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☆ Alexa Von Tobel Is the Super Connector of New York's Buzzy Tech Scene
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-31 | by ( Samantha Stokes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Inspired Capital co-founders Lucy Deland (left), Alexa von Tobel (center), and Mark Batsiyan (right) speak to portfolio companies at the firm's annual founder dinner in June 2024. Born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida, von Tobel attended Harvard University, where she graduated with a degree in psychology. AdvertisementInspired Capital co-founders Alexa von Tobel and Penny Pritzker. Inspired Capital founding partners Mark Batsiyan, Lucy Deland, Alexa von Tobel, and Penny Pritzker. Although von Tobel was on vacation outside the country, she stepped away from a fancy dinner to take McNulty Rojas's call and brainstorm solutions.

Persons: Alexa von Tobel, she's, Lucy Deland, Mark Batsiyan, It's, von Tobel, Capital's, who's, Zuckerburg, I've, Morgan Stanley, —, LearnVest, Batsiyan, Alexa, they'd, von Tobel's, Penny Pritzker, Obama, Brynne McNulty Rojas, — von Tobel, McNulty Rojas, Habi, Tobel, Von, Deland, it's, von, McNulty, hasn't, guac, She's, Benjamin Vandiver, Ivan Zhao, Lindsey Vonn Organizations: Flatiron, Business, New York VC, Harvard University, Facebook, Harvard Business School, Accel Partners, American Express Ventures, Northwest Mutual, LearnVest, Ventures, Northwest, Capital, Harvard, of Commerce, America Fund, Tiger Global Management, II, Alexa, Inc, Magazine, Winder, New York Locations: Jacksonville , Florida, New York, Deland, Miami, Latin America, York

☆ Election hedging is causing a 'kink' in the volatility market
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-23 | by ( Jesse Pound | In Jesse-Pound | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Traders are gearing up for an increase in volatility around the November elections in the United States, according to one market indicator. Stacey Gilbert, CIO of Glenmede Investment Management, said that the futures market for the Cboe Volatility Index is showing a distortion around the November election. Vix futures are basically a way to bet on or hedge against where the index will be trading at the time of expiration. The expectation for volatility around this election is pretty sizable," Gilbert said. "It would stand to reason that the Vix, or volatility in general, would increase around then," he added.

Persons: Stacey Gilbert, Gilbert, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Ed Clissold, Ned Davis, it's, Clissold Organizations: Glenmede Investment Management, Republican, Democratic, Bank of America, Ned, Ned Davis Research, Republicans Locations: United States, U.S

☆ Build a tax-efficient portfolio with these funds, Bank of America says
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-19 | by ( Darla Mercado | Cfp | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

April 15 is the deadline for taxpayers to file their income tax returns and pay sums owed for 2023. MLPs themselves aren't subject to federal income taxes, but limited partners owe taxes on the income distributed. MLPX has a total return of 7.6% in 2024, and MLPA's year-to-date total return is 9.3%, according to Morningstar. In 2024, IYK has a total return of nearly 4.7%, while XLU's total return is about 0.7%, according to Morningstar. MFM's total return this year is 3.66%, and NZF has a total return of 3.4% in 2024, according to Morningstar.

Persons: Jared Woodard, Woodard, —, MLPX, IYK, Morningstar, XLU, NZF Organizations: Bank of America, MLP & Energy Infrastructure, X MLP, Morningstar, Consumer Staples, Income Trust, Income Locations: MLPs, Indonesia, America, Nuveen

☆ Welcome to the (almost) red-hot bond market
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Nicole Goodkind | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

When Treasury yields go up, so do mortgage rates; when they go down, mortgage rates tend to follow. Surging mortgage rates over the past few years have sent home loan applications and home sales down sharply. The 30-year fixed rate mortgage was also advancing towards 8% — a level not seen since the dot-com bubble popped in 2000. Those raging Treasury yields brought pain to investors and also increased how much American companies had to pay to service their debts. In fact, Wall Street is struggling to figure out what it means for the timing and scale of future rate cuts.

Persons: ”, Michael Hartnett, Gina Bolvin, “ We’re, Phillip Wool, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Ellen Zentner Organizations: New, New York CNN, New York Federal, Treasury, Dow, Bank of America, Bolvin Wealth Management, Mortgage News, Mortgage, Association, Financial, Consumer, Federal Reserve, Goldman, Fed, UBS, Airlines for America, AAA Locations: New York

mug shot t-shirts ($34.00), beverage holders ($15.00 for two) and coffee mugs ($25.00). His son Don Jr. is marketing "FREE TRUMP" mug shot t-shirts ($29.99) and posters ($19.99). What legal rights, if any, Trump's campaign may have over the mug shot's reproduction are unclear, however. The former president told Fox News Digital in an interview Thursday night that he only did the mug shot because Georgia officials insisted. Rick Wilson, a co-founder of the Lincoln Project flogging mug shot wares online, dared Trump's campaign to sue him in a Friday post on X.

Persons: Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Mario Anzuoni, Donald Trump's, Don Jr, Etsy, Taylor, David Kochel, Trump, Chris LaCivita, Josh Gerben, Trump's, you've, Rick Wilson, Gram Slattery, Nathan Lane, Blake Brittain, Jason Lange, Steve Holland, Heather Timmons, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Former U.S, Trump, Republican, Lincoln, Republicans, Reuters, U.S, Constitution, Fox News Digital, Thomson Locations: Los Angeles , California, U.S, Former, Georgia, Los Angeles, Iowa, New York, Fulton, Lincoln

Persons: Donald Trump's, Don Jr, Etsy, Taylor, CJ Butler, it's Trump, David Kochel, Trump, Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, Mario Anzuoni, Chris LaCivita, Josh Gerben, Trump's, you've, Rick Wilson, Gram Slattery, Nathan Lane, Blake Brittain, Jason Lange, Rollo Ross, Steve Holland, Heather Timmons, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: Former U.S, Trump, Republican, Lincoln, Republicans, REUTERS, Reuters, U.S, Constitution, Fox News Digital, Thomson Locations: Former, Georgia, Los Angeles, Atlanta , Georgia, Iowa, New York, Los Angeles , California, U.S, Fulton, Lincoln

Like many, they home in on the outsized drop in used-car prices - one of the key aggravators of 'core' inflation that at 4.8% is still well above the now sub-3% headline CPI rate. Pointing to four straight months of ebbing 'trimmed mean' inflation measures of core inflation - which strip out high and low outliers - the Morgan Stanley team doubt June was a bum steer and see core disinflation more "a trend rather than a headfake". Inflation surprisesFed estimates of R* natural interest rateReuters Graphics Reuters GraphicsR-STAR GAZINGOthers doubt the optimism, of course. And it's the latter that homes in on the prospect of an inflation undershoot. Further Fed tightening after this month, then, could well see markets start to consider inflation actually undershooting 2% targets after all - but dragging recession back onto the dashboard to boot.

Persons: it's, Morgan Stanley, Christopher Waller, Guneet Dhingra, Allen Liu, Janet Yellen jived, Mike Dolan Organizations: Federal Reserve, Reuters, Barclays, Global, Bank of America, Treasury, Twitter, Thomson Locations: Ukraine, Intriguingly

☆ Stock market bullishness is rising, and that's not necessarily good
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Bob Pisani | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The July Bank of America Fund Managers Survey, a survey of more than 200 global fund managers, out today, indicates that 68% expect a "soft landing", while only 21% expect a "hard landing" (4% expect "no landing"). That estimate for a "soft landing" has been rising for several months. One of the underpinnings of a rising market is high levels of skepticism because it represents people who would come back into the market. But with a lot of investors jumping back in, it makes it harder for the market to advance. The market now has two problems: 1) rising levels of bullishness, and 2) high valuations, with the S & P 500 now trading at roughly 19 times forward earnings, well above the historic average.

Organizations: Bank of America, Survey, American Association of Locations: hawkish

☆ Morning bid: Biden, Republicans set for debt ceiling face-off
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

May 16 (Reuters) - A look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets from Samuel Indyk. President Joe Biden and senior Republicans, including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, are to sit down on Tuesday in an attempt to thrash out a deal to raise the debt limit and avoid a catastrophic default. That relative calm has been reflected in the latest Bank of America fund manager survey for May. Equity allocations rose to a five-month high, while a vast majority (71%) expect the U.S. to agree on a deal to raise the debt ceiling before the so-called "X-date". Away from the debt ceiling and the Federal Reserve's data dependency will be tested with the latest retail sales and industrial production figures.

☆ There's a new most crowded trade on Wall Street — and it's not in the U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( John Melloy | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The most crowded trade on Wall Street is "long China equities," according to the latest Bank of America Fund manager survey. Twenty-one percent of respondents to the February survey said that was the investment with the most enthusiasm... perhaps too much. Still, the "most crowded" trades in the survey, which is among the most followed on Wall Street, can stay that way for long stretches. Long China displaces "long U.S. dollar," which was the most crowded trade for the prior seven months in the survey. China equities traded in the U.S. were under pressure for a number of reasons, including the country's Covid lockdowns, as well as tighter scrutiny of its homegrown internet businesses.

☆ Trump's fundraising for presidential bid gets off to modest start
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Jason Lange | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Tuesday's filings with the Federal Election Commission suggest that Trump's fundraising was also sluggish, leaving him with a far smaller war chest than the more than $100 million Save America had on hand through early 2022. But the Save America group that served as his main fundraising arm was registered to fund other campaigns, not Trump's own. Last year Save America transferred some $60 million to a pro-Trump Super PAC group which is expected to support his presidential run. He also faces a series of legal risks, including a possible investigation into hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels during his 2016 presidential campaign. Most of that money was raised through another Trump fundraising group called the Trump Save America Joint Fundraising Committee, which reported having an additional $3.8 million in the bank at the end of the year.

☆ Recession fears have peaked, which historically has been a great sign for stocks, BofA survey shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Jeff Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Professional investors are growing less pessimistic about the economy, which could mean good things for stocks. "Prior peaks in recession fear were big turning points in asset prices," wrote Michael Hartnett, Bank of America's chief investment strategist. In fact, a net 50% of respondents to the BofA survey say they see a slowing global economy over the next 12 months. That, too, is a potentially good sign for markets, as it represents an improvement from the peak of economic fears. "As with 'recession fear' ... asset prices have inflected higher whenever monetary policy was seen as restrictive in the past 20 years."

☆ KKR to buy S&P Global's engineering solutions unit for $975 mln
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 17 (Reuters) - Private equity giant KKR & Co (KKR.N) will buy S&P Global's (SPGI.N) engineering solutions business for $975 million, the financial services provider said on Tuesday. The move comes months after S&P Global said it would sell the unit, which serves more than 6,000 customers in the aerospace, defense, energy and architecture industries, among others. "The divestiture of Engineering Solutions to KKR allows us to further focus on driving growth in our core businesses," S&P Global Chief Executive Officer Douglas Peterson said. Shares of S&P Global were up marginally in afternoon trade. KKR's financing would come from its North America Fund XIII, which raised $19 billion last year.

Parafin, launched in 2020, works with so-called platform partners, or companies that other small businesses sell their products through. All the cofounders knew was that they wanted to build technology that would help small businesses. And they may not get their first contract payment from the government for as long as 120 days," Reed, the startup's CEO, told Insider. Helping small businesses manage their taxesComplYant's founder Shiloh Jackson wants to help people be present in their bookkeeping. HoneyBookWhile countless small businesses have been harmed by the pandemic, self-employment and entrepreneurship have found ways to blossom as Americans started new ventures.

☆ Inside SoftBank Vision Fund's awful, terrible, really bad year. How the venture fund tumbled, according to former employees, investors and rival VCs.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | Ben Bergman | Samantha Stokes | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

SoftBank's Vision Fund just experienced one of its most dismal years in its history. SoftBank's Vision Fund was once a power broker, having raised a jaw-dropping $100 billion in 2017, followed by plans to raise $108 billion for Vision Fund 2 in 2019 — two of the largest venture-investing vehicles ever established. But insiders are now questioning if it will ever regain influence, according to 11 ex-Vision Fund investors, former employees, VCs, and industry analysts who weighed in on the future of the Vision Fund. One ex-Vision Fund investor described Son, now taking the reins of Vision Fund 2, as someone who is "not a manager." Given its investing performance so far, the obvious question is what happens once Vision Fund 2 has reached full investment.

☆ EXCLUSIVE Stonepeak Partners eyes as much as $20 bln for North America infrastructure fund -sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Chibuike Oguh | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The fundraising plans underscore strong demand from investors for infrastructure assets, whose inflation-linked cash flows provide a shield from soaring prices. The predecessor fund, Stonepeak Infrastructure Fund IV, returned 1.08 times its investors' money as of the end of June this year, according to the Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund (PERS), which had made a $500 million commitment. The prior $7.2 billion Stonepeak Infrastructure Fund III, which was raised in 2018, had returned 1.59 times its investors' money, PERS data showed. The core fund aims to invest in infrastructure assets that provide inflation-linked profits stemming from long-term contracts. The New York-based firm has about $52 billion in assets under management spread across the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australia.

☆ Watchdog asks U.S. election regulator to probe $20 mln Trump transfer
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, Nov 14 (Reuters) - A watchdog group on Monday asked the U.S. Federal Election Commission to probe a $20 million transfer between two groups tied to former President Donald Trump, alleging the money was illegally sponsoring Trump's aim to return to the White House. Since leaving office in 2021, the former president has aggressively raised money for his Save America group. But under campaign finance rules he is barred from spending Save America funds on his own campaigns. In October, Save America transferred $20 million to a Trump-aligned group called Make America Great Again Inc, which is registered with the Federal Elections Commission as an independent super PAC. Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Scott Malone and Chizu NomiyamaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Hair extension brand Nourie closed a $2.5 million seed round, a difficult feat for Black female founders
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( Alexandra York | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Osahon Ojeaga is the cofounder of Nourie, a startup that soon plans to begin selling plant-based braiding hair extensionsNourie closed a $2.5 million seed round in September, a difficult feat for Black female founders. Here is the 14-page pitch deck Ojeaga used to generate funding to launch her brand. But after four years of being one of the few Black women in the room, and constantly fighting to be seen, she was burned out. That bad braiding experience left her frustrated by the limited options Black women had to protect their hair. In fact, as of 2021, fewer than 200 Black women had ever raised more than $1 million in venture capital.

☆ J.D. Vance, Tim Ryan in dead heat in Ohio U.S. Senate race with two weeks until the election, new polls show
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-24 | by ( Emma Kinery | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

This combination of photos shows Ohio Democratic Senate candidate Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, on March 28, 2022, in Wilberforce, Ohio, left, and Republican candidate JD Vance on Aug. 5, 2022, in Dallas. Vance and Democrat Tim Ryan are neck and neck in Ohio's U.S. Senate race with about two weeks until Election Day, two new polls released Monday show. A separate poll from Marist found Vance and Ryan tied at 47% apiece among likely voters. The Senate race in Ohio is one of a handful of contests that will decide whether Democrats keep control of a Senate split 50-50 by party. But inflation was top of mind for voters in the Marist poll, as 40% said it was the most important issue for them in this election.

☆ SoftBank creates committee to oversee Vision Fund 2 - memo
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Sam Nussey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

TOKYO, Oct 21 (Reuters) - SoftBank Group Corp (9984.T) has created an executive committee to oversee its second Vision Fund, Latin America funds and any future funds, its founder and Chief Executive Masayoshi Son said in a memo to employees reviewed by Reuters. Alex Clavel will oversee investing teams in the United States and Latin America, Greg Moon will manage teams in Europe and Asia and Navneet Govil, Vision Fund's chief financial officer, will oversee other functional teams, Son wrote. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThe appointment of a new committee comes as Vision Fund architect Rajeev Misra has ceded his frontline role at the second fund to launch an external fund. Son has said the second fund invested at frothy prices and is slashing headcount at the Vision Fund unit. The creation of the executive committee was first reported by Bloomberg.

☆ Chile has outperformed other emerging markets and the S&P 500 this year. Here's how
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Sarah Min | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Stocks in Chile are also outperforming the broader emerging markets. The iShares MSCI Emerging Market ETF (EEM) is down more than 28% for the year. Apart from the iShares MSCI Chile ETF, which helps investors gain exposure to the total addressable market, Chile makes up just a small part of other funds. The country comprises just 0.2% of the Morningstar global markets index, for example, and only about 0.6% of its emerging markets index. For macro investors, Chile is one of the interesting countries in the emerging market universe to deploy, according to BCA Research's Budaghyan.

Trump's Save America PAC released a photo showing the former president meeting with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on January 28. It added: "President Trump will always and forever be a champion for the American People." Millions of Trump supporters would likely follow Trump to a new political party — if he chose to break away from the Republican Party. Afterward, McCarthy predicted intraparty peace, saying in a statement: "President Trump committed to helping elect Republicans in the House and Senate in 2022." "President Trump has agreed to work with Leader McCarthy on helping the Republican Party to become a majority in the House."

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