a debt fund, is to invest in film, television, music, sports and videogame products and distribution rights.

☆ BlackRock edges closer to its Blackstone roots
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, Jan 13 (Reuters Breakingviews) - BlackRock (BLK.N) is taking a page from the Blackstone (BX.N) family album. So-called illiquid alternatives were the only one of 13 BlackRock buckets to get fuller. Despite accounting for only about 1% of assets, fees from the unit represented 7.1% of revenue, up from 4.5% in the fourth quarter of 2021. Rising income from beyond traditional stock and bond offerings, and particularly the harder-to-sell variety, may yet turn out to be more of a game-changer for BlackRock. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ Jeff Beck, Legendary Guitarist and Musician, Dies at 78
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Neil Shah | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Jeff Beck, one of rock’s most influential lead guitarists, whose aggressive, adventurous, innovative style helped mold blues rock, psychedelia, heavy metal and jazz rock, has died at age 78. The British guitar virtuoso, who was known both as a member of the Yardbirds and as founder of his own band, the Jeff Beck Group, died Tuesday after suddenly contracting bacterial meningitis, according to a statement from his family on Wednesday. Mr. Beck had recently completed a U.S. tour.

☆ Jeff Beck, Legendary Guitarist, Dies at 78
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Neil Shah | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Jeff Beck, far right, performing with the Yardbirds in 1966. Jeff Beck, one of rock’s most influential lead guitarists, whose aggressive, adventurous style helped mold blues rock, psychedelia and heavy metal, has died at age 78. The British guitar virtuoso, who was known both as a member of the Yardbirds and as founder of his own band, the Jeff Beck Group, died Tuesday after suddenly contracting bacterial meningitis, according to a statement from his family on Wednesday. Beck had recently completed a U.S. tour.

☆ Equities, bonds ETFs drew in near-record amounts of cash in 2022: BlackRock
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Lucy Raitano | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"But we have seen the second-best year for ETF flows on record, only behind 2021. Last year marked the third-largest inflow into fixed-income ETPs on record, with flows of $266 billion. The figures closely track the record-breaking $280 billion and $269 billion inflows into bond ETPs of the previous two years, though allocations have shifted significantly according to BlackRock. There were also outflows from inflation-linked bonds and emerging-market debt ETPs, which reached $14.6 billion and $9.2 billion, respectively. Despite this, equity ETPs saw the second-highest yearly inflows on record, reaching $598 billion, although this was below the $1 trillion seen in 2021.

☆ Has inflation finally peaked?
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-08 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

But for investors, consumers and the Federal Reserve, inflation remains a major economic concern, just as it was in 2022. The hope is that inflation pressures will cool even more dramatically as the year progresses. We believe inflation peaked in June,” said Nancy Tengler, CEO and chief investment officer with Laffer Tengler Investments, in a report. Inflation impact on the Fed and housingWhat’s more, lower levels of inflation should allow the Fed to keep slowing its pace of interest rate hikes. But if inflation pressures continue to abate – and the Fed acknowledges that by pulling back on rate hikes – then the housing market may rebound.

☆ Oil funds and a Turkey ETF were 2022 market winners, but Russia and crypto tanked
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-27 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

New York CNN —Oil stocks skyrocketed in 2022, so it’s no surprise funds that track the energy sector were Wall Street winners this year. The iShares MSCI Turkey exchange-traded fund had more than doubled as of December 19, according to data from Morningstar Direct. The Turkish economy has slowed recently as unemployment has risen, but the instability has not hurt Turkish stocks. Other US and international oil funds and ETFs were also at the top of Morningstar Direct’s list. (Morningstar Direct provided CNN Business with a ranking of the best and worst mutual funds and ETFs for 2022, excluding so-called leveraged funds that make outsized bets on stock market indexes.)

☆ Brock Purdy: From 'Mr. Irrelevant' to beating the NFL's GOAT
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Ben Morse | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

And this bull is now a steer, so he’s irrelevant. Justin Casterline/Getty ImagesWhen Purdy was selected by the 49ers – and that famous red and white jersey was brought out with “Mr. Irrelevant” celebrations began in 1976, when former 49ers receiver Paul Salata founded “Irrelevant Week” in Newport Beach, California. Purdy celebrates at midfield after the Iowa State Cyclones defeated the Oklahoma State Cowboys 24-21 at Jack Trice Stadium on October 23, 2021 in Ames, Iowa. “I’ve tried to keep myself from being surprised about Brock Purdy years ago because nothing surprises me anymore with him.”

☆ Premarket stocks: Investors are hoping for the economic tide to turn. The wait may soon be over
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

What’s happening: Price increases in the United States cooled more than economists expected last month, recording the lowest level of growth since last December. This is the second consecutive month of moderating price pressures and could mean the underlying trend of inflation is finally decelerating. That’s a welcome and hopeful sign for consumers, policymakers and investors, said Jim Baird, chief investment officer at Plante Moran Financial Advisors. The bill specifically names TikTok and its parent, ByteDance, as social media companies for the purposes of the legislation. In the past two weeks, at least seven states have introduced such measures, including Maryland, South Dakota and Utah.

☆ Sinema widens gap between Democrats and Wall St
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Ben Winck | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, Dec 9 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Big finance has lost an ally in the U.S. Democratic Party. Some of the biggest names on Wall Street have similarly tied themselves to the Republican Party’s leaders. But the gap between Democrats and the financial sector has been growing for years. Sinema’s exit, while it won’t change much in Washington, gives Wall Street one more reason to come off the fence. Follow @BenWinck on TwitterCONTEXT NEWSSenator Kyrsten Sinema said on Dec. 9 that she will change her party registration from Democrat to political independent.

☆ Sinema widens gap between Democrats and Wall Street
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( Ben Winck | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Giuseppe Bivona and Marco Taricco, Bluebell's partners, wrote to Fink, saying they want someone else to run the company. Bluebell was founded in 2019 and has taken on companies including GlaxoSmithKline, Glencore, Vivendi and Danone, where it engineered the ouster of former CEO Emmanuel Faber. "Fink clearly has political ambitions because it is not his job as chief executive of BlackRock to dictate energy policy,” Bivona told Reuters in an interview. BlackRock did not support Bluebell's campaign to oust the CEO of chemical company Solvay or at Leonardo SpA (LDOF.MI), where Bluebell wanted to promote a liability action against the CEO. A BlackRock spokesman said it did not "support Bluebell's campaigns as we did not consider them to be in the best economic interests of our clients."

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