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☆ Peter Thiel's Founders Fund got its cash out of Silicon Valley Bank before it was shut down, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Peter Thiel's Founders Fund withdrew all its funds from Silicon Valley Bank, Bloomberg reported. A source told Bloomberg the PayPal cofounder's fund had moved to close its exposure to the failing bank after running into problems using SVB's services. The venture capital group had been engaging in a "capital call" — where it asked investment partners to send funds to invest in a company — by transferring funds to its Silicon Valley Bank account. Following the withdrawals, the fund no longer had any exposure to SVB as of Thursday morning, the unnamed source told Bloomberg. Founders Fund and SVB didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider, made outside normal working hours.

☆ Americans are about to put the brakes on spending, and that's got Wall Street analysts on alert. Here's why, and what it means for stocks.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Here's why spending is likely to slow down, and why it could mean more turmoil for markets. Retailers and others believe that consumer expenditure is likely to fall, after kicking off the first weeks of 2023 on the rise. Meanwhile, the Fed's preferred PCE inflation gauge showed a 1.8% jump in consumer expenditure that month, compared with December. It's fair to say most analysts weren't expecting consumer spending data to be so resilient in January — and some suggest those figures might be overblown. A dip in consumer spending might signal the beginning of a sustained drop in demand in the US.

☆ FTX has a massive $9.5 billion shortfall in top crypto and cash needed to repay customers, the bankrupt exchange's new bosses say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

FTX has a $9.5 billion shortfall in top crypto and cash to repay customers, bankruptcy lawyers say. Just $694 million in assets of $2.2 billion recovered are easy to cash in. FTX US also has a shortfall, with $191 million in assets versus $335 million of customer claims and $283 million of related party claims payable. In January, bankruptcy lawyers said they had recovered $5.5 billion in liquid assets from FTX. The Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has estimated that $8 billion of client money had been lost by the exchange.

☆ The stock market is getting the jitters as this bearish signal flashes red again. Here's why the surge in bond yields is spooking the bulls.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

The bond market is capturing a shift higher in interest-rate expectations, which is bad news for stocks. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note breached 4% this week for the first time since November. And high bond yields may be here to stay, according to billionaire investors such as Bill Gross and Jeffrey Gundlach. And this change of sentiment is basically what's reflected by the latest jump in bond yields, which has corresponded with declines in stocks. What's next for bond yields?

☆ Tesla shares slide 6% after Elon Musk fails to meet hopes for a budget EV model at underwhelming investor day
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Tesla shares slid 6% in premarket Thursday after the EV maker fell short on details at its investor day. CEO Elon Musk was tight-lipped on details about new models after hopes built for a $25,000 car. Tesla said it plans to cut production costs in half to reach its goal of selling 20 million EVs a year by 2030. Before the investor day, Reuters reported Tesla is planning a revamp of its Model Y, code-named Project Juniper, which would begin production in 2024. During the presentation, Tesla laid out broad plans aimed at making it the world's largest car company.

☆ Tesla's investor day brings hopes Elon Musk will reveal cheap cars, robotaxis, and a new Master Plan. Here's what people are watching for.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Hopes are building for big announcements from Elon Musk and Tesla at its investor day Wednesday. Master Plan 3, robotaxis, cheap EVs and solar power are thought to be high on Musk's list. Speaking on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Monday, Ark Invest CEO and Tesla backer Cathie Wood said this would be a cornerstone of the Investor day. Solar PowerTesla may also continue to build out its symbiotic relationship with renewable energy generation at its investor day, targeting sustainable sources to pump electricity into its vehicles. In a tweet last month, the company teased the idea of a Tesla ecosystem: energy generation, energy storage & electric vehicles.

☆ Metal tycoon sued over missing $577 million in nickel told cargo inspectors he'd had a heart attack, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An Indian tycoon sued over missing nickel cargoes told inspectors he'd had a heart attack, per the FT.Trafigura alleges many of Prateek Gupta's shipments didn't contain any nickel and it faces a $577 million loss. Commodities trading giant Trafigura has sued Prateek Gupta and companies associated with him, including TMT Metals and UIL Malaysia. Trafigura's head nickel trader, Sokratis Oikonomou, arranged for a physical inspection of the cargoes shipped by Gupta's firms on November 9, the report said. Trafigura has said none of the Rotterdam containers had the the nickel previously agreed in orders, but contained carbon steel instead. Gupta was hit with a $625 million freezing order by a London court after Trafigura filed its fraud lawsuit.

☆ Tesla and Elon Musk sued by shareholders over Autopilot safety risks after a $38 billion drop in market value, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Tesla shareholders are suing the EV maker and its CEO Elon Musk over its claimed self-driving capabilities. Tesla's self-driving technology is suspected to be the cause of several high-profile accidents, which have forced recalls by regulators. That coincided with a 5.7% drop in its stock price, equivalent to a $38.6 billion drop in market value for the company. According to Reuters, shareholders argued that the drop in stocks was one of several instances where shareholder value was harmed by the company's self-driving claims. Scrutiny has grown on self-driving technology in recent months, with Tesla's own cofounder Martin Eberhard calling it "crap."

☆ A little-known hedge-fund manager's huge bet on inflation earned him $859 million and propelled him into the top 10 list
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The manager of a little-known hedge fund was the 6th highest paid manager last year, per Bloomberg. Said Haidar made a huge leveraged bet on interest rates rising last year, and took home $859 million. The jump in prices last year means the hedge fund, which had positioned itself to profit from the rises, was able to benefit reap huge returns from its bet. His $859 million total was split between a $645 million gain on personal investment and a $314 million share of fund performance fees. Meanwhile, Elliott Management's Peter Singer brought home $317 million, with his hedge fund managing $56 billion in assets.

☆ Ex-Gazprom official says decades of the Russian gas giant's work has been 'flushed down the toilet', with export revenues expected to halve this year
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Gazprom's years of work on exporting Russian gas have been "flushed down the toilet," an ex-official said. An ex-manager at the gas giant bemoaned the impact of the Ukraine war to Reuters after gas prices fell close to two-year lows. "The work of hundreds of people, who for decades built the exporting system, now has been flushed down the toilet," he told Reuters. Russia's gas exports to Europe have fallen significantly thanks in part to sanctions imposed on Moscow after President Vladimir Putin sent troops into Ukraine in late February last year. Energy prices are dipping after a milder winter than expected for Europe, which has successfully built up stocks of oil and gas.

☆ FTX promised students in Africa up to 40% commission for getting their friends to trade on the now-bankrupt crypto exchange
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

FTX recruited students in Africa to get their friends to sign up to trade crypto on its platform, per CNBC. The now-bankrupt crypto exchange promised "brand ambassadors" the chance of up to 40% commission. Meanwhile, FTX told African customers that investing in crypto would protect them from inflation. In August, FTX Africa tweeted that students who signed up as brand ambassadors would get a chance to earn up to 40% commission by inviting their friends to join. Yahya, who promoted the crypto platform at Nigeria's Bayero University, told the outlet: "As an ambassador, you preach using it."

☆ Amazon bursts back into the trillion-dollar club as the stock rally allows Big Tech to retake top slots among most valued companies
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Amazon has returned to the trillion-dollar market-cap club as it continues to rebound after a dismal 2022. The boost to Amazon's market cap comes alongside the resurgence of Big Tech stocks this year. The Amazon stock traded around $99.20 at last check on Wednesday. That, in turn, has helped investors shake off their fear of riskier assets, like tech stocks. Several securities firms are predicting further sizable gains the Amazon stock.

☆ Earthquake-hit Turkey's stock exchange halts trading as a deepening selloff knocks $35 billion off its key index
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Turkey's stock exchange halted trading on its key index Wednesday after losses deepened, per media reports. Turkish stocks have shed $35 billion in a 16% selloff the wake of back-to-back earthquakes Monday. The steep losses on the exchange Tuesday triggered circuit breakers that forced trading to halt twice. "Our stock exchange has decided to halt trading in equities, futures and options markets," Borsa Istanbul, the operator of the Istanbul Stock Exchange, told Bloomberg in a statement Wednesday. The closure — the first in 24 years — came after two huge quakes hit Turkey on Monday, prompting its government to declare a state of emergency in the 10 hardest-hit provinces.

☆ Tesla's bitcoin holdings fell nearly $1.8 billion in value last year, as Elon Musk called crypto a 'sideshow'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The value of Tesla's bitcoin holdings fell nearly $1.8 billion last year, a company filing showed. CEO Elon Musk distanced himself from crypto last year, calling it a "sideshow to the sideshow." But 2022 saw a bloodbath for the vast majority of crypto assets, after a bull rally through most of 2021 where prices peaked. "We're neither here nor there on cryptocurrency," Musk told investors. The value of bitcoin has risen more than 40% through 2023 in a sign of returning bullishness for riskier assets after a dour 2022.

☆ Tesla's set to cash in on a $1 trillion market for delivery robots that's on its way, according to Cathie Wood's Ark
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Cathie Wood's Ark predicts the market for delivery robots to grow to $1 trillion by 2030. Tesla is well positioned to expand into the technology, and that should boost the stock toward Ark's 2026 price target of $4,600, the fund said. Ark alluded to Elon Musk's comments at Tesla's earnings that "mind blowing" products were coming. In its weekly Ark Disrupt newsletter, the investment firm stressed the scope for Tesla to expand into the new technology, which the fund predicts will grow to a $trillion market by 2030. Keeney added that this would help Tesla's share price toward Ark's 2026 target of $4,600 per share, a 2,500% increase from current market levels.

☆ Ponzi probe finds bankrupt crypto lender Celsius wasn't doing business the way it told customers
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Celsius misled customers when it advertised its business model, a court-appointed examiner said. The crypto lender filed for bankruptcy in June as the market collapsed. Examiner Shoba Pillay said the lender was making the market for its CEL coin by buying it. Pillay said Celsius spent $558 million buying its own Celsius token on the market in a bid to prop up its flagging assets. "In effect, Celsius bought every CEL token in the market at least one time and in some instances, twice," Pillay wrote.

☆ US consumers may have to live with high prices for longer — and a falling dollar could be to blame
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

However, a four-month drop in the dollar is threatening to derail that trend by raising the cost of imported goods. But the welcome relief on the prices front is now facing a new threat — in the form of a falling dollar. A weaker dollar raises the cost of imported goods, which would eventually feed into consumer prices in the US. The US is a net importer of materials such as lumber and semiconductors that are crucial in manufacturing supply chains, and these would become costlier due to dollar weakness. "If we continue to see the dollar trade at current levels or even increase in weakness, that would be a headwind in the fight against high global inflation," Lomholt told Insider.

☆ Goldman Sachs sees oil prices heading to $100 a barrel by the third quarter of 2023 amid China reopening
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Goldman Sachs expects oil prices to jump to $100 a barrel by the third quarter of 2023. The bank said China's reopening was likely to add 1.6 million barrels a day in demand to the market. The analyst added that crude supply wasn't in a place to accommodate Chinese resurgence "because of the underinvestment we've seen over the last few years in oil assets." The increase in oil prices projected by Goldman Sachs would represent a 22% rise on current levels of around $81.99 for crude oil. "The fifth of February product embargo could be more disruptive to the product prices, not necessarily crude but to the product prices by way of higher refining margins of diesel," Bhandari said.

☆ Don't rule out further inflation surprises yet, and here are 3 ways for investors to predict them, Goldman Sachs says
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Inflation is beginning to moderate in developed markets, but potential data surprises remain a risk to investors. Goldman Sachs suggests three areas that investors can watch in order to help predict these inflation surprises. Commodity prices, currency movements, and regional inflation figures are key areas to look for future surprises. But, according to Goldman Sachs, surprises still abound and can shock markets if too much bullishness is priced in. "The significant slowdown in global headline and core inflation that we anticipate in 2023 will likely eventually lower market sensitivity to inflation surprises," Goldman analysts wrote.

☆ Anthony Scaramucci says he got only $400,000 back on his $10 million investment in FTX's token
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Anthony Scaramucci says he only got $400k back from a $10 million investment in FTX's token. The SkyBridge Capital investor backed FTT after receiving $45 million in funding from FTX. The coin lost 91% of its value in a matter of days following allegations Bankman-Fried's Alameda Research held a significant amount of the FTT token, falling from averages around $24 to less than $1. SkyBridge received $45 million of funding from Bankman-Fried after FTX bought a 30% stake in the company, of which Scaramucci invested $10 million in FTT, before eventually selling it at a loss of $9.6 million. I'm not going to be the person that takes no more risk in the future because I got burned by Sam."

☆ Microsoft puts out gloomy guidance on revenue in another sign of pain for techs
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Sign up for our newsletter to get the inside scoop on what traders are talking about — delivered daily to your inbox. Microsoft shares initially rose 4.6% after the tech giant released its second-quarter earnings report after the market closed Tuesday, after its cloud computing division Azure posted better-than expected results. It expects between $50.5 billion to $51.5 billion in revenue in the third quarter, compared with expectations for over $52 billion, as growth in its Azure cloud-computing unit falters. Its outlook for revenues in its Azure division was also cut, after growth in the cloud-computing division slowed to 31%. "But overall revenue growth lower than expectations, companies and consumers are clearly belt tightening and Microsoft is cautious about the quarter ahead with sales momentum slowing."

☆ A Tesla buyer says he felt 'bullied' into taking delivery of his car, meaning he missed out on a price cut of almost $10,000
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Tesla buyer said he felt "bullied" into taking delivery of his car earlier than he wanted to. Tun Bhothinard told Insider he paid $62,440 for a Tesla Model Y, which now costs about $10,000 less. He said Tesla agents told him he'd lose his reservation if he tried to delay delivery until January. "We tried to talk to so many people on the delivery team and everyone was just very robotic about it," he told Insider, adding he felt "bullied" into taking delivery. After "begrudgingly" taking delivery in November, price cuts were announced in December.

☆ This Redditor took out $76,000 in loans to trade meme stocks thanks to hype on Wall Street Bets. It became an 'addiction' and he even lost $6,000 of his girlfriend's money.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

A Reddit user took out $76,672 in loans to trade meme stocks and lost nearly all of it. Aaron, a software engineer from Munich, took out tens of thousands of dollars in loans to trade stocks. The subreddit shot to fame in 2021 when it made some retail traders into millionaires while bankrupting others, often through trading meme stocks in "short squeezes." Bed Bath & Beyond, Aaron's meme stock of choice, has lost 88% of its value since January 2021. Within two months of accessing his girlfriend's money, he lost $6,000 of it betting on meme stocks.

☆ Police in Thailand arrested an American man in connection with an alleged fraud that left a New Jersey deli worth $100 million
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Thai police arrested a man over an alleged fraud involving a firm that owned a New Jersey deli. Peter Coker Jr. was detained on January 11 at a hotel in Phuket, the Bangkok Post reported. His father, Peter Coker Sr., and James Patten were arrested in September and have pleaded not guilty. Coker Jr was the subject of arrest warrants issued by Interpol, per the Post, after being accused of stock market manipulation and fraud in September. The Post reported that Coker Jr. admitted he was the man wanted on the Interpol register.

☆ Here's what top executives at Davos are saying about a recession. Many can see silver linings.
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( Ryan Hogg | Cadie Thompson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Executives at Davos weighed in on the likelihood and severity of a recession in 2023. Most expect the US to have a shallow recession, but Europe and elsewhere could be hit harder. I think there's going to be a lot of uncertainty. "And that means it's time to really think about hunkering down and focusing on what's important, and really focusing on the fundamentals, which is what we are doing within the company." We will do better if there's a recession – at least if there's a recession with unemployment."

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