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☆ Wall Street ends lower, pausing rally as Powell testimony looms
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Stephen Culp | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

All three major U.S. equity indexes ended the session in the red but off session lows, with oil super-majors Exxon Mobil Corp weighing on the S&P 500 and the Dow. Including Tuesday's loss, the benchmark S&P 500 has advanced 14.3% so far this year. Of the 11 major sectors of the S&P 500 all but consumer discretionary stocks (.SPLRCD) ended in negative territory. The S&P 500 posted 14 new 52-week highs and no new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 68 new highs and 87 new lows. Volume on U.S. exchanges was 11.15 billion shares, compared with the 11.36 billion average for the full session over the last 20 trading days.

Persons: Jerome, Robert Pavlik, Pavlik, We've, Rivian, Morgan Stanley, Daniel Zhang, Eli Lilly, Stephen Culp, Shristi Achar, Shubham Batra, Johann M, Aurora Ellis Organizations: Fedex, Dow, Nasdaq, Federal, Exxon Mobil Corp, Dakota Wealth, U.S . House Financial, Dow Jones, Energy, Rivian Automotive Inc, Tesla Inc, PayPal Holdings, KKR & Co, Nike, Alibaba Group, Adobe Inc, Dice Therapeutics, Fedex Corp, NYSE, Thomson Locations: Fairfield , Connecticut, China, Europe, Bengaluru

☆ S&P 500 ends lower, pausing rally with Powell testimony in view
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Stephen Culp | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's congressional testimony Wednesday looms as a potential market mover. All three major U.S. equity indexes ended the session in the red but off session lows, with oil super-majors Exxon Mobil Corp weighing on the S&P 500 and the Dow. The broad sell-off comes on the heels of the Nasdaq's longest weekly winning streak since March 2019, and the S&P 500's longest since November 2021. As of Friday's close, the benchmark S&P 500 had advanced 20% in the last twelve months, and over 14% so far this year. According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 (.SPX) lost 20.79 points, or 0.47%, to end at 4,388.80 points, while the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) lost 22.28 points, or 0.16%, to 13,667.29.

Persons: Jerome, Robert Pavlik, Pavlik, We've, Morgan Stanley, Daniel Zhang, Eli Lilly, Stephen Culp, Shristi Achar, Shubham Batra, Johann M, Aurora Ellis Organizations: Federal, Exxon Mobil Corp, Dow, Dakota Wealth, U.S . House Financial, Nasdaq, Dow Jones, Rivian Automotive Inc, Tesla Inc, Rivian, PayPal Holdings, KKR & Co, Nike, Alibaba, Adobe Inc, Dice Therapeutics, Fedex Corp, Thomson Locations: Fairfield , Connecticut, China, Europe, Bengaluru

Fed Governor Christopher Waller warned on Friday "core inflation is not coming down like I thought it would." Richmond Fed President Thomas Barkin said he was "comfortable" with further rate increases given that inflation was still not on the path back to 2%. Markets now await comments from more Fed officials including Fed Vice Chair Michael Barr later in the day, and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's semiannual monetary policy testimony to the U.S. House Financial Affairs Committee on Wednesday. Adding to the dour mood, China cut its benchmark lending rates by a smaller-than-expected 10 basis points. U.S.-listed shares of Chinese companies including Alibaba Group , JD.com and PDD Holdings (PDD.O) fell between 1% and 6% in premarket trading.

Persons: Eli Lilly, Christopher Waller, Thomas Barkin, CMEGroup's, Waller, Barkin, Michael Barr, Jerome Powell's, Powell, Hogan, Daniel Zhang, Shristi Achar, Shubham Batra, Johann M, Vinay Dwivedi Organizations: Therapeutics, Dow, Nasdaq, Federal Reserve, Richmond Fed, Traders, Microsoft, U.S . House Financial, Housing, Capitol, Riley, Fed, Alibaba, PDD Holdings, Dow e, Adobe Inc, Ford, General Motors, Tesla Inc, Dice Therapeutics, Thomson Locations: China, U.S, Bengaluru

Eight of the 11 S&P 500 sub-sectors were in the red, with the energy index (.SPNY) leading declines. U.S. markets ended lower on Friday as comments from Fed officials curtailed optimism that the central bank was nearing the end of its aggressive interest rate hikes. Traders now see a 72% chance of Fed hiking its key benchmark rates by 25 basis points in July, according to CMEGroup's Fedwatch Tool. Declining issues outnumbered advancers for a 2.43-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and a 1.82-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. The S&P index recorded 11 new 52-week highs and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 38 new highs and 40 new lows.

Persons: Eli Lilly, Tesla, Rivian, homebuilding, Sam Stovall, CMEGroup's, Michael Barr, Jerome Powell's, Morgan Stanley, Daniel Zhang, advancers, Shristi Achar, Shubham Batra, Johann M, Vinay Dwivedi, Shounak Organizations: Therapeutics, Nike, Dow, Nasdaq, U.S . Federal Reserve, CFRA Research, Tesla Inc, Reuters, EV, U.S . House Financial, PayPal Holdings, KKR & Co, Alibaba, PDD Holdings, Dow Jones, Adobe Inc, Dice Therapeutics, NYSE, Thomson Locations: U.S, Europe, China, Bengaluru

☆ Adobe's $20 bln deal to acquire Figma under threat from EU regulators - FT
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

June 20 (Reuters) - European antitrust regulators are preparing to launch a formal investigation into software giant Adobe's (ADBE.O) $20 billion buyout deal for cloud-based designer platform Figma later this year, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. EU authorities plan to push forward with a detailed investigation, over anti-competition concerns, which could take many months and may ultimately derail the deal altogether, FT said, citing people with knowledge of the move. These moves underline global regulators' worries that large tech firms acquiring smaller innovative rivals could throttle competition. Adobe is in the preliminary phase of the regulatory process and having constructive discussions with British, EU, and U.S. regulators about the deal while Figma looks forward to continued conversations with regulators, the companies said in separate emailed statements to Reuters. EU regulators have earlier said that Adobe would need to secure antitrust approval for the Figma deal even though the deal falls short of the bloc's turnover threshold for a review.

Persons: Lavanya Ahire, Anusha S, Jose Joseph, Nivedita Bhattacharjee, Rashmi, Dhanya Ann Thoppil Organizations: Financial Times, Adobe, EU, Reuters, Bloomberg, U.S . Justice Department, Thomson Locations: U.S, Bengaluru

☆ Adobe tops quarterly results and forecast estimates driven by AI
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Samrhitha A | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

June 15 (Reuters) - Adobe Inc (ADBE.O) surpassed Wall Street estimates for quarterly results and forecast on Thursday as the Photoshop maker's efforts to drive up demand with generative artificial intelligence (AI) integrations paid off. Adobe's spree to boost AI innovation has been evident by AI features being introduced into Acrobat, Express, Photoshop and Premiere Pro. Analysts see generative AI as both a near- and long-term benefit to both the creative and experience businesses, which could be a catalyst to 2024 revenue growth. Focus continues to remain on the impact of generative AI and the pending close of the Figma deal. Adobe has been waiting to finalize its $20 billion buyout deal for the cloud-based designer platform, with management expecting an initial ruling this month.

Persons: integrations, Dan Durn, Samrhitha, Pooja Desai Organizations: Adobe Inc, Acrobat, Adobe, Users, Reuters, Analysts, Zoom Video Communications, Airbnb Inc, Revenue, Thomson Locations: San Jose , California, Bengaluru

☆ As the DOJ digs in, Adobe's top lawyer tells employees to be careful talking about the $20 billion Figma acquisition, and asks them not to delete anything related to the deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-12 | by ( Eugene Kim | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Adobe's Dana Rao told employees to be careful when discussing the proposed Figma acquisition. Adobe's top lawyer told employees in an internal email to be extra careful when talking about the company's $20 billion proposed Figma acquisition, as antitrust scrutiny of the deal intensifies. In the his Adobe email, Rao said it's normal for a deal of Figma's size to go through lengthy regulatory reviews. During a March earnings call with analysts, Adobe's CEO Shantanu Narayen shared a similar end-of-year closing date for the Figma deal. In his email this month, Rao added 3 reasons why the company thinks Figma would be a good acquisition for Adobe.

Persons: Adobe's Dana Rao, Dana Rao, Department's, Rao, Shantanu Narayen, Narayen, Adobe's, Andrew Savage, Savage, Slack, Figma, Dana, Eugene Kim Organizations: Adobe, DOJ, European, SEC, CNBC, Federal Trade Commission, Activision Blizzard, Adobe Express, Department of Justice, Markets Authority, General, Competition Locations: ideation, Europe

☆ Adobe's $20 billion Figma buyout deal under UK competition watchdog scanner
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Britain's competition watchdog said on Wednesday it was looking into Adobe Inc 's $20 billion buyout deal for cloud-based designer platform Figma to find if it could lead to "substantial lessening of competition" in the country. The move underlines regulators' worries that large tech firms acquiring smaller innovative rivals could throttle competition. UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) last week blocked U.S. software giant Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of "Call of Duty" maker Activision Blizzard over concerns it would hinder cloud gaming. CMA said it has set June 30 as the deadline for its phase 1 decision on the the Adobe-Figma deal. Figma said it would "continue to engage constructively with regulators in the UK".

May 1 (Reuters) - Longtime Kleiner Perkins partner Wen Hsieh is leaving the Silicon Valley venture capital establishment to start a fund with backing from the firm and Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC (2330.TW), sources told Reuters. Hsieh is in advanced talks to raise $200 million from limited partners including Kleiner Perkins and TSMC for the new fund called Matter Ventures. A Kleiner Perkins spokesperson confirmed Hsieh's departure and the firm's participation in the fund. Hsieh, with two PhDs from the California Institute of Technology, has worked at Kleiner Perkins for 17 years, leading investments in Chinese drone maker DJI and 3D printing company Desktop Medal (DM.N). He will remain on the boards of companies he invested in at Kleiner Perkins, including orthodontic brackets maker LightForce.

☆ Developer tool startups in Y Combinator's latest class are grabbing the attention of investors like Elad Gil and Google's Gradient Ventures. Here are 4 that have already landed funding.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | Madeline Renbarger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Developer tool startups that were part of Y Combinator's latest class are drawing strong interest from several high-profile venture capitalists. Sequoia partner Lauren Reeder personally participated in the code review startup's recent funding round, according to a Sequoia spokesperson. That fundraising was at a $30 million post-money valuation, one person familiar with the deal said. Developer tool startups accounted for 26% of the companies in YC's winter 2023 batch, up from 16% of the summer 2022 class, according to the accelerator's startup directory. Have a tip on a startup funding round?

☆ Bob Lee, Cash app founder, dead after apparent stabbing attack in San Francisco
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Catherine Thorbecke | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

New York CNN —Bob Lee, the former chief technology officer of Square who helped launch Cash App, has died after an apparent stabbing attack in San Francisco. We love you.”Tech entrepreneur CashApp founder Bob Lee. San Francisco has been grappling with an apparent uptick in crime as it still attempts to bounce back from the pandemic. In total, there were 56 homicides in San Francisco in 2022, which is the exact same number of homicides the city saw in 2021. Prior to joining Square, Lee was at Google, where he helped lead the team that launched Android.

☆ Cash App creator and former Square CTO Bob Lee has died after a reported stabbing in San Francisco
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Bob Lee died after a stabbing on Tuesday morning, NBC Bay Area reports. He created Cash App while working as Square's CTO, before moving on to MobileCoin. "Bob was a force of nature," said MobileCoin CEO Joshua Goldbard. It was there that he created Cash App, the mobile payment app which rivals Venmo. "Bob was a force of nature," MobileCoin CEO Joshua Goldbard told Insider.

☆ Base10 Partners is offering its limited partners direct access to investing in unicorn startups in order to compete against VC firms with much bigger funds. Here's how.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-31 | by ( April Joyner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Limited partners, the investors that back VC firms, are seeking out more direct deals in startups. But often LPs don't get in until long after the VC firms have invested, so they get smaller returns. VC firm Base10 Partners has launched a program to give LPs earlier access and more upside. As the exuberance in venture capital has crashed to a halt, the institutions that back VC firms, known as limited partners, have had plenty to grouse about. The VC firm Base10 Partners seeks to offer its own limited partners a remedy to this dilemma.

☆ Tech leaders are urging caution on AI
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Paayal Zaveri | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Insider asked ChatGPT, the viral AI chatbot sweeping the internet, to whip up a layoff memo for a pretend tech company, Gomezon. Elon Musk, Steve Wozniak, researchers at Alphabet's DeepMind, and other AI leaders are calling for a pause on training AI models more powerful than OpenAI's GPT-4. My colleague Emilia David looked at why Elon Musk and other tech leaders are right: AI needs to slow down. An Apple Watch is an essential for many of us these days, but the right band can make all the difference. Check out Insider's review of the 18 best Apple Watch bands in 2023.

☆ Potential regulator challenges to Big Tech M&A may have far-reaching consequences for the tech ecosystem
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Paayal Zaveri | April Joyner | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

M&A deals involving large tech companies may get harder as US regulators ramp up scrutiny. If regulators increase scrutiny, it could deter other large tech companies from buying startups. More challenges to proposed tech M&A deals may also mean that the pool of potential acquirers shrinks. Of course, there are cases where a large tech company seeks to buy out a smaller, more innovative competitor because it is scared of getting displaced. "There has to be the hope and dream of selling to a larger tech company some day," Sherman said.

☆ Adobe launches Firefly generative A.I., which lets users type to edit images
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Rohan Goswami | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

By highlighting an element in a multilayer work of art — a lighthouse, in the demo video — Adobe Firefly uses AI to generate different versions of the lighthouse. Adobe on Tuesday launched an artificial intelligence tool called Firefly that will let users type commands to quickly modify images. Adobe's new product comes at a key inflection point both for Adobe and AI more broadly. OpenAI and Stable Diffusion, another AI organization, both offer generative AI image products. Adobe said Firefly will place an emphasis on giving creators "opportunities to benefit from your skills and creativity and protect your work."

☆ Jim Cramer's top 10 things to watch in the stock market Thursday: Banks, Fed, TikTok and Amazon
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Jim Cramer | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Shares of FRC drop roughly 30% in premarket trading despite the Swiss National Bank extending a lifeline to embattled Credit Suisse (CS). Susquehanna upgrades chipmaker and Club stock Qualcomm (QCOM) to buy. As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust's portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade.

☆ Adobe lifts profit forecast for fiscal 2023 and beats estimates on quarterly results
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Jordan Novet | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Adobe shares rose 5% in extended trading on Wednesday after software maker announced fiscal first-quarter results that topped Wall Street estimates and lifted its full-year foercast. Here's how the company did:Earnings: $3.80 per share, adjusted, vs. $3.68 per share as expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv. $3.80 per share, adjusted, vs. $3.68 per share as expected by analysts, according to Refinitiv. For the second quarter, Adobe expects earnings per share of $3.75 to $3.80 on an adjusted basis and $4.75 billion to $4.78 billion in revenue. Analysts surveyed by Refinitiv had been expecting $3.76 per share in adjusted earnings and $4.76 billion in revenue.

☆ Elon Musk apologizes after calling disabled Twitter employee who was laid off 'the worst'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk on Tuesday backed down from his attacks on a disabled Twitter employee who was laid off by the company and apologized for what he called a "misunderstanding." "I would like to apologize to Halli for my misunderstanding of his situation," Musk tweeted late Tuesday. "He is considering remaining at Twitter," Musk added. Musk, an avid user of Twitter, replied by asking Thorleifsson, "What work have you been doing?" Following the back and forth with Musk, Thorleifsson said he was informed by Twitter's head of human resources that he had been sacked.

☆ Elon Musk publicly trolled a Twitter employee who wanted to know if they still had their job: 'What work have you been doing?'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Elon Musk publicly trolled a Twitter employee who wanted to know if they still had their job. Four hours after Thorleifsson tweeted, Musk responded. When Thorleifsson responded that he would need permission from Twitter's lawyers to publicly disclose his work at the company, Musk tweeted: "It's approved, you go ahead." After his exchange with Musk, Thorleifsson tweeted that he was "ok" with being laid off and said it was "fair enough." Thorleifsson, Twitter, and Musk did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

☆ China’s Li Auto drives a fine profit line
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HONG KONG, Feb 28 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The $25 billion electric-car maker Li Auto (2015.HK) is in charging mode. On Monday it reported a net profit of 265 million yuan ($38 million) for the quarter ending December as sales of its family-friendly sport-utility vehicles zoomed 66% from a year earlier. What’s more, unlike other battery-powered groups, Li offers “extended range electric cars” that combine a motor with a smaller battery. Li sees the direction of travel and will soon launch 100% battery-powered products. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ AXA’s fling with Monte Paschi ends on high note
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

With its 200-million-euro investment in Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS.MI), the French insurer was one of the largest backers of a crucial 2.5-billion-euro capital increase that the hard-beaten lender secured in November. For AXA, supporting the cash call was instrumental to protect its existing insurance distribution partnership with Monte Paschi. The French insurer said on Tuesday it had sold 100 million shares, nearly 8% of Monte Paschi’s total, at 2.33 euros each, pocketing 233 million euros. That’s a 17% gain from the 200 million euros it invested in the cash call. Monte Paschi’s recent strong share-price performance has in any case more to do with the improved economic outlook in Europe and rising interest rates than with any merit of its own.

☆ Japan Post’s deal will test interest rate optimism
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

HONG KONG, Feb 28 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The $12 billion triple initial public offering of the Japan Post Group by the government in 2015 was done in the name of economic efficiency. After a brief rally, the collective market value of the three companies it comprises has declined from a peak of 18 trillion yen to below 10 trillion yen, per Datastream. The Ministry of Finance holds over a third of Japan Post Holdings (6178.T), which in turn retains big stakes in the banking and insurance units – although it has trimmed the latter to below 50%. Japan Post Holdings plans to unload shares worth up to $9.3 billion, Reuters reported, reducing its stake to below 65%. It’s a huge deal in a rickety market but the prospect of interest rate normalisation could see more investment into domestic banks – Japan Post Bank shares have rallied this year alongside local peers.

☆ Abrdn turnaround is still a marathon, not sprint
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Feb 28 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Abrdn (ABDN.L) still has one big problem. Chief Executive Stephen Bird’s turnaround at the $5 billion asset manager is gaining traction. Full-year results on Tuesday showed that interactive investor, the savings platform he acquired last year, grew revenue by 20%, despite lower trading volumes. Assets under management fell 19%, after factoring in falling markets and client outflows, to 376 billion pounds, while operating profit fell 55%. That may cost some 200 million pounds, nearly double the unit’s 2022 operating profit.

☆ Warren Buffett’s greatest hits lose their verve
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, Feb 27 (Reuters Breakingviews) - After writing bangers for decades, it makes sense to keep playing them over and over. Warren Buffett mostly trotted out his greatest hits over the weekend in his latest annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N) shareholders. It’s a testament to Buffett’s proven ability to ride out economic storms, even though the $670 billion company’s size makes it ever harder to outperform the market. Buffett’s missive accompanying the financial results was among his shortest, at fewer than 3,500 words, in nearly 60 years of writing them. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

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