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☆ US stocks trade mixed as bank fears ebb with sale of SVB assets to First Citizens
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Jennifer Sor | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

US stocks traded mixed on Monday as markets assessed the latest banking sector news. Reports over the weekend of further government support for banks sent shares higher on Monday. A Senate hearing on the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank is slated for this week. First Citizens will acquire $72 billion of Silicon Valley Bank's assets for a $16.5 billion discount. The news spurred a rebound in regional bank stocks, which have been under pressure since SVB imploded earlier this month.

☆ Barclays calls allegations against former CEO Staley 'serious and new'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Iain Withers | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, March 27 (Reuters) - Barclays (BARC.L) has said recent allegations against its former Chief Executive Jes Staley are "serious and new", after U.S. lawsuits alleged he had a close relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and alleged involvement in his sex-trafficking operation. "The Board's original review, conducted in February 2020, was based on the information it had at the time and representations made by Mr Staley," the notice added. The comments are Barclays' most substantive remarks on Staley since he left the bank in November 2021. Epstein was a former client of Staley's when he previously worked at U.S. bank JPMorgan (JPM.N). Staley has acknowledged having been friendly with Epstein, but expressed regret for their relationship and denied knowing about the financier's alleged crimes.

☆ Will the banking crisis cause a recession? It may depend on the 'wealth effect,' economist says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Jessica Dickler | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

watch nowwatch nowThat leaves consumers with less access to cash to cover the rising cost of food, housing and other expenses. As households feel increasingly squeezed, that weighs on their confidence in the overall economic picture. What it takes to feel financially secureAmericans now say they would need an average net worth of $774,000 to feel "financially comfortable," but more than $2 million to feel "wealthy," according to Charles Schwab's annual Modern Wealth Survey. The University of Michigan's closely watched index of consumer sentiment recently fell for the first time in months. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index is also down, according to the latest data.

☆ Barely one-quarter of financial planners are women, but industry experts say 2 simple strategies could move the needle
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Korie Wilkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Only 23% of financial planners in the US are women. But as women grow their wealth — women control about 32% of the world's wealth, according to Boston Consulting Group — financial firms are evaluating how best to serve them. "People often saw me as someone's assistant," Sandra Cho, the president and founder of Pointwealth Capital Management, told Insider. Anne Marie Stonich, the chief wealth strategist at Coldstream Wealth Management, told Insider its Women and Wealth program focuses on networking and mentoring. Kate Healy, the managing director of the CFP Board's Center for Financial Planning, told Insider that financial firms are getting savvier about creating career paths for women.

Companies Meta Platforms Inc FollowMarch 21 (Reuters) - A new lawsuit accuses Mark Zuckerberg and other Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) executives and directors of failing to do enough to stop sex trafficking and child sexual exploitation on Facebook and Instagram. Given the board's failure to explain how it tries to root out the problem, "the only logical inference is that the board has consciously decided to permit Meta's platforms to promote and facilitate sex/human trafficking," the complaint said. "We prohibit human exploitation and child sexual exploitation in no uncertain terms," it said in a statement on Tuesday. Zuckerberg, Meta's billionaire co-founder and chief executive, told Congress in 2019 that child exploitation was "one of the most serious threats that we focus on." Meta, based in Menlo Park, California, has long faced accusations that its platforms are a haven for sexual misconduct.

☆ Inside the demise of Vice, from turning away a $3.5 billion Disney offer to a 'painful' downward spiral that has the media giant scrambling for a buyer
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Claire Atkinson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +19 min

The talks fizzled, Disney backed off, and Smith set off for California to drum up other interest in Vice Media. Vice Media Group co-CEOs Bruce Dixon, left, and Hozefa Lokhandwala. Vice Media GroupOne former Vice insider familiar with the current situation told Insider that staffers were warning vendors they needed to threaten to stop work in order to get paid. Just a few months later, Rupert Murdoch tweeted, "Who's heard of Vice Media? Refinery29 quickly lost key staff and was not well integrated into Vice Media, the two former staffers said.

☆ The Biden administration is offering to pay Colorado River farmers to let fields go dry during a devastating drought. They're worried it's just the first step in losing their way of life.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-19 | by ( Ethan Dodd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

The Biden administration is paying Colorado River farmers and ranchers to let their fields run dry. Climate change has made the Colorado River the dryest it's been in more than a thousand years. Knowing they have to do something, Grand Valley farmers and ranchers want better compensation to make fallowing worth their while. At this better price they received enough applications from agricultural producers to cover the thousand acres Grand Valley offered, he said. Are you a farmer, rancher, or resident of the Colorado River basin concerned about water conservation?

☆ After back-to-back train disasters, regulators approve the largest rail merger in decades creating a line that would stretch from Canada to Mexico
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Ethan Dodd | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Regulators approved a railroad merger that would create a single route stretching from Canada to Mexico. The rail industry has seen train accidents and labor disputes in recent months. "30-40% of the United States economy depends on a well-functioning railroad," Oberman said in the Wednesday press conference. That's why the STB has been "railing about some of the rail service problems and issues affecting the rail industry," he said. Oberman also argued shippers would not lose any existing rail competition from the merger.

"With there being so much more to life than only achieving retirement, lifestyle investing focuses on using your assets to achieve your specific life goals." But Deer notes that lifestyle investing also capitalizes on other assets, such as education, health, time, relationships, and community involvement. With there being so much more to life than only achieving retirement, lifestyle investing focuses on using your assets to achieve your specific life goals." Rethinking your approach to time and moneyAccording to Deer, lifestyle investors must also look at two critical assets: time and money. Lifestyle investing seeks to combine the potential for a happy lifestyle now with a fulfilling retirement down the road.

☆ BP recommends vote against climate activist resolution at April 27 AGM
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, March 13 (Reuters) - BP's (BP.L) board recommended on Monday that shareholders vote against a climate activist resolution asking for more emissions cuts by 2030 at its April 27 shareholder meeting. BP called the Follow This resolution "unclear", "simplistic" and "disruptive" and said it encroached on the board's responsibility to set the firm's strategy. As a result, BP reduced its ambitions to cut emissions from fuels sold to customers to 20%-30% by 2030, from 35%-40%. Last year, shareholder support for Follow This' resolution fell to around 15% of BP shareholders from around 21% the previous year. BP said its board did not consider the activist resolution to be in the company's or its shareholders' best interests.

Apple, Google, Cisco, Intel Corp (INTC.O) and Edwards Lifesciences Corp (EW.N) sued the PTO in the California federal court in 2020 over the rule. They argued it undermined the role inter partes review plays in "protecting a strong patent system" and violated federal law. Companies including Tesla, Honda, Comcast and Dell filed briefs at the Federal Circuit in support of the plaintiffs. The California court dismissed the case in 2021, citing U.S. Supreme Court rulings that Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions on whether to review inter partes review petitions cannot be appealed. The case is Apple Inc v. Vidal, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, No.

☆ Morgan Stanley: Buy these 19 stocks to profit from an investing strategy that produces positive returns 100% of the time
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( James Faris | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Morgan Stanley sees downside for stocks and weakness for the economy on the horizon. Morgan StanleyOther economic indicators, including the Conference Board's Leading Economic Indicator, are historically weak, according to Morgan Stanley, suggesting that a recession could be coming. Morgan Stanley zeroed in on tech stocks because they've historically underperformed before the broader market bottoms but tend to significantly outperform afterward. Below are 19 tech stocks that Morgan Stanley expects to perform well after the market bottoms. These names are separate from its list of tech stocks to buy during market weakness.

☆ IMF board poised to approve $2.9 bln Sri Lanka bailout
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Andrea Shalal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, March 7 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday said Sri Lanka had secured financing assurances from all its major bilateral creditors, paving the way for the IMF board to consider approval of a long-awaited $2.9 billion four-year bailout. Sri Lanka would get access to the first tranche of money shortly after board approval, sources close to the talks said. "Sri Lanka has now received financing assurances from all major bilateral creditors," Krishna Srinivasan, director of the IMF's Asia and Pacific Department (APD) said in a statement. Central bank Governor P. Nandalal Weerasinghe said last week that Sri Lanka had fulfilled its conditions with the rate hike and he was hopeful the IMF bailout would be approved this month. The IMF said the board's approval would help catalyze financing from other creditors, including the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

☆ Yellen warns climate change could trigger asset value losses, harming US economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Andrea Shalal | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, March 6 (Reuters) - Climate change is already having a major economic and financial impact on the United States and may trigger asset value losses in coming years that could cascade through the U.S. financial system, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will warn on Tuesday. "As climate change intensifies, natural disasters and warming temperatures can lead to declines in asset values that could cascade through the financial system. She said severe storms and wildfires in states like California, Florida, and Louisiana, tornadoes across the South and intensifying storms on the West Coast show how climate change is accelerating. Yellen said the new Climate-related Financial Risk Advisory Committee, set up last October by the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), would boost U.S. efforts to mitigate the risks that climate change poses to financial stability. That in turn could spill over to other parts of the financial system, she said.

☆ China to form a national bureau to manage its troves of data
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SHANGHAI, March 7 (Reuters) - China will form a national data bureau that will be responsible for coordinating the sharing and development of the country's data resources, according to a plan submitted on Tuesday to parliament. The proposed bureau will be administrated by the state planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the plan said. This has included issuing a series of new laws that require organisations with large user bases undergo assessments and obtain approvals when handling data. Some firms are struggling with a deadline requiring them to seek approval to export user data. "Multinationals will no doubt want to understand how a centralised data regulator will interface with overseas stakeholders."

☆ Bath & Body Works adds director, Third Point backs off proxy fight
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Svea Herbst-Bayliss | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Shoppers wait in line outside a Bath and Body Works retail store in Brooklyn, New York, U.S., December 8, 2020. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File PhotoNEW YORK, March 6 (Reuters) - Bath & Body Works Inc (BBWI.N) on Monday named veteran financial executive and board member Thomas Kuhn as a new director, ending a potential challenge from billionaire investor Daniel Loeb's hedge fund Third Point. "Tom’s 35 year history as a respected financial and legal advisor, including working with consumer companies, will bring an important perspective to Bath & Body Works as it focuses on its key strategic initiatives to maximize shareholder value," Bath & Body Works board chair Sarah Nash said in a statement. Bath & Body Works, which is valued at roughly $10 billion, has been operating as a standalone company since 2021. At Bath & Body Works the company was advised by law firm Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz, financial services company J.P. Morgan Chase & Co, proxy solicitor Innisfree M&A Inc and public relations firm Joele Frank.

☆ Turkish competition board says fines Elon Musk over Twitter takeover
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

ISTANBUL, March 6 (Reuters) - The Turkish Competition Board said on Monday it had decided to fine billionaire Elon Musk 0.1% of Twitter's gross income in Turkey in 2022, as his takeover of the company occurred without the board's permission. The board said in a statement that the ruling would be open to a legal challenge. Reporting by Daren Butler, Editing by Humeyra PamukOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Only 3 airlines guarantee parents can sit next to their children for free, new DOT dashboard shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Hannah Towey | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Alaska, American, and Frontier guarantee children under 13 can sit next to an accompanying adult for free. Alaska, American, and Frontier are the only US airlines that currently guarantee parents can sit next to their children without paying extra fees, according to the tracker. Alaska, American, and Frontier guarantee children under 13 can sit next to an accompanying adult for free. Before the dashboard's launch, American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, and Frontier Airlines each adjusted their policies to ensure parents can sit with their children free of charge, according to the agency. "Now, all 10 airlines guarantee meals and rebooking, and nine guarantee hotels when an airline issue causes a cancellation or delay."

☆ The CEO of Boeing missed a 2022 goal and did not get a $7 million bonus — but he still made $22.5 million
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( Huileng Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Boeing CEO David Calhoun lost out on a $7 million bonus in 2022 for missing one of his goals. But he still made $22.5 million in 2022. In February, Boeing approved a $5.3 million incentive to encourage Calhoun to stay and lead the company. Despite the delay, Calhoun still received $22.5 million in total compensation for 2022 — this is 6.6% higher than the $21.1 million he received for 2021, per Boeing. Calhoun took over the CEO position at Boeing in January 2020 — two months before the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a global pandemic.

☆ Resilient stock market finds support at just the right time, preserving uptrend
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( Michael Santoli | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Did the "soft landing" occur six months ago, at least in market terms? The leadership profile speaks, perhaps, to an elongated economic and Fed tightening cycle and suggests where within a notably bifurcated market investors should migrate. For one thing, the stock market surely can be prone to misapprehending the next macro turn and can overshoot reality in the short term. BCA Research here shows the sobering harmony in the current market trajectory and that of the early-2000s post-tech-bubble bear market. We can note, though, that the S & P 500 back then never spent as much as a month above its 200-day moving average as it has this year.

☆ UN nuclear watchdog chief cites 'great expectation' in talks with Iran
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

March 4 (Reuters) - The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Saturday talks were ongoing with Iran on two sets of important matters including the science sector, and there was "great expectation" about the process. Clearly, there is great expectation about our joint work in order to move forward in the issues that Iran and the agency are working on, to clarify and to bring credible assurances about the nuclear programme in Iran," Grossi told reporters in Tehran. Grossi said the talks were taking place in an "atmosphere of work, honesty and cooperation". Under a 2015 agreement with six world powers, Iran curbed its disputed uranium enrichment programme in return for relief from international sanctions. Grossi said it was an “issue of necessity to have a very deep, serious systematic dialogue with Iran.

☆ Salesforce is having its best day since 2020 after blowout earnings report
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Salesforce shares surged 12% on Thursday and headed for their biggest single-day rally since August 2020, after the cloud software vendor issued earnings and guidance that trounced analysts' estimates. After the close of regular trading on Wednesday, Salesforce reported fiscal fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of $1.68 per share, 23% higher than the consensus among analysts polled by Refinitiv. Alongside the earnings report, Salesforce said it's working with Bain on a business review, and the company announced the elimination of the board's committee on mergers and acquisitions. Rangan, who recommends buying the stock, raised his 12-month price target for the second time in a week after the report. WATCH: Salesforce earnings highlight how expectation beats can move markets, says Kari Firestone

☆ EU privacy body raises concerns about possible U.S. data transfer pact
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Foo Yun Chee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BRUSSELS, Feb 28 (Reuters) - The European Union data protection watchdog on Tuesday expressed concerns about a European Commission draft decision that could pave the way for a new data transfer pact with the United States, saying more should be done to protect Europeans' privacy rights. The European Data Protection Board's (EDPB) non-binding opinion comes after the Commission issued a draft decision in December saying U.S. safeguards against American intelligence activities were strong enough to address EU data privacy concerns. The Commission subsequently published a draft adequacy decision to which the EDPB, EU countries and EU lawmakers will have to review and offer non-binding opinions. A final adequacy decision is expected by the summer. Set up under landmark privacy rules known as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the EDPB is made up of representatives of national data protection authorities in the 27 EU countries and the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) to ensure the consistent application of GDPR rules.

☆ U.S. consumer confidence ebbs; house price inflation slows further
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Lucia Mutikani | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

But the correlation between confidence and consumer spending has been weak. The Conference Board's consumer confidence index dropped to 102.9 this month from 106.0 in January. Consumer spending increased by the most in nearly two years in January, driven by a surge in wage gains. The S&P CoreLogic Case Shiller national home price index, covering all nine U.S. census divisions, increased 5.8% year-on-year in December, a second report showed on Tuesday. Price growth remained strong in the South, with double-digit gains in Miami, Tampa and Atlanta.

☆ Bath & Body Works calls investor Third Point's proxy contest "misguided"
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 27 (Reuters) - Bath & Body Works Inc (BBWI.N) said on Monday investor Third Point's potential proxy contest is misguided and is a result of the specialty retailer not willing to appoint the hedge fund's former co-chief investment officer to its board. Bath & Body Works said in the last twelve months the board has appointed four highly qualified directors, of which Lucy Brady, a senior executive at Conagra Brands (CAG.N), was proposed by Third Point. In a letter to its shareholders, the company said the potential proxy contest was due to the board's unwillingness to appoint Loeb's former partner Munib Islam to the board. Islam, who played a key role in Third Point's activist campaigns, left the firm in 2020 and is now a senior executive at LTS One, an investment partnership. While it has taken "reasonable" steps to avoid a proxy fight, Bath & Body Works said it is "disappointing and unfortunate" that it will have to spend more time on this despite efforts to engage productively with the hedge fund.

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