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☆ S&P posts 4th straight decline as recession talk weighs on Wall Street
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( David French | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] The Wall Street entrance to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is seen in New York City, U.S., November 15, 2022. However, technology names generally suffered as investors applied caution toward high-growth companies whose performance would be sluggish in a challenging economy. Most of the 11 major S&P sectors declined, with energy and communications services (.SPLRCL) joining technology (.SPLRCT) as leading laggards. Future economic growth prospects were in focus on Tuesday following comments from financial titans pointing toward uncertain times ahead. The S&P 500 posted three new 52-week highs and nine new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 52 new highs and 262 new lows.

[1/2] The Wall Street entrance to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is seen in New York City, U.S., November 15, 2022. Future economic growth prospects were in focus on Tuesday following comments from financial titans pointing toward uncertain times ahead. The S&P banks index (.SPXBK) was down 2.6%, with Bank of America leading declines with a 5.6% drop. Fears about economic growth come amid a re-evaluation by traders of what path future interest rate hikes will take, following strong data on jobs and the services sector in recent days. "If economic growth continues to be better than what people are expecting, there are chances that the Fed would have to continue to be hawkish," said Rusty Vanneman, chief investment strategist at Orion Advisor Solutions.

[1/2] The Wall Street entrance to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is seen in New York City, U.S., November 15, 2022. Concerns about a steep increase in borrowing costs have boosted the dollar, while weighing on equities and bond markets this year, with the S&P 500 down 17.5%. The S&P 500 rallied 13.8% in October and November on hopes of smaller rate hikes and better-than-expected earnings. The bank sector index (.SPXBK) fell 2.1%, with Bank of America leading declines with a 4.9% drop. The S&P index recorded three new 52-week highs and eight new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 30 new highs and 191 new lows.

☆ Australia's Big Four banks pass c.bank rate hike to home loan customers
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 6 (Reuters) - All of Australia's "big four" banks said on Tuesday they will raise their home loan rates by a quarter-point, passing on the central bank's eighth rate hike in as many months to their customers in full. Earlier on Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia lifted its cash rate by 25 basis points to a 10-year high of 3.1%, and reiterated that further policy tightening would be needed to contain inflation. The top four lenders, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AX), National Australia Bank (NAB.AX) and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group's (ANZ.AX) will hike their rates from the end of next week, while Westpac Banking Corp's (WBC.AX) hike will be effective December 20, the banks said in separate statements. However, heightened borrowing costs could impact credit demand, housing market, employment and economic growth, posing as challenges to the lenders. Reporting by Rishav Chatterjee and Echha Jain in Bengaluru Editing by Vinay Dwivedi and Nivedita BhattacharjeeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ HF Sinclair sinks after forecasting higher capital spend for 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 2 (Reuters) - Shares of HF Sinclair Corp (DINO.N) fell over 6% on Friday after the U.S. refiner forecast capital expenditure of $940 million to $1.15 billion for fiscal 2023, including its transportation business Holly Energy Partners (HEP.N). Shares fell to $57.38 in afternoon trading, their lowest level in six weeks and worst day in ten. Turnarounds made up a bulk of HF Sinclair's expected costs for next year, at $530 million to $630 million. HF Sinclair was formed as a parent company after HollyFrontier Corp bought almost all of Sinclair Oil Corp's assets for $2.6 billion. Other refiners Phillips 66 (PSX.N), Marathon Petroleum Corp (MPC.N), Valero Energy Corp (VLO.N) and PBF Energy Inc (PBF.N) were down 2%-6%.

☆ Australia 'Teacher's Pet' podcast subject gets 24-year sentence for 1982 murder
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Alasdair Pal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The cold case against Christopher Dawson was reopened after the 2018 podcast put pressure on the police to revisit their investigation. A 2003 inquest had recommended charging Dawson with his wife Lynette's murder but prosecutors declined, citing a lack of evidence. "Our system of justice and our democracy is based upon the presumption of innocence," he told media on Friday. "We respect and thank Judge Harrison for his sentence, and hope Chris Dawson lives a long life in order to serve that sentence," he told media. Dawson, now 74, claimed his wife had left him - a defence that Harrison said was fanciful.

☆ Analysis: Retailers turn to robots in cost inflation fight
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( James Davey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

He estimates the retail industry is 40% automated, but sees that jumping to 60-65% over the next three to four years. The march of the robots can be seen in fashion stores and food shops globally as an industry that employs millions grapples with the cost of rising wages, energy and raw goods. While processes at online retailers are largely automated, vast parts of a traditional retailer's operations are still carried out manually, according to consultants at McKinsey. Looking at the fashion industry, McKinsey expects fashion companies to double investment in technology from 1.6% to 1.8% of their revenue in 2021 to between 3.0% and 3.5% by 2030. "Retailers are saying 'robots are the future,'" Michel Spruijt, Brain Corp's chief revenue officer, told Reuters, adding that the shift could "free up workers from tedious" tasks.

☆ Intel staff in Ireland offered unpaid leave in cost-cutting drive - Business Post
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Dec 1 (Reuters) - Up to 2,000 staff at Intel Corp's Irish operation have been offered three months' unpaid leave as part of cost-cutting measures, the Business Post reported on Thursday. According to the report, workers at Intel's manufacturing division have been offered the unpaid leave as part of a "voluntary time off" program which is being implemented by the company. Intel has nearly 5,000 employees across Ireland. The move comes as the chipmaker in October cut its full-year profit and revenue forecast and warned it would lay off staff. Intel also said it would reduce costs amid the macroeconomic uncertainties.

Small-scale copper miners are now challenging Big Copper for territorial control of rich deposits of the red metal. In Peru, artisanal mining permits have doubled to 80,000 since 2020, government records show. Peru's leftist administration presented a new framework for artisanal mining last week that declared artisanal mining is "as important" as big mining. "Where we have concessions we can't have (artisanal mining permits)," Rojas said. The number of valid artisanal mining permits in Tapairihua has fallen from 100 to 32 since May, according to government records.

☆ BYD set to be China's top-selling car brand for Nov, Tesla gains -data
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Toya Sarno Jordan/File PhotoSHANGHAI, Nov 30 (Reuters) - BYD was the top-selling car brand in China in the first four weeks of November, brokerage data showed, outperforming the Volkswagen brand in a reversal that highlights the pressure on legacy brands in the world's largest auto market. Tesla's (TSLA.O) retail sales in China also nearly doubled in November, from a year earlier, after the U.S. automaker cut prices and offered incentives on its Model 3 and Model Y, the data from China Merchants Bank International (CMBI) showed. Retail sales for BYD totaled 152,863 vehicles from Nov. 1 to Nov. 27, logging a nearly 83% increase in average daily sales compared to the same period a year earlier, according to the data. BYD's tally was higher than Volkswagen's retail sales of 143,602 retail sales and Toyota Motor Corp's (7203.T) 115,272, which were 0.3% and 0.5% lower, respectively, on the year. However, the Volkswagen AG group still outsold BYD, when the 36,847 units sold under the Audi brand are included.

☆ Singapore's Temasek holds internal review of $275 mln FTX-related loss
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] A Temasek logo is seen at the annual Temasek Review in Singapore July 7, 2016. But Singapore's leader-in-waiting told parliament the loss was "disappointing" and had caused reputational damage to Temasek. After pumping about $275 million into FTX, Temasek decided to write down the investment following the spectacular collapse of the exchange. The review will be conducted by an independent internal team reporting directly to the board and will not involve those who made the investment, Wong said. Wong told lawmakers the individual loss did not impact returns to Singapore's reserves, which are tied to long-term returns.

But it is spreading across finance, energy, retail and aviation, threatening to push up labour costs in industries facing supply-chain bottlenecks and worker shortages. The turmoil is especially pronounced because union power was curtailed in Australia under laws in place since the 1990s. In the year to June, the average Australian wage rose 2.6%, compared with inflation of 6.1%, according to official data. Despite seven interest-rate hikes since May, inflation is set to climb further before subsiding in 2023, the government says. But in the current climate in Australia, workers are in no mood to back down.

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves in the premarket: Apple, Taboola, Biogen and more
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Peter Schacknow | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A person familiar with assembly operations told Bloomberg that Apple and Foxconn do expect to be able to make up that shortfall in 2023. Apple slid 1.7% in premarket trading. Wynn Resorts (WYNN), MGM Resorts (MGM), Melco Resorts (MLCO), Las Vegas Sands (LVS) – Casino stocks rallied in off-hours trading after the Chinese government granted the companies provisional licenses to continue operating in Macau. Exxon Mobil (XOM), Chevron (CVX) – These and other energy stocks fell in the premarket as WTI Crude touches its lowest level in 11 months. First Solar (FSLR) – The solar company's stock fell 2.6% in the premarket following a downgrade by J.P. Morgan to "neutral" from "overweight."

☆ News Corp shareholder T Rowe Price raises concerns over Fox merger - NYT
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 25 (Reuters) - T. Rowe Price (TROW.O), a major shareholder in News Corp (NWSA.O), said it had strong reservations about Rupert Murdoch's plan to reunite News Corp and Fox Corp (FOXA.O), The New York Times reported on Friday, joining other investors in dissent over the plan. T. Rowe Price told the newspaper that a merger of the two companies would probably undervalue News Corp, which it believes is trading for less than it is worth. T. Rowe Price owns about 17.88% of News Corp, according to Refinitiv data, and is the largest shareholder after the Murdoch family. Fox and News Corp declined to comment, while T. Rowe Price did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. Independent Franchise Partners owns about 7% of News Corp's Class A shares and 6.4% in Fox Corp.

☆ S&P 500 inches higher as Black Friday sales kick off
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Ankika Biswas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SummarySummary Companies Retailers in focus as Black Friday sales startActivision down on likely FTC lawsuit to block Microsoft dealApple slips, Foxconn China plant sees lower shipmentsIndexes: Dow up 0.5%, S&P inches 0.1% higher, Nasdaq off 0.3%Nov 25 (Reuters) - The benchmark S&P 500 edged higher on Friday, with focus on retailers as Black Friday sales kicked off against the backdrop of stubbornly high inflation and cooling economic growth. The S&P 500 retail index (.SPXRT) slipped 0.1% on Friday, bringing its year-to-date losses to a little over 30%, while the S&P 500 is down 15% so far this year. "We're going have a higher-than-expected Black Friday sales number. The S&P 500 (.SPX) rose 3.41 points, or 0.08%, at 4,030.67, while the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) slipped 36.70 points, or 0.33%, at 11,248.61. The S&P index recorded 16 new 52-week highs and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 39 new highs and 42 new lows.

☆ FTC likely to file lawsuit to block Microsoft bid for Activision -Politico
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/4] Microsoft logo is seen on a smartphone placed on displayed Activision Blizzard logo in this illustration taken January 18, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationNov 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is likely to file an antitrust lawsuit to block Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) $69 billion takeover bid for video game publisher Activision Blizzard Inc (ATVI.O), Politico reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The acquisition could damage the industry if Microsoft refused to give rivals access to Activision's best-selling games, Britain's antitrust regulator has said. The deal has drawn criticism from Sony, maker of the Playstation console, citing Microsoft's control of games like "Call of Duty." A spokesperson for Microsoft said: "We are prepared to address the concerns of regulators, including the FTC, and Sony to ensure the deal closes with confidence.

☆ FTC likely to file lawsuit to block Microsoft's $69 bln bid for Activision - Politico
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is likely to file an antitrust lawsuit to block Microsoft Corp's (MSFT.O) $69 billion takeover bid for video game publisher Activision Blizzard Inc (ATVI.O), Politico reported on Wednesday. However, the FTC staff reviewing the deal are skeptical of the companies' arguments, the report said. The FTC and Microsoft did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters. The proposed bid is also facing EU scrutiny as regulators opened a full-scale investigation earlier this month and warned about the impact of the deal. Reporting by Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj KalluvilaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Potential News Corp, Fox reunion faces opposition from large shareholder
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Lillian Rizzo | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Independent Franchise Partners told the Journal that a straight equity exchange between Fox and News Corp would dilute and delay the realization of News Corp's substantial intrinsic value. The firm wouldn't oppose a recombination so long as it was done in a way that would see News Corp shares valued at more than $30. However, it believes the only way to realize that share price is to sell parts of News Corp, which was trading at around $18 on Wednesday. This is not the first non-Murdoch shareholder to push back on the proposed deal. Earlier this week, Irenic Capital Management said it sent a letter to the special committee saying Fox didn't serve News Corp's strategic goals, and, like Independent Franchise, believes News Corp shares are undervalued.

☆ Zoom shares down 90% from peak as pandemic boom fades
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 22 (Reuters) - Shares of Zoom Video Communications Inc (ZM.O) have tumbled about 90% from their pandemic peak in October 2020 as the former investor darling struggles to adjust to a post-COVID world. The stock was down 9% in premarket trading on Tuesday after the company cut its annual sales forecast and posted its slowest quarterly growth, prompting at least six brokerages to cut their price targets. Reuters Graphics"Zoom has a fundamental flaw - it has needed to spend heavily to keep hold of market share. Spending to cling onto, rather than grow, market share is never a good place to be and was a sign of trouble ahead," Hargreaves Lansdown equity analyst Sophie Lund-Yates said. Competition from Microsoft's Teams and Salesforce's Slack has blunt its edgeReporting by Chavi Mehta and Aditya Soni in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'SilvaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Sale-leasebacks allow retailers to raise capital without shedding stores by selling the underlying real estate and turning them from landlords into tenants. They also point out that companies often spend the money on share buybacks and dividends rather than investing in their business. Spokespeople for Kohl's, Macellum and Ancora declined to comment. It is not clear how many of Kohl's 1,100 stores would have been involved in any deal. Reuters GraphicsRENT EXPENSESIn a letter to shareholders in March defending its strategy against criticism from hedge fund Macellum Capital Management LLC, Kohl's said that a "large" sale-leaseback would "negatively impact margins by adding unnecessary rent expenses in perpetuity and risk Kohl's investment-grade rating".

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☆ Activist investor asks News Corp to spin off unit instead of merger with Fox
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 21 (Reuters) - Activist investor Irenic Capital Management, which holds 2% of News Corp's (NWSA.O) Class B shares, has suggested a spin-off of the media company's digital real estate business or Dow Jones as an alternative to its merger with Fox Corp (FOXA.O). Shares of News Corp, which has a market value of $10.34 billion, were down 1.7% in morning trade. "Putting the two (News Corp and Fox) together makes no sense to us." In October, media mogul Rupert Murdoch proposed to reunite his media empire by combining News Corp and Fox Corp nearly a decade after the companies split. "The problem is they did not go far enough after they separated out News Corp in 2013," Huber added.

☆ New CEO says FTX had 'complete failure of corporate control'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Nov 17 (Reuters) - New FTX CEO John Ray said there was flawed regulatory oversight and a lack of corporate control of the bankrupt crypto exchange founded by Sam Bankman-Fried in a U.S. court filing on Thursday. "Never in my career have I seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here," Ray said in the filing, which was lodged with the District of Delaware bankruptcy court. Bankruptcy specialist Ray, who took over from Bankman-Fried as CEO when FTX filed for protection on Friday, did not name any specific overseas regulator in that part of the 30-page filing. FTX founder Bankman-Fried did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the allegations contained in the filing. Vox on Wednesday published an interview with Bankman-Fried in which he said he regretted his decision to file for bankruptcy protection and criticized regulators.

At Fortune 100 companies, only 12 chief executives were women as of July 15, the same number as a year earlier, according to Heidrick. The Heidrick & Struggles also report showed 86 CEOs in the group were white, down slightly from 88 in the prior period. "If you want to accelerate the rate of the change in the C-suite, then it (diversity) has to be embedded in the succession plan," Taylor said. In a separate survey, Heidrick found record levels of board seats filled by first-time directors at 43%. Nearly half of the appointees last year were women, while 41% were racially or ethnically diverse, similar to rates in 2020.

REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File PhotoSummarySummary Companies October retail sales rise more than expectedTarget's dull outlook weighs on retailersMicron's supply cut triggers chip selloffIndexes: Dow up 0.05%, S&P down 0.51%, Nasdaq down 1.10%Nov 16 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Nasdaq fell on Wednesday as a grim outlook from Target spurred fresh concerns for retailers heading into the crucial holiday season, while Micron's supply cut triggered a selloff in the chip sector. Target Corp (TGT.N) tumbled as much as 17% in early trading as a pullback in consumer spending despite heavy discounting cut its third-quarter profit by half. Despite the sales warning from Target, data showed U.S. retail sales increased more than expected in October, boosted by purchases of motor vehicles and suggesting that consumer spending remained stable. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 1.73-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and for a 2.23-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P index recorded three new 52-week highs and two new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 50 new highs and 104 new lows.

☆ U.S. retail sales rise solidly; fourth-quarter GDP estimates raised
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Lucia Mutikani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

With inflation cooling considerably in October, economists estimate real retail sales increased 0.9% last month. Sales at food services and drinking places, the only services category in the retail sales report, increased 1.6%. Excluding automobiles, gasoline, building materials and food services, retail sales increased 0.7% last month. Data for September was revised higher to show these so-called core retail sales rising 0.6% instead of 0.4% as previously reported. Core retail salesCore retail sales correspond most closely with the consumer spending component of gross domestic product.

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