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☆ Carl Icahn warned against trading stocks, railed against bad bosses, and revealed what drives him in a recent documentary. Here are his 12 best quotes.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Theron Mohamed | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Here are his 12 best quotes from a recent documentary titled "Icahn: The Restless Billionaire." The billionaire investor and Icahn Enterprises chairman also defended activist investing, and railed against bad bosses and overpaid executives, in "Icahn: The Restless Billionaire." Moreover, he revealed that he cares more about spotting golden opportunities than making money, and bemoaned America's enormous wealth gap. You're going against the trend. He just kept going and going until they killed him.

[1/2] Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, accompanied by IYI Party leader Meral Aksener and Felicity Party leader Temel Karamollaoglu, talks to media following a meeting of the opposition alliance in Ankara, Turkey March 6, 2023. A cost-of-living crisis amid rampant inflation and years of economic turmoil have eroded Erdogan's support, giving Kilicdaroglu another advantage. Recent polling showed Erdogan's support had edged up since last summer thanks to measures including a raise in the minimum wage. The following year, he was elected unopposed as CHP leader after his predecessor's resignation in the wake of scandal. His election fuelled party hopes of a new start, but support for CHP has since failed to surpass about 25%.

☆ The job cuts by companies like Uber and GM targeting low performers show CEOs are taking a hard-line approach to management
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Rebecca Knight | Marguerite Ward | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

To wit, GM this week said it was axing roughly 500 salaried positions in performance-related job cuts. Business advisors who work with executives told Insider that companies conduct what are sometimes called "quiet layoffs" for two main reasons. Job cuts send a potent messageGM this week said it was axing roughly 500 salaried positions in performance-related job cuts. He recently told Insider that the widespread layoffs in tech are more likely due to companies parroting each other rather than necessary cost-cutting. In other words, a rival's announcement of job cuts gives other companies reason to follow suit.

☆ Cramer sees a 'good chance' Salesforce's Benioff will soon announce succession plans
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Jim Cramer suggested Saturday that plans for a leadership change at Club holding Salesforce (CRM) — helmed by co-founder Marc Benioff for more than two decades — may be disclosed in the near future. CRM YTD mountain Salesforce (CRM) YTD performance In early January, Salesforce announced a cost-cutting plan that included layoffs and office space reductions — moves that Jim has said were pushed for by Starboard . While Benioff has said he's "never leaving" Salesforce , the company has twice elevated an executive to the role of co-CEO. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Marc Benioff, founder, chairman and CEO of enterprise cloud computing company Salesforce.

☆ Buy these 40 overlooked stocks offering top-tier dividend payouts that will hedge against underrated recession risk, UBS says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( James Faris | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

But UBS is still calling for a recession, which should cause more defensive quality dividend stocks to outperform. UBSLastly, UBS expects dividend growth to exceed earnings growth in 2023. Dividend growth (in gold) has historically been much less volatile than earnings growth (in blue). UBS40 high-quality dividend stocks to buyIn this environment, investors would be wise to pursue quality within dividend stocks. Below are the 40 high-quality dividend stocks to buy along with the ticker, market capitalization, sector, and expected 2023 dividend yield for each, according to UBS.

☆ Facebook Parent Meta Gives Thousands of Workers Subpar Reviews
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Salvador Rodriguez | Jeff Horwitz | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. gave thousands of employees subpar ratings in a recently concluded round of performance reviews, a signal that more job cuts may be on the way, people familiar with the matter said. The company also cut a bonus metric, the people said, one of several steps senior executives are taking after Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg declared 2023 would be a “year of efficiency.”

☆ Should Champagne Be Sipped From Coupes or Flutes? A Design Lover Weighs In
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Ajiri Aki | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

ONE CHILLY Parisian Friday evening five years ago, our French neighbors invited us downstairs for an apéro. As an American expat whose grasp of the language was embarrassingly subpar, I remember dreading this hangout. When my husband and I walked in, there was the expected bottle of Champagne on a low marble table ready for service next to unexpected glassware: Champagne coupes. I had always understood that Champagne should be poured into flutes to maintain the bubbles, and here was my neighbor, a French person who should know, setting out coupes. I’d thought they would be used for cocktails, wine, even desserts.

☆ IMF’s outlook on Russia is too rosy to be true
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Pierre Briancon | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The international body recently estimated that Russia will avoid a recession in 2023 and expand by 0.3% after shrinking by 2.2% in 2022. The measures will not “significantly” affect Russia’s oil exports, the Fund says. That is a matter of intense debate among economists since oil prices remain below the cap set by the G7. Much will depend on the evolution of oil prices this year. But only a serious oil price rally, improbable in the context of the global economy’s “subpar growth” - to quote the IMF - could justify looking at Russia through rosy glasses.

Marc Benioff, cofounder and CEO of Salesforce, attends a session at the Congress centre during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on January 17, 2023. Dan Loeb's hedge fund Third Point has built a position in Salesforce , expanding the group of activists circling the business software maker, CNBC has confirmed. The news comes two weeks after Salesforce said ValueAct Capital CEO Mason Morfit will join its board in March. Since, which joined the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 2020, has faced high-profile departures and slowing revenue growth of late and dealt with criticism for buying companies such as Slack and Tableau at high multiples. On Jan. 4, Salesforce shares rose more than 3% after the company announced a plan to cut 10% of employees.

☆ Yet another activist targets Salesforce — further validation there's money to be made in the stock
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

A fifth activist investor has taken a stake in Club holding Salesforce (CRM), making loud and clear that well-respected hedge funds see a money-making opportunity in the enterprise software giant. With activist investing becoming more common since the Great Financial Crisis, Jiang said it's not unheard of for a single company to be targeted by multiple firms. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB.

☆ The Many Ways LeBron James Can Score
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +6 min

career scoring record of 38,387 points. teams shoot nearly twice as many 3-pointers as they did when James began his career in 2003. James, in a testament to adaptability, dethroned Abdul-Jabbar by scoring in all kinds of ways and learning new skills as the game changed around him. Photographs by Bedel Saget/The New York Times “His longevity is just remarkable. This playing style earned Olajuwon the 12th spot on the N.B.A.’s career scoring list.

☆ Did investors learn nothing from last year’s market meltdown?
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( Paul R. La Monica | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

Shares of movie theater chain AMC (AMC) have soared nearly 65% so far in 2023, and AMC (AMC)’s companion preferred stock (which trades under the ticker APE as a nod to the nickname AMC (AMC) fans have given themselves on social media) has more than doubled. So did investors learn nothing from last year’s market meltdown? I don’t agree with this market rally in meme stocks,” said Erik Ristuben, chief investment strategist with Russell Investments. Another strategist agrees this recent rally for meme stocks and other speculative bets may not end well. If they’re upbeat about spending, that could keep the rally in consumer stocks going.

☆ Here's a rapid-fire update on six Club stocks moving Friday on earnings
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

AAPL YTD mountain Apple's stock performance year-to-date. AMZN YTD mountain Amazon's year-to-date stock performance. SBUX YTD mountain Starbucks' year-to-date stock performance. F YTD mountain Ford's year-to-date stock performance. QCOM YTD mountain Qualcomm's year-to-date stock performance.

Both men, who are part of the RNC team tasked with reviewing the midterms, confirmed the discussion to NBC News. “We had a little bit of a debate between me and Henry Barbour over candidate quality versus candidate support,” Bowyer, who is also chief operating officer of Turning Point Action, a conservative group, said. And what we control here at the RNC is money that comes in and money that goes out. Many in the party have cited candidate quality as the chief reason for a subpar performance. … When people say candidate quality, some perceive that as a code word for Trump endorsement.

☆ Op-ed: Salesforce appoints ValueAct’s Morfit to its board and a proxy fight may loom ahead
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Kenneth Squire | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The firm's principals are generally on the boards of half of ValueAct's core portfolio positions and have had 55 public company board seats over 22 years. Adding Morfit to the board of Salesforce makes a ton of sense regardless of the activist environment. Morfit has experience helping management increase both growth and margins from a board level, and both can be improved at Salesforce. The looming question is whether he will initially be doing this with an activist cloud hanging over the company's head in the form of a proxy fight by one of the other activists involved. It likely had been engaging with Salesforce management for several months, and this appointment may have happened just as a threatened proxy fight was reported.

☆ Facing growing calls for reform, Salesforce could use some fresh faces on its board
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-26 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The enterprise software giant is considering at least three potential board appointees, Bloomberg News reported Thursday , citing people with knowledge of the matter. Among those reportedly in conversation to join Salesforce's board are former Carnival Cruise CEO Arnold Donald, Mastercard CFO Sachin Mehra and Mason Morfit, the chief executive of ValueAct Capital. And the firm is now planning to nominate candidates for Salesforce's board, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday . Bottom line We're encouraged by the Bloomberg report because Salesforce's board could undoubtedly use a refresh, with multiple directors having served for 10 years or more, according to FactSet. New board members, coupled with growing activist pressure, could could be just the boost Salesforce needs and that the market wants to see.

☆ Activist investor Elliott Management takes stake in Salesforce -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 22 (Reuters) - Activist investor Elliott Management Corp has made a multi-billion dollar investment in cloud-based software firm Salesforce Inc (CRM.N), according to people familiar with the matter. It is unclear what Elliott, one of the world's most prominent activist investors, is pushing for at Salesforce. "We look forward to working constructively with Salesforce to realize the value befitting a company of its stature," Jesse Cohn, managing partner at Elliott told Reuters. Salesforce did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment and Elliott declined to comment. It recently won a board seat at Pinterest Inc when the company added Elliott portfolio manager Marc Steinberg as a director.

☆ Activist investor Elliott Management reportedly takes stake in Salesforce
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Paul Singer, founder of Elliott Management, speaking at Delivering Alpha in New York on Sept. 13, 2016. Activist investor Elliott Management Corp has made a multi-billion dollar investment in cloud-based software firm Salesforce Inc, according to people familiar with the matter. It is unclear what Elliott, one of the world's most prominent activist investors, is pushing for at Salesforce. "We look forward to working constructively with Salesforce to realize the value befitting a company of its stature," Jesse Cohn, managing partner at Elliott told Reuters. It recently won a board seat at Pinterest Inc when the company added Elliott portfolio manager Marc Steinberg as a director.

☆ Activist investors in Salesforce spell good news for shareholders like us
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Kevin Stankiewicz | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Pressure from activist investors is mounting at Club holding Salesforce (CRM). Elliott's investment in Salesforce comes roughly three months after activist investor Starboard Value disclosed a position in the company. Moreover, Jim Cramer has said, at least two other investors with activist backgrounds, including Jeff Ubben , have taken a stake in Salesforce. If these high-profile investors thought Salesforce was irreparably damaged company, whose tech was at a competitive disadvantage, they may have looked elsewhere. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade.

☆ Jeff Ubben's Inclusive Capital takes stake in Salesforce as more activists target the software giant
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-23 | by ( Yun Li | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Jeff Ubben's Inclusive Capital has taken a position in Salesforce , according to sources, CNBC's David Faber reported Monday. Salesforce has also attracted activist investor Elliott Management's interest, which made a multibillion dollar investment, the Wall Street Journal reported late Sunday. In October, Starboard Value announced an undisclosed stake in Salesforce, saying the company was suffering from a valuation discount due to a "subpar mix of growth and profitability." Salesforce is in the middle of restructuring amid slowing growth and recession fears. Earlier this year, the firm said it planned to cut jobs by 10%, or 700 employees, and close some offices.

☆ Stocks are pricing in more earnings erosion after first batch of reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Michael Santoli | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

This is the daily notebook of Mike Santoli, CNBC's senior markets commentator, with ideas about trends, stocks and market statistics. At 4,000 on the S & P 500, fewer things can safely go wrong without spurring the sellers than at 3,700. Earnings are yet again a give-and-take proposition, too early to draw broad conclusions but in general a bit of a downside tilt. Stocks themselves have done some work to price in further risk of profit erosion, but surely not in all cases. Market breadth moderately negative today but no washout yet, maintains the generally firmer footing its enjoyed this month.

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☆ Companies like Amazon and Salesforce use layoffs to cut their lowest performers — and recruiters know it
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Rebecca Knight | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Salesforce, Compass, and Amazon recently laid off thousands of what they called "low performers." What's more, a tight job market means that hiring managers can't afford to be so choosy. But as we enter the new year, and recession fears mount, the continued strength of tech hiring is an open question. Still, recruiters say that candidates laid off by virtue of supposedly poor performance are not disqualified from consideration — far from it. Some recruiters say they take an empathetic approach based on personal experience.

☆ Having a mean boss may be upsetting, 'but it’s not traumatic,' says psychologist—here's why
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Aditi Shrikant | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Working for a difficult boss can color your professional life for years to come. Fisher is a former instructor at Harvard Medical School whose research has advanced the trauma treatment field. “Being undervalued is a very distressing experience,” Fisher says. “But it’s not traumatic.” Still, mainstream popularity of books like The Body Keeps the Score has led to the term “trauma” becoming commonplace. An event that is distressing doesn’t yield the same response as an event that is traumatic, Fisher says.

☆ Compass is laying off more staff as it races to cut expenses to cope with a cooling housing market
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Daniel Geiger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Compass is laying off more people after two rounds of job cuts in the past eight months. The firm, which went public at an $8 billion valuation in 2021, now has a $1 billion market cap. The real-estate brokerage Compass told its staff on Thursday that it would be conducting another round of layoffs, with the money-losing firm seeking to further cut costs amid a weakening housing market. These layoffs follow rounds in June and OctoberAt the end of 2021, Compass had about 4,500 employees. In June, Compass let go of 450 employees across corporate departments, including administrative, marketing, and other support staff.

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