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The Chicken Tycoons vs. the Antitrust Hawks
  + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( H. Claire Brown | ) www.nytimes.com   time to read: +4 min
Khan came to prominence in 2017 after she published a Yale Law Review article called “Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox.” Her article pointed out that while Amazon’s business was extraordinarily customer-friendly, the company’s dominance enabled it to control increasingly large swaths of the ecosystem in which it operated. Shouldn’t the government be able to limit the impacts of Amazon’s market power on vendors and workers even if its consumers aren’t unhappy? Like the Justice Department, the Federal Trade Commission also has the power to police antitrust violations. Among these marquee names and splashy allegations, chicken companies stand out for the sheer volume and variety of antitrust lawsuits filed against them. Plaintiffs included pretty much everyone the poultry processors did business with — their customers, their farmers, their workers and their shareholders.
Persons: Wu, Khan, ” Wu, Biden, Simon, Simon & Schuster Organizations: Yale, Justice Department’s, Google, Justice Department, JetBlue, Spirit Airlines, Antitrust Division, Penguin Random, Simon &, Federal Trade Commission, Meta, Microsoft, Activision, Pilgrim’s Locations: Maine
The Secrets to Charlie Munger’s Success
  + stars: | 2023-11-28 | by ( Jason Zweig | ) www.wsj.com   time to read: 1 min
Charlie Munger in 2019 at his home in Los Angeles. Photo: Michael Lewis for The Wall Street JournalBusiness and financial leaders made frequent pilgrimages to Los Angeles to hear Charlie Munger ’s thoughts as he held court while peering through thick eyeglasses over high, rosy cheekbones. Among the attendees at his weekly “Friday lunch club” and periodic dinners were John and Patrick Collison , founders of the online payment firm Stripe; Bobby Kotick , chief executive of videogame company Activision Blizzard ; Pradeep Khosla , chancellor of the University of California, San Diego; Maria Pope , chief executive of Portland General Electric , Oregon’s largest utility; and Howard Marks , co-founder of investment firm Oaktree Capital Management.
Persons: Charlie Munger, Michael Lewis, Charlie Munger ’, John, Patrick Collison, Bobby Kotick, Pradeep Khosla, Maria Pope, Howard Marks Organizations: The Wall Street Journal, Activision Blizzard, University of California, Portland General Electric, Oaktree Capital Management Locations: Los Angeles, San Diego, Portland
Here are the biggest tech stock buys by major investors
  + stars: | 2023-11-24 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com   time to read: +2 min
Technology stocks have been powering this year's stock market rally despite the threat of elevated interest rates staying higher for longer. For a better illustration of position changes over the course of the quarter, Dick estimated the notional value of the tech buying using "volume-weighted average prices" (VWAP), a common Wall Street yardstick, last quarter. Meta was the stock that saw the strongest buying from professional investors last quarter, Bank of America said. Meanwhile, Activision Blizzard also saw elevated buying from big investors betting that the merger with Microsoft would get regulatory approval and close. Other well-loved tech names that saw increased buying included Uber, Qualcomm , DataDog and Intel .
Persons: Michael Dick, Dick, Meta, Airbnb Organizations: Securities and Exchange Commission, Bank of America, Technology, Media, Telecommunications, Nasdaq, Meta, Activision Blizzard, Microsoft, Uber, Qualcomm, DataDog, Intel Locations: Airbnb
SAN JOSE, California (AP) — Computer chip and software maker Broadcom has announced it has cleared all regulatory hurdles and plans to complete its $69 billion acquisition of cloud technology company VMware on Wednesday. The company, based in San Jose, California, announced it planned to move ahead with the deal after China joined the list of countries that had given a go-ahead for the acquisition. Broadcom is paying $61 billion in cash and stock for VMware and taking on $8 billion of its debt, making this one of the biggest technology deals ever. The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm and top antitrust enforcer, cleared the deal after Broadcom made concessions to address its concerns about competition. VMware, which is based in Palo Alto, California, has close relations with every major cloud company and provider, including Amazon, Google and Microsoft.
Persons: Hock Tan, Tan Organizations: JOSE, Broadcom, VMware, Microsoft, Activision, Administration of, European Commission, Amazon, Google, European Union, Symantec, CA Technologies, VMWare Locations: California, San Jose , California, China, Europe, Palo Alto , California, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Israel, Japan, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, United Kingdom
Broadcom Limited company logo is pictured on an office building in Rancho Bernardo, California May 12, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNov 22 (Reuters) - Broadcom (AVGO.O) on Wednesday closed its $69 billion acquisition of cloud-computing firm VMware (VMW.N) after receiving regulatory approval in last major market China and ending a months-long saga. The deal, one of the biggest globally when announced in May 2022, was the latest in CEO Hock Tan's efforts to boost the chipmaker's software business. However, the transaction faced tough regulatory scrutiny across the world and the companies had delayed the closing date three times. Big Tech mergers such as Microsoft's (MSFT.O) now-closed $69 billion purchase of the "Call of Duty" publisher Activision have faced heightened regulatory pressure from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission under its Chair Lina Khan.
Persons: Mike Blake, Hock, Xi Jinping, Joe Biden, Danni Hewson, AJ Bell, Cabot Henderson, Lina Khan, Harshita Mary Varghese, Sriraj Organizations: Broadcom, REUTERS, VMware, U.S, European Commission, Marvell Technology, Markets Authority, CMA, Activision, Big Tech, U.S . Federal Trade Commission, Thomson Locations: Rancho Bernardo, California, China
CMA panel chair Martin Coleman said under the proposals, the merging parties would have an opportunity to make representations after seeing the full version of the case against in an interim report. "Throughout the process it will be open to merger parties to discuss remedies with the group at an early stage if they so wish." By introducing a number of prompts for merging parties to consider without prejudice," she said. She said that the agency's strong preference for structural remedies remained and added that changes would only succeed if merging parties engaged in good faith. Reporting by Paul Sandle and Muvija M, writing by Sarah Young, editing by William JamesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Persons: Martin Coleman, Sarah Cardell, We've, Paul Sandle, Sarah Young, William James Our Organizations: Microsoft, Activision, Markets Authority, European Union, CMA, Thomson Locations: Britain
His portrayal came in testimony in an antitrust trial focused on Epic Games' attempt to upend Google's store for Android phone apps. It's similar to a payment system that Epic unsuccessfully challenged in a parallel lawsuit filed against Apple's iPhone app store. Sweeney said Google tried to entice him with a wide range of financial incentives, which he rejected. After rejecting Google's overtures, Epic tried to distribute Fortnite for Android through its own website. “It's an issue I see as existential to all games, including Epic,” Sweeney said.
Persons: Tim Sweeney, Sundar Pichai, Sweeney, Jonathan Kravis, Kravis, ” Sweeney, Fortnite, Sweeney didn't Organizations: FRANCISCO, Google, Games, Washington , D.C, U.S, Supreme, Activision, Android, Apple, Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, PlayStation Locations: San Francisco, Washington ,, View , California
Berkshire Hathaway logo is displayed on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., May 10, 2023. Berkshire also appeared to have shed what had been a $621 million stake in Celanese (CE.N) , a specialty materials company. The Braves had been split off from Liberty Media , another Berkshire investment, in July. The net sales contributed to Berkshire's record cash stake, which is about the same size as its $156.8 billion stake in iPhone maker Apple (AAPL.O). Neither appears to be a current Berkshire investment.
Persons: Brendan McDermid, Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett, Todd Combs, Ted Weschler, Buffett, Benjamin Moore, Jonathan Stempel, Christian Schmollinger Organizations: Berkshire Hathaway, New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Berkshire, General Motors, Procter, Gamble, GM, Amazon, Atlanta Braves Holdings, Major League Baseball, The Battery, Braves, Liberty Media, Chevron, Apple, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, IBM, Exxon Mobil, Activision, Microsoft, Globe, Markel, BNSF, Thomson Locations: Berkshire, New York City, U.S, Celanese, Omaha , Nebraska, New York, Lincoln
Berkshire Hathaway logo is displayed on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., May 10, 2023. Berkshire also appeared to have shed what had been a $621 million stake in Celanese (CE.N) , a specialty materials company. The Braves had been split off from Liberty Media , another Berkshire investment, in July. The net sales contributed to Berkshire's record cash stake, which is about the same size as its $156.8 billion stake in iPhone maker Apple (AAPL.O). Neither appears to be a current Berkshire investment.
Persons: Brendan McDermid, Berkshire Hathaway, Johnson, Warren Buffett, Todd Combs, Ted Weschler, Buffett, Benjamin Moore, Jonathan Stempel, Christian Schmollinger Organizations: Berkshire Hathaway, New York Stock Exchange, REUTERS, Berkshire, General Motors, Procter, Gamble, GM, Atlanta Braves Holdings, Major League Baseball, The Battery, Braves, Liberty Media, Chevron, Apple, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, IBM, Exxon Mobil, Activision, Microsoft, Globe, Markel, BNSF, Thomson Locations: Berkshire, New York City, U.S, Celanese, Omaha , Nebraska, New York, Lincoln
Activision Blizzard’s ‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III’ went on sale Friday. Photo: bertrand guay/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesMicrosoft now owns some of the biggest videogames in the world. The biggest of those games is in the spotlight this week, as Activision Blizzard’s latest “Call of Duty” sequel went on sale Friday. Called “Modern Warfare III,” the new game is notable for a couple reasons. The first is that much of its development took place during a period in which Activision’s future structure was uncertain, as the $75 billion acquisition by Microsoft took nearly two years to close.
Persons: III ’, bertrand guay Organizations: Activision, Agence France, Getty, Microsoft, Warfare
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chair Lina Khan testifies before a House Judiciary Committee hearing on "Oversight of the Federal Trade Commission," on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., July 13, 2023. Surrounded by tech workers and VC investors in San Francisco, Khan reiterated her focus on artificial intelligence, an area her agency has been tasked with looking into by President Joe Biden's executive order this week. "We’re very much focused on using our laws to protect everybody: Consumers, but also workers," she said in a standing-room-only nightcap appearance in San Francisco on Thursday. Big Tech companies, particularly Amazon (AMZN.O) and Meta, view Khan, who rose to prominence after publishing a 2017 academic article pointing to Amazon’s practices as anticompetitive, as an impediment. Reporting by Krystal Hu and Greg Bensinger in San Francisco; Editing by Jamie FreedOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Persons: Lina Khan, Kevin Wurm, Khan, Kahn, Joe Biden's, he'd, , Krystal Hu, Greg Bensinger, Jamie Freed Organizations: Federal Trade Commission, REUTERS, FRANCISCO, Federal Trade, Big Tech, D.C, Mission, Stanford University, Meta, Republican, Activision, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, Silicon, New York, San Francisco
Since buying Neopets, Law said his team is in the process of restoring those minigames and modernizing them to enhance the experience. Competing in the current metaWhile Law is optimistic, he is aware that Neopets was born in a different era of video gaming. For Neopets, Law said the merch business would include both physical, like plushies and clothing, and digital, such as in-game purchases. In 2024, Law's team is planning to launch World of Neopets, a 3D simulator game that will utilize the existing Neopets world, but in a modern gaming environment. Does this mean that new Neopets games will replace the 24-year old Neopets.com?
Persons: Dominic Law, Neopets, Neopets …, Jakub Porzycki, NetDragon Websoft, Law, we've, John Legend, Kass Basher, Mickey Mouse Organizations: Neopets, Koelnmesse, CNBC, Gamescom, Law, Getty, Nurphoto, Adobe, Activision, Monopoly Locations: Asia, Singapore, asia, Canada, Hong Kong, Gamescom Asia, that's, Krakow, Poland, Neopets, U.S
Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailElectronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson on EA Sports FC 24: All metrics are very strongElectronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson joins 'Squawk on the Street' to discuss the revenue growth opportunity for EA after discontinuing their partnership with FIFA, where Wilson sees the M&A landscape in gaming post-Activision and Microsoft merger, and more.
Persons: Andrew Wilson, Wilson Organizations: Electronic, EA Sports FC, Electronic Arts, EA, FIFA, Activision, Microsoft
Merger Arbitrage hedge funds gained 4.4% in the third quarter, standing out as the best-performing strategy for the period, beating every category in event-driven, equity, macro and value funds, according to Hedge Fund Research . "The merger arbitrage strategy has historically thrived in a rising interest rate environment when an investor's fixed income portfolio may have suffered losses," said Michael Peck, co-chief investment officer at First Trust. As the proposed deal nears completion, the target's stock typically rises and the acquirer's shares fall. This short-term trading strategy often utilized by fast-money hedge funds typically involves multiple long and short positions, and might be too sophisticated for the average individual investor. The First Trust Merger Arbitrage ETF (MARB) and the IQ Merger Arbitrage ETF (MNA) are two popular ones that capitalize on the technique.
Persons: Bill Gross, Pimco, Michael Peck, Michael Kors, Jimmy Choo, there's, Gross, Broadcom's, Warren Buffett Organizations: Fund Research, First Trust, Gross, Activision Blizzard, Microsoft, Capri Holdings, Capri, VMware, Broadcom, Activision
Club holding Broadcom 's (AVGO) investment prospects look bright – with or without cloud software maker VMWare (VMW) under its corporate roof. For now, though, the companies remain apart after Broadcom's planned $61 billion takeover of VMWare did not close Monday, as previously scheduled. AVGO YTD mountain Broadcom YTD With VMWare, Broadcom would be a company with sales split roughly 50-50 between its traditional semiconductor division — an artificial intelligence beneficiary — and software, which typically is higher-margin revenue. Without VMWare, Broadcom would have freed up its capacity to reward shareholders in a different, but still meaningful, way. Even with the buyback silver lining, our hope is Broadcom completes the VMWare deal because it should boost Broadcom's earnings over time.
Persons: Broadcom's, CNBC's David Faber, Jim Cramer, Hock Tan, Jim, Broadcom's Tan, CNBC's Faber, There's, Jim Cramer's, Broadcom Lucas Jackson Organizations: Broadcom, VMWare, Club, Nvidia, Google, European Union, Financial Times, U.S, Intel, Semiconductor, Qualcomm, NXP Semiconductors, Microsoft, Activision, CNBC Locations: United Kingdom, Japan, Canada, China, California, Beijing
CNBC's Jim Cramer on Thursday said investors should be looking for damaged stocks, not damaged companies, in the event of a major sell-off. Cramer listed the names of six stocks that are worth looking at to buy on the way down:Microsoft : Cramer said the tech giant delivered a great quarter, seeing positive results from its cloud business, Azure. WM : WM, formerly known as Waste Management, saw a boost in gross margins from its use of automation, Cramer said. Meta : Cramer praised Facebook parent Meta's most recent quarter but pointed out the stock is currently trading at a low price-to-earnings multiple. "There will be other stocks that will be worth buying into the eventual crescendo of selling," Cramer said.
Persons: CNBC's Jim Cramer, Cramer, Meta's Instagram Organizations: Microsoft, Activision, WM, Waste Management, Reality Labs, Procter & Gamble, General, GE Locations: Israel
Microsoft’s gaming unit is poised to become around 10% of the company’s overall business with the acquisition of Activision. Photo: Alex Kraus/Bloomberg NewsMicrosoft ’s sales growth accelerated last quarter as demand for its cloud computing services heated up amid growing enthusiasm about artificial intelligence. The company reported Tuesday that its revenue grew 13% to $56.5 billion for the quarter through September. That was above analysts’ expectations and a step up from growth of 11% during the year-earlier period.
Persons: Alex Kraus Organizations: Activision, Bloomberg, Microsoft
The company reported quarterly net income of $22.29 billion, or $2.99 per share, which beat Wall Street expectations. The Redmond, Washington-based software maker posted revenue of $56.52 billion in the quarter, up 13% from last year, also beating expectations. Analysts polled by FactSet Research expected Microsoft to earn $2.65 per share on revenue of $54.52 billion. Analysts are currently projecting Microsoft will produce revenue of $58.67 billion for the October-December quarter. Its productivity business segment, which includes its Office suite of email and other workplace products, grew 13% to $18.59 billion for the quarter.
Persons: REDMOND, Satya Nadella Organizations: Microsoft, FactSet Research, Windows, Activision, Microsoft Corp Locations: Wash, Redmond, Washington, California
Nadella touted Azure's AI leadership on the post-earnings conference call, calling its AI infrastructure the best for both training and inference, while noting it has deployed its AI services in more regions than any other cloud providers. Gaming was also a strong, with Xbox content and services revenue increasing 12% on a constant-currency basis. Rounding out the quarter, revenue at the productivity-and-business-processes unit increased about 13%, to $18.59 billion, beating estimates of $18.19 billion. Some key highlights include the 17%-constant-currency increase in Microsoft Office commercial revenue growth, which benefitted from a 10% increase in seat growth. Second quarter Azure revenue growth is expected to be 26% to 27% in constant currency.
Persons: Satya Nadella, Nadella, Jim Cramer's, Jim Cramer, Jim, Omar Marques Organizations: Microsoft, Revenue, LSEG, Club, Fortune, Gaming, Activision Blizzard, CNBC, Getty
Microsoft's cloud business, Azure, is crucial to its increased focus on AI. Analysts estimate Azure revenue growth in the fiscal first quarter expanded 27% year-over-year in constant currency terms, according to FactSet. Analysts at Piper Sandler said the Nov. 1 general release of Microsoft's 365 Copilot , an AI assistant to productivity applications like Word, should be a catalyst for shares. Bottom line The full payoff of Microsoft's AI efforts won't be fully reflected in the upcoming quarterly results given generative AI is still in its infancy. In July, Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood said growth from the company's AI offerings "will be gradual as Azure AI scales and our Copilots reach general availability dates."
Persons: Bing, Piper Sandler, Amy Hood, Copilot, Jim Cramer's, Jim Cramer, Jim, Omar Marques Organizations: Microsoft, OpenAI, LSEG, Activision Blizzard, CNBC, Getty
Big Tech earnings This week is less about reading between the lines/through results, and contextualizing management comments, but rather it's about the market itself. AI - AI - AI! The options market is implying an earnings related move of 4.7%. Our options market sentiment score for GOOG/GOOGL is 80th percentile - which one may think of like a score/grade, so a B- in terms of options sentiment. Call open interest is 15% higher than put open interest, our options market sentiment score is 83% so B/B- territory.
Persons: ChatGPT, Bing, it's, AMZN, Mark Zuckerberg's, Zuckerberg, one's Organizations: Cambridge, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, BlackRock, Goldman, Equity, Big Tech, Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia, Inc, Investors, YouTube, Amazon, Google, Gaming, Activision, Logistics, Federal Express, CNBC, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Visa, Mastercard, Merck, Co Locations: financials, Wells Fargo
Insider Today: You should buy a house now
  + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com   time to read: +6 min
AdvertisementAdvertisementIn today's big story, we're looking at why it's a good time to buy a house. RichLegg/Getty ImagesIt's a pretty terrible time to buy a house these days, which is why it's a good time to buy a house. AdvertisementAdvertisementInsider's Jennifer Sor detailed why it's a good time to buy a house. Part of the issue is that mortgage rates won't magically drop overnight. The Insider Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, senior editor and anchor, in New York City.
Persons: OpenAI's Sam Altman, Jennifer Sor, Jacob Zinkula, they're, that's, Gen Zers, who's, it's, Doug Haynes, Haynes, Steve Cohen's Point72, Leon Cooperman isn't, Arantza Pena Popo, carmakers, EVs, Tyler Le, Satya Nadella, Mathias Döpfner, Axel Springer, Jensen Huang, Dan DeFrancesco, Naga Siu, Hallam Bullock, Lisa Ryan Organizations: FBI, RichLegg, Norias Research, Investments, Ameriprise, Insurance, Microsoft, Activision Blizzard, Nvidia, ZTE Corp, Philips, NBA Locations: West Palm Beach, Fla, Tokyo, Oklahoma City, New York City, San Diego, London, New York
Tuesday General Motors is set to report earnings before the bell, followed by a call at 8:30 a.m. Coca-Cola is set to report earnings in the premarket, with a call slated for 8:30 .am. Wednesday Boeing is set to report earnings in the premarket, with leadership scheduled to hold a call at 10:30 a.m. Ford Motor is set to report earnings after the bell, followed by a conference call at 5 p.m. This quarter: The e-commerce giant is expected to report earnings per share growth of more than 100%, according to LSEG.
Persons: Michael Wayland, they'll, Andrea Teixeira, MSFT, Jordan Novet, GOOGL, Justin Post, MRK, Goldman Sachs, Chris Shibutani, Keytruda, Ford, AMZN, Doug Anmuth, — CNBC's Michael Bloom Organizations: Big Tech, Microsoft, Meta, Wall, CNBC, GM, LSEG, United Auto Workers, Investment Group, Coca, U.S, Activision, Wednesday Boeing, Boeing, Management, Bank of America, IBM, Merck, Ford, UAW, Detroit, JPMorgan Locations: Missouri, EVs, China, Apptio
Just like the cloud transformed every software category, we think AI is one such transformational shift. Therefore, this notion of Copilots that we're introducing is really going to be revolutionary in terms of driving productivity and communication. Milton Friedman once famously said: "the business of business is business." One is, is the business of business just business? So, I think AI can actually be very helpful in many ways to be a little more empathetic and more understanding of the world.
Persons: Satya Nadella, Axel Springer's, OpenAI, Nadella, Axel Springer, , Mathias Döpfner, Pankaj Nangia, Steve Ballmer, Steve, I've, It's, I'd, Herbert Simon, Karl Marx, Lakshmi, Hayek, Marx, Justin Sullivan, Carol Dweck, they're, Vuk Valcic, That's, it's, you've, Jae, Copilot, Jeff Bezos, I'm, We've, Milton Friedman, Elon Musk, we've, Lina Khan, Sam Altman, Sam, Tomohiro Ohsumi, Bard, Bing, Mathias, wouldn't, Picasso, Jakub Porzycki, Mustafa Suleyman, We'll Organizations: Service, Microsoft, Olympic, Australia, Getty, Activision Blizzard, Gaming, AP, Windows, Linux, Children's Hospital, University of Wisconsin, Associated Press, Google Locations: Berlin, India, Hyderabad, Seattle, United States, Milwaukee, American, China, derisking, DC, Beijing, Europe, GitHub, British
Public gaming companies currently hold cash and cash equivalents of $45.1 billion, according to a report from venture capital firm Konvoy. Publicly listed gaming companies had a fairly rosy year in 2023, on the whole. The VanEck Video Gaming and eSports ETF , which seeks to track MVIS Global Video Gaming & eSports Index, has climbed 20% in the year to date, according to Konvoy. Total venture funding into the video games industry in the third quarter of 2023 fell 9% quarter-over-quarter, to $454 million. That was when pandemic lockdowns were in full swing, and people had more time to spend playing video games indoors.
Persons: China's NetEase, hasn't, China's Tencent, Josh Chapman, Redmond, Chapman, Candy Crush, Konvoy's Chapman Organizations: Chesno Publicly, CNBC, Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Nintendo, Bandai Namco, Public, Gaming, Esports, Big Tech, Microsoft, Google, Apple, Meta, Netflix, Sony, Activision, U.S, U.K, Markets Authority, Duty, Bandai Namco Entertainment Locations: Konvoy, Washington
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