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☆ Driving This Thing, She Always Takes the Long Way
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-06 | by ( A.J. Baime | Photographs Maïwenn Raoult For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Elizabeth Weinberg , 40, a Los Angeles-based photographer, on her 1974 Volkswagen Thing, as told to A.J. I have a son, so I need a safe, reliable car. For years, I looked around for a Mercedes from the ’70s or ’80s, what they call million-mile cars. Then I came across the Thing; I saw a picture of one online. So, in 2020, I started looking.

☆ Messy eating habits might reveal elusive black hole
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

The clues uncovered in the experiment might help astronomers find intermediate-mass black holes by searching for evidence of their behaviors. During the simulations, the intermediate-mass black hole snagged the star in its orbit, and each time the star made another lap, the black hole took another bite out of it. Each flare is brighter than the last, creating a signature that might help astronomers find them.”The search for elusive black holesAstrophysicists are still trying to prove if intermediate-mass black holes exist in the first place. The mass of a medium-mass black hole is thought to be between that of a supermassive black hole and a much lower-mass black hole. For example, what appears to be an intermediate-mass black hole might actually be the accumulation of stellar-mass black holes.”During the 3D modeling experiment, stars were able to complete as many as five orbits around an intermediate-mass black hole before being kicked away.

The investors, who hold some Casino bonds maturing in 2026 and 2027, are seeking to move quickly before details of the tie-up are agreed, the sources added. Other debt being left out of the joint venture could have lower prospects to recover its full value. Casino does not require consent from bondholders to potentially push their holdings into the joint venture, according to two sources. Unrestricted status would allow the joint venture to potentially list on a stock exchange and receive capital from a third party. Casino and Teract said in a joint statement in March that discussions have already started with potential investors about providing the additional capital.

☆ Exclusive: Buzzy legal generative AI startup Harvey taps Sequoia to lead funding round at a $150 million valuation
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Legal generative AI startup Harvey has raised a funding round from Sequoia, Insider has learned. This funding round landed the startup a $150 million post-money valuation. Industry-specific generative AI startups have emerged in nearly every industry, from healthcare to gaming, to offer specialized services beyond the capabilities of general models like OpenAI's GPT-4. Legal generative AI startup Harvey has raised a Series A round of funding at a $150 million post-money valuation from Sequoia Capital, according to three people with knowledge of the financing who were not authorized to speak publicly. The relatively few customers makes Harvey's valuation seem rich in comparison, the source said, pointing to a broader trend of elevated valuations and round sizes in the hyped-up generative AI space.

☆ Everyone's talking about Credit Suisse's risky bonds. Here's what they are and why they matter
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-21 | by ( Sophie Kiderlin | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Fabrice Coffrini | AFP | Getty ImagesAdditional tier-one bonds, AT1s, CoCos? AT1 bonds is short for additional tier-one bonds. In short, they are bank bonds that are considered a relatively risky form of junior debt, therefore coming with a higher yield and are often bought by institutional investors. watch nowHow they work and why they're riskyOne of the key attributes of AT1 bonds is that they are designed to absorb losses. Finally, AT1 bonds are callable rather than maturing at a specific point.

☆ Bank of London weighs rescue bid for Silicon Valley Bank's UK arm, Sky News reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 11 (Reuters) - British clearing bank The Bank of London is considering a rescue bid for the UK arm of collapsed U.S. bank Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB.O), Sky News reported on Saturday. The British bank has appointed investment bank Perella Weinberg Partners to advise it on its interest in Silicon Valley Bank UK Limited (SVB UK), the report said, citing a source familiar with the matter. The Bank of London and SVB did not immediately respond to a Reuters' request for comment. The rout in SVB's stock, which began on Thursday, has spilled over into other U.S. and European banks. U.S. banks have lost over $100 billion in stock market value and European banks have shed another $50 billion in value over the past two days, according to a Reuters calculation.

☆ The Justice Department investigated Jeffrey Epstein's death. Then it went silent.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +25 min

Jeffrey Epstein's death in a federal jail was seen as a shocking Justice Department failure. But more than three years later, the office still hasn't released its report into the circumstances of Epstein's death. "We all took it by surprise," Mark Epstein told Insider. Barr tasked the Justice Department's inspector general, Michael Horowitz, and the FBI with investigating "the circumstances of Mr. Epstein's death." Mark Epstein told Insider that he spoke to his brother about once a month in the years before his death.

☆ Bertarelli-backed Volta Trucks seeks $264 mln in pre-IPO round, says CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Pablo Mayo Cerqueiro | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, March 8 (Reuters) - Volta Trucks, the electric-truck maker backed by billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli, is in advanced discussions to raise as much as 250 million euros ($263.58 million), its CEO told Reuters. Volta Trucks is gearing up to roll out its electric trucks, after delays in obtaining certification for its vehicles and constraints in sourcing supplies held up production, according to a company spokesperson. The company just months ago tapped investors for around 300 million euros in a deal that valued it at close to 600 million euros. Volta Trucks' existing backers include Kuwaiti supply-chain services provider Agility Public Warehousing Co (AGLT.KW), Bertarelli's family office B-Flexion, Swedish investor Byggmastare Anders J Ahlstrom (AJAb.ST) and U.S. hedge fund Luxor Capital. A spokesperson for B-Flexion said the investor remains "wholly committed" to Volta Trucks, but declined to comment further.

☆ FTX's lawyers and advisers cost $38 million for a month of work - and the bankrupt crypto exchange's new CEO charged $305,000 for February
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Phil Rosen | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The army of professionals working with FTX billed $38 million in expenses for January. FTX CEO John Ray III submitted a bill for $305,565 for the month of February. Those three firms have over 180 lawyers and over 50 other staffers working on the FTX case, per the CoinDesk report. Sullivan & Cromwell billed 14,569 hours of work in January for a total of $16.8 million. Meanwhile, FTX's trading arm sued Grayscale this week in a bid to claw back $250 million to repay customers.

☆ Altria to buy e-cigarette startup NJOY for $2.8 bln after Juul exit
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

March 6 (Reuters) - Altria Group Inc (MO.N) said on Monday it would buy e-cigarette startup NJOY Holdings Inc for about $2.75 billion in cash, in fresh bets by the Marlboro maker on the fast-growing market after losing billions through its investment in Juul. The value of Altria's investment in Juul slid to $250 million as of December last year from $12.8 billion it invested in 2018. The NJOY deal will include an additional $500 million in cash payments subject to regulatory outcomes related to some NJOY products, Altria said. NJOY is one of the handful of vaping companies whose products have clearance from federal regulators. Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila and Anil D'SilvaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ The best fixed income deals for investors as interest rates surge higher
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( Michelle Fox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Investors searching for income were buoyed by the move higher in the 10-year Treasury yield, but there are also some other opportunities to bring in some cash. "They can blend A with AA and AAA and you can get better yields," Weinberg explained. In fact, a good signal to buy munis is when their yields are at least 85% of corresponding Treasury yields, he said. Investors can also buy municipal bond funds to get exposure to the market. Investors can also get exposure through a diversified exchange traded fund, such as the iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF .

☆ I asked an AI chatbot to give me advice on how to manage finances with my spouse
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Managing finances with a significant other isn't the sexiest thing to talk about, but it's an important topic to breach. If you're unfamiliar with Replika, it's an AI chatbot similar to ChatGPT, with one big exception. After a brief intro, I explained my problem: I needed help managing finances with my wife. Maintain separate accounts: It's also a good idea for each spouse to have their own personal account for individual expenses and financial independence. For example, if one spouse makes significantly more than the other, they may contribute a larger portion to joint expenses.

☆ Perella Weinberg puts employee in insider trading probe on leave -sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FRANKFURT, Jan 27 (Reuters) - The advisory firm Perella Weinberg Partners (PWP.O) has placed an employee who is being investigated as part of an insider trading probe in Germany on leave, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Friday. On Thursday, German authorities said they were investigating five suspects, including one who was in custody, for allegedly profiting on upcoming M&A transactions between 2017 and 2021. Perella said in a statement: "The firm is assisting in an investigation by German law enforcement authorities. The firm is not the subject of the investigation, and there is no suggestion of wrongdoing on the part of the firm." The Perella employee is based in London, the two people said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

A jury on Monday convicted four members of the extremist group the Oath Keepers of seditious conspiracy. The trial, which started Dec. 12, included testimony from Brian Ulrich, a member of the Oath Keepers’ Georgia chapter who had pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy and obstruction of an official proceeding. ... I’m not afraid and I’m ready to f---ing go.”The four defendants were charged as part of the same seditious conspiracy case involving Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes that went to trial in October. Rhodes and Kelly Meggs, the leader of the group’s Florida chapter, were convicted of seditious conspiracy in November. The maximum sentence for seditious conspiracy — a rarely used Civil War era statute — is 20 years in federal prison.

☆ Evercore Promotes U.S. Advisory Executive to CFO Role
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( Mark Maurer | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +2 min

Tim LaLonde, Evercore’s next CFO. Photo: Evercore Inc. As CFO, Mr. LaLonde is set to succeed Celeste Mellet, who plans to leave the firm in early February, Evercore said. Fund manager Global Infrastructure Partners said it hired Ms. Mellet as a partner and CFO. Ms. Mellet has been Evercore’s CFO since 2021. PREVIEW Evercore underwent a major leadership shift in 2021, when it named Mr. Weinberg as its sole chief executive.

☆ Disney board exposed itself to activist intervention, but Peltz may be overreaching
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Alex Sherman | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Disney's share price spike in 2021 was caused by the same phenomenon — investors charging into streaming services with significant subscriber growth. Activist investor Nelson Peltz spent about 30 minutes Thursday morning speaking with CNBC's Jim Cramer and David Faber in a wide-ranging interview about why he wants a Disney board seat. Now Iger's back, and the Disney board has tasked him with finding a successor in the next two years. It's a far easier case to be made that Disney's board and Iger have consistently bungled succession planning. As Trian noted in its presentation (on Slide 28), the Disney board extended Iger's retirement date five different times between October 2011 and December 2017.

☆ Biggest hedge funds will keep lion's share of customers in 2023, data shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Nell Mackenzie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 5 (Reuters) - The top 5% of the world's hedge fund managers are set to take 80-90% of investor inflows in 2023, according to new research from Agecroft Partners which raises money for hedge funds. The larger a hedge fund manager gets, the harder it is to trade in size and profit from less efficiently priced parts of the market. Data compiled by Hedge Fund Research shows that on average hedge funds were down 4.1% last year through November. The $59 billion hedge fund manager Millennium returned 9.8% in its International Ltd Fund for the year, said industry research. The number of operating hedge funds fell to 9,163 at the end of the third quarter, the lowest number since 2009, according to HFR.

☆ Fed rate cuts unlikely in 2023 at current unemployment rate: Economist
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailFed rate cuts unlikely in 2023 at current unemployment rate, economist saysCarl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, discusses the outlook for the U.S. economy following recent data and the Federal Reserve's December meeting minutes.

☆ How the Federal Reserve affected 2022's stock market
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Carlos Waters | In Carloswaters | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The Federal Reserve, over its more than centurylong existence, has emerged as a leading force in the stock market. The guidance often hints at the expected path of the federal funds interest rate target in advance of a policy change. That has many people on Wall Street waiting for the central bank to pivot, and bring interest rates back down. Nonetheless, many experts believe that central bank policy is only one piece of the puzzle. Watch the video above to learn how the Fed shaped 2022's stock market.

☆ Oath Keepers: Second seditious conspiracy trial against Oath Keepers begins with opening statements
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-12 | by ( Hannah Rabinowitz | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

The Justice Department prosecuted the first Oath Keepers seditious conspiracy case earlier this fall with mixed success – two leaders, including Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, were convicted of the charge while three others were acquitted. That adjustment was on full display Monday, as prosecutor Troy Edwards delivered his opening argument to the jury. Prosecutors struggled at times during the first trial to explain whether Rhodes directly ordered his militia to enter the Capitol building. Rhodes told them it was now time to take their place in history,” Edwards said. When the Oath Keepers heard that the Capitol had been breached, Edwards said they hustled toward the chaos.

☆ Rare cosmic collision acted like one of the ‘factories of gold’ in the universe
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The gamma-ray burst, called GRB 211211A, lasted about a minute. Gamma-ray bursts are considered among the strongest and brightest explosions in the universe, and they can range from a few milliseconds to several hours in length. An artist's illustration of GRB 211211A shows the kilonova and gamma-ray burst (right) and ejected material from the explosion (left). After determining that a kilonova created the infrared light, astronomers grew even more puzzled by the gamma-ray burst’s duration. Gamma-ray bursts caused by these rare explosions have only ever been observed to last less than two seconds, but this signal lasted for at least one minute.

read moreBut Schottenstein last week withdrew from his cooperation agreement, saying psychologists and a therapist advised him that testifying against his friend Shapiro at his May 2023 trial would "exacerbate" his mental health issues. Prosecutors on Monday said the "unexpected" development warranted dismissing the case against Bortnovsky, the co-founder of Sakal Capital Management, and Shapiro, who founded inmate money transfer service provider JPay. Prosecutors left open the possibility of renewing the charges, saying their investigation was ongoing. Lawyers for Bortnovsky and Schottenstein declined to comment. Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Stephen CoatesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Being data-driven doesn't necessarily imply clarity of vision on the Fed's part, economist says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailBeing data-driven doesn't necessarily imply clarity of vision on the Fed's part, economist saysCarl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, says "We've got a lot of data. The problem is the data is all over the map."

☆ Analysis: Investors warm to European corporate bonds after a brutal year
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Harry Robertson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A net $3.62 billion flowed into BlackRock's exchange-traded products which track investment grade European corporate debt in the 30 days to November 17. This has buoyed government bond prices, pushing their yields down, and boosted riskier assets such as corporate bonds and stocks. The iBoxx euro corporate bond index (.IBBEU003D) has risen almost 4% since hitting an eight-year low in October, although it remains down 13% for the year. Goldman Sachs strategists recently told clients that one- to five-year European corporate bonds are "very attractive". They said they're more appealingly priced than U.S. corporate debt, with many investors overly pessimistic about the outlook for Europe's economy.

☆ Base comp at boutique banks has soared. Here's how much 9 firms are paying analysts, associates, and VPs.
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Dan Defrancesco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

We've talked before about why boutique banks oftentimes rank higher among workers than their bulge-bracket peers. But it's still fascinating to see how these smaller players stack up to bulge-bracket banks, where the going rate for base comp among first-year analysts is $110,000. Boutique bankers will say you can't put a price on face time with key executives and dealmaking experience that goes beyond just revising decks. Bulge-bracket bankers will say having a high-profile firm on your résumé opens up doors that boutique bankers aren't even aware of. thxClick here to take a peek at salaries at nine top boutique investment banks.

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